Today is a public holiday in South Africa due to the local voting day where we cast votes to see who is going to be running the local municipality and also the Mayor of Johannesburg. The current group of officials are as corrupt and inept as hell so change is drastically needed. This was the voting station this morning and this is all about timing because I have never experienced such a quick voting process.
The last time we voted we came back twice and just to get to these gates took 4 hours and another hour once you reached this point. This was the back of the queue at 11am this morning and literally the entire process took 10 minutes to get done.
I think most people are thinking that others will be queuing this morning and then they will come and cast their votes later when the rush is over. I have got news for you as later is going to be a very long wait with everyone appearing to be thinking the same thing.
Once all is done the only proof you have you voted is a black ink mark on your left thumb and will take a couple of showers to get rid of this. You would think with all the technology we have today something besides a marking pen would be far better. Oh wait we saw what happened in the US and the one big difference here is you have to have an ID document to vote and that is always how it has been and always how it should be.
Over the last two weeks we have had an independent review of the state of the City of Johannesburg. The estimated costs to repair the infrastructure that has been left to decay and be stolen is R220 billion and the current municipality has placed or projected a budget of R9 billion for this year. This is never going to work and no wonder why the entire system is falling apart at the seams.
The water pipes and infrastructure including the storm water drains need replacing and cleaning as for every liter of water that comes through your tap up to 50% is lost on route. The dams are full yet the other evening on the radio they mentioned there is a hosepipe ban in place between 6am and 6pm so there is definitely a cover up going on as to how bad things are and if they are accepting they are losing half the water then it is more like 75% is being lost and is closer to the truth.
We have discussed putting in a borehole at home yet the doctor down the road who had a borehole in place is now dry. A new school opened up not far away and has sucked the underground water to a point it is now who has the longest straw. The geographical surveys were excellent before the school came on the scene and they have taken responsibility, but that does not change things if you cannot get to the water. I have never forgotten a friend of mine who drilled an extra 30 meters once hitting the water to make sure he was further down than the others around him. This is all about who has the longest straw because everyone else then has to pay to get their pipes extended and some may give up as this is not a cheap process. Maybe I should get the HIVE borehole team involved, only kidding as they are way too expensive having done some costings myself. We are suckers when we have no idea when it comes to costs.
I hope todays turnout is a good one because Johannesburg needs some serious change to happen as we have had enough of corrupt officials who deliver nothing.