Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (The main issue)

[okes]

Why did she have to cancel her meeting with the First Minister of Scotland?

According to her there was a problem with the time scheduling (African time?).

Surely this is going to cost us more than R4,5 million.

 

[Skeptik]

I think being an MP or minister is a skilled job. I would advise them to go on a course. Maybe they could shadow some British MPs for a few weeks to learn the meaning of Honourable.

 

[Darth Garth]

Maybe they could shadow some British MPs for a few weeks to learn the meaning of Honourable.

And you clearly know very little about UK politics.

Do you think because they are European makes them somehow immune to the human condition ??? .

Only last week, Conservative M.P. Stephen Milligan was found dead in his apartment. He was wearing women's stockings and a garter belt and had a plastic bag over his head and an orange in his mouth. (Scotland Yard believes Milligan's death may have been due to self-strangulation while indulging in a solitary sexual practice.)

The Earl of Caithness, Transport Minister, resigns his post just before his in-laws reveal the reason for his wife's recent suicide: his affair with former secretary to Princess Anne, Jan Fitzalan-Howard.

The wife of Conservative M.P. David Ashby announces that he has left her for another man. Ashby admits to "sharing beds with dozens of men" but not for the purposes of having homosexual relationships. Rather, he places the impetus on the accommodations in "bloody French hotels."

Environment Minister Tim Yeo resigns after admitting to being the father of a five-month-old "love child" (Fleet Street's formulation, not his own) born to his mistress, a north London Conservative Party worker.

Honourable conduct indeed.

 

[vespax]

tibby,

there seems to be a conservative theme in those stories.

 

[Darth Garth]

there seems to be a conservative theme in those stories.

They all do that ... leftwing or rightwing ... we are all human after all most of us anyway .

Senior Labour leader and Deputy Prime Minister of the UK John Prescott bonked his secretary on govt time in his govt office while there were people outside .

So Skeptik ... any more examples of honourable conduct from UK MP's that I must bring up ???.

 

[xtermin8or]

here's more

British and European Corruption and Scandals

too many to list on this thread, but feel free to take a read

EDIT : there's also a long list of US politicians corruption and scandals on the site

 

[Nod]

Senior Labour leader and Deputy Prime Minister of the UK John Prescott bonked his secretary on govt time in his govt office while there were people outside .

Do you have a recording? Might be entertaining in a sick kind of way

 

[Gunny]

Travelling safely doesnt cost 4.5mill and no government cant do what they want with the money they need to be able to justify it and prove it was spent in the best interests of the country not the best interest of an individual. It is the peoples money that we pay to the government to improve the country we live in. Anyway Sipho your comment proves how democratic our supposedly democratic country is.

 

[Gunny]

so you happy that the deputy Pres. spent R4.5 million on a trip that should have cost less that half that even quarter that instead of using the money to maybe feed a few thousand starving ppl or improve schools or upgrade law enforcement agencies ?

 

[ToxicBunny]

Quarter of that?..

Please, as far as I'm concerned she should be Proudly South African and travel on SAA like the rest of us. She doesn't need a huge retinue for a simple meeting overseas. That trip should not have cost MORE than R250000 in my opinion.

 

[Gunny]

What ? and have to sit in the same plane with the ppl she represents ???

 

[ToxicBunny]

Yes. They represent us, and should have to use the facilities that are used to normal everyday South Africans, such as SAA, and MetroRail and *gasp* dare i say it, the taxi's. It'll be a humbling and educational experience for all of our politicians imo.

 

[Gunny]

I should have put sarcasm tags around that last post but yeah I would love to see politicians go on public transport. Without bodyguards.

 

[werner]

there was a program on tv here a while ago..forgot the name...something like "on the production floor"

anyway, concept simple...take a ceo, and stick him in the post room, or in despatch or wherever for a day...working the system according to the policies and procedures he laid down.

then, interview him later, and see how his views have changed.

to apply to s.a.
take govenment ministers, give them a place in soweto and a taxi to work. you will not believe the change this country will undergo...

 

[nivek]

not much will change werner, you forget these are the same people that steal the countries money through corruption on a daily basis, they know how people are suffering in the townships and through transport.. but they are all politicians for the wrong reason, for themselves, not for the country..

 

[chiskop]

there was a program on tv here a while ago..forgot the name...something like "on the production floor"

anyway, concept simple...take a ceo, and stick him in the post room, or in despatch or wherever for a day...working the system according to the policies and procedures he laid down.

then, interview him later, and see how his views have changed.

to apply to s.a.
take govenment ministers, give them a place in soweto and a taxi to work. you will not believe the change this country will undergo...

Yeah, I remember that programme, although I can't remember the name (/wracks brain)
A great idea.

To be fair, though, how many SA CEO's would manage this challenge?

 

[RVFmal]

The point is, you do not know if that is tax payers money.
Goverment get money from lots of renvenues.
Tax payers is one of them.
SO that money could have been appropriatd from other revenue stream, who are you to say!?

They would not use tax payer money, that would be illegel. So if they use legel revenue stream, they can do s they please.

Aside from the many and varied forms of taxes that are levied on Joe Public, please enlighten us as to all the other revenue streams that the Government has unlimited access to.

ALL revenue generated by Government is state-owned capital which in turn is owned by the people of this country. As such Government is accountable to US for all expenditure.

Whilst you may believe that they are justified in spending exorbitant sums of money for the travel of politicians, it would be interesting to see how many people living in abject poverty would agree with your sentiments.

 

[TesterMan]

"Back to the Floor" is the programmes name

 

[jontyB]

The point is, you do not know if that is tax payers money.
Goverment get money from lots of renvenues.
Tax payers is one of them.
SO that money could have been appropriatd from other revenue stream, who are you to say!?

They would not use tax payer money, that would be illegel. So if they use legel revenue stream, they can do s they please.

The government getting money from any other means that is non transparent and not a tax of some sort is both corrupt and illegal. The government is not allowed to accept money for anything unless it is acquired through a tax.

Tax payer money, therefore, non exclusively and by definition implies everyone (individuals and companies (including domestic and foreign)) who contributes tax.

 

[GavinMannion]

Quick question. I read a conspiracy theory type article on News24 the other day (no I don't have the link) where they were talking about the possibility that the Deputy President is being undermined because she is female.

What got me thinking is that there is no chance the DP arranges her own travel and she keeps on getting nailed for her travel costs but we never see how much it costs to ferry Mbeki and the other top officials around. It's very common to hear conspiracy theories in Africa but this one might actually be true. She shouldn't be stupid enough to fall for it more than once though really.

Sipho if you don't hold government accountable for every cent they spend we will be in deep ****. Same as every other country we are not special in that regard.

Oh and the comment about UK ministers being honourable was hilarious. Have you not read the news recently about Blair being interviewed by the police for dodgy dealings? Seriously honourable. That's great