Janine Myburgh, president, Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomes the decision not to increase the price of diesel and to reduce the petrol price increase to only 5 cents a litre but warns that this remedy may prove to be a plaster for a broken leg.
The problem is that the rand has already weakened further to R15.22 to the American dollar and the price of Brent Crude oil increased to 78 dollars a barrel.
Both numbers are going in the wrong direction for us and it may not be possible to avoid shock increases in October.
In addition, South Africa has slipped into a technical recession so a shrinking economy will make dealing with rising fuel prices even more difficult than it has been in recent months.
Sadly much of the damage has been self-inflicted. There are international emerging economies problems, but what has really spooked investors is the land issue and expropriation without compensation. We could not have picked a worse time for the debate.
This follows even more details on the mismanagement and the corruption in state- owned enterprises and the country’s credit downgrades.
One of the things we need to do to get out of this hole is to rebuild confidence in our economy and our ability to recover, but we seem to be doing all the wrong things.
We are dealing with a broken leg, but our best idea appears to be a Band Aid.
Cher Poznanovich,
Sea Point
I am a cold water swimmer, which means I swim a few times a week, winter and summer, all along the Atlantic coast.
I know our beaches well.
And in all my time on the beaches, I very seldom come across much dog excrement. I see many responsible dog owners with their packets and the occasional few who don’t is simply not causing a catastrophe.
However, we have some video footage of the amount of human waste such as plastic and paper on every single beach which is cause for greater concern.
I wish the City would stop its draconian dog laws and spend more effort in educating the public about pollution.
Our dogs like to run and swim free and there are very few options left in this city where a dog can swim in the sea, as dogs love to do.
The so-called Blue Flag beaches are questionable, as I have just returned from Europe where dogs are welcome on any beach. It is a way of life there as dogs not only provide companionship, they are generally a part of the family.
It is also apparent that the City’s drains run into the sea, polluting it with plastic. We find this especially in Mouille Point Beach and let’s not mention the human excrement choking our sea.
Come on Cape Town, you can do better.