“Hell nay, we won’t pay!”

If you’re looking for the Easter Bunny this April 10,
look no further than the office of minister Pierre Uys…
Province responds to the Noël Pietersen debacle

Oudtshoorn. 26 March 2009. 06h11. In answer to OO‘s demand that premier Brown’s government reimburses Oudtshoorn for the Noël Pietersen debacle, the Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Mr Pierre Uys responds, “Under no circumstances will Oudtshoorn Municipality be reimbursed for the appointment of any person during the period of intervention.”

It wasn’t Province’s fault, see. The Noël Pietersen appointment. It wasn’t Province’s fault at all.

“A service provider was appointed by Eden District Municipality to assist with the recruitment process and they were ably assisted by a committee of councillors – actively participating in the process – comprising one councillor from each of the parties represented in Council with the mandate to determine a shortlist of candidates, to evaluate such shortlisted candidates, and make a recommendation to Council. The committee duly made a recommendation; Council in turn made a recommendation – a unanimous recommendation to appoint Pietersen – to the administrator vested with the power to make an appointment… and the recommendation was endorsed by the administration.”

Or words to that effect.

Yeah. Right. Elvis never did do no drugs!

No, Mr Uys! This is not the way it happened.

What did happen was that your “feckless administrator”, Louis Scheepers, a former school buddy of Pietersen, appointed the municipal manager without availing himself of a critical opinion of any old body whatsoever.

OO never expected that you would be mailing a cheque, to be sure.

But OO did, quixotically, anticipate some semblance of political backbone.

It’s the ANC in a nutshell. We’ll do what’s best for you. And we’ll decide what’s best, too. And when it isn’t even remotely salutary, we’ll affirm unilaterally that it is. And you’d better accept it. ‘Cause Elvis never did do no drugs!

And the worst of it is, come April 22, South Africans will be voting for more of the same yet again.