Thomas Johnson - The Blog

Representatives from cell phone networks “scrambled for answers” when they appeared before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services in September. The issue of high charges periodically comes up, this time under the #DataMustFall banner.   In 2009 the then lone Parliamentary activist, now Cape Town Mayor, Patricia de Lille expressed the public’s frustration over networks’ profiteering.   But this is the season for things to fall, and politicians fear such messages of discontent. Reports show 1GB of data costs R11 in India, R22 in Nigeria, R32 in Namibia, but R150 in SA.   At the hearings MTN’s chief financial officer Sandile Ntsele disingenuously blustered about the US dollar being the “common denominator”, and not paying rands for Naira.   But how does MTN justify charging South Africans more than Nigerians when, at the time of writing, R1 is worth US$0.072, and 1 Naira only US$0.0032 (1 Naira is worth ZAR 4 cen...

We are frequently told there is a “skills shortage”, and it’s one of the reasons for South Africa’s poor economic growth.   No evidence is provided, and none is needed. It’s an article of faith, or one of our origin tales.   Like a doubting Thomas, I always questioned it.   Two years ago DA cadre Tim Harris, then newly appointed chief executive of Wesgro, and Western Cape Economic Development MEC Alan Winde, each on different occasions, stated the “skills shortage is a threat to the economic potential of the province”.   And visas must be granted to foreigners to make up the deficit.   I asked them, UCT's Saldru and Cape Chamber of Commerce for evidence, and which sectors were affected, but none replied. This evidence does not appear to exist. (Note despite the alleged shortage, in 2014 199 applications were received for the vacancy of Wesgro CEO, an excellent number for the highly skilled post.   Harris was the successful candidate. ...

A particularly opinionated talk show host once chastised a caller for suggesting South Africa is not a democracy. “SA is democracy”, he scolded. “It has regular elections.”   He is always right.   So I was surprised the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index ranks SA 37 th out of 167 countries for 2015 in the category “flawed democracy”.   Other categories are full democracy, mixed regime and authoritarian. Flawed democracies have fair and free elections, and basic civil liberties. But they have significant faults in political culture, participation in politics, and governance. SA’s vaunted constitution – “the best in the world” – enforces socio-economic, gender and racial rights.   So it’s a blow to national pride we are not among the 20 freest and most enlightened countries.   We rank below Botswana (28 th ) and India (35 th ). The top five are: Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark.   The US closes the l...