{"id":2896,"date":"2021-01-22T19:06:18","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T19:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=2896"},"modified":"2021-01-22T18:01:36","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T18:01:36","slug":"shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late","title":{"rendered":"Shovel the sand off the Simon\u2019s Town train track before it\u2019s too late"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>by David Biggs<\/p>\n

I sometimes think our government must be thanking their collective lucky stars for the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rather like a general-purpose Donald Trump pardon.<\/p>\n

No matter what you\u2019ve done wrong, you just need to mutter: \u201cIt\u2019s because of the Covid-19 crisis,\u201d and you\u2019re off the hook.<\/p>\n

Eskom is broken, SAA is broken, the postal service is broken, our suburban train service is broken and anything that isn\u2019t broken yet has been stolen.<\/p>\n

All thanks to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

I used to commute to and from work for years using the Simon\u2019s Town suburban line.<\/p>\n

The trains go only as far as Fish Hoek now. The lines that pass my house are quietly rusting away unused.<\/p>\n

We are told it\u2019s because \u201cthere\u2019s sand on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good gracious, how terrible! Haven\u2019t they heard of shovels?<\/p>\n

But these days that\u2019s not so simple.<\/p>\n

If we are to get shovels we must publish invitations for tenders for their supply.<\/p>\n

This gives favoured cadres an opportunity to organise the supply of shovels through a company owned by another company that belongs to the under-secretary of the Putsonderbrandewijn branch of the ANC.<\/p>\n

Because of the convoluted nature of the supply chain the shovels will cost tax-payers about R3.4 billion each.<\/p>\n

This might sound like a lot of money for a shovel, but our government is taking care of the welfare of the workers and each shovel will have to be inspected by a panel of safety inspectors who have to be flown in from Gauteng, where most of the country\u2019s shovel inspectors are located.<\/p>\n

You see? These things cannot be rushed if they are to be done properly.<\/p>\n

Many tax-payers are wondering how the government will pay for the 10-million doses of vaccine they claim to have secured.<\/p>\n

Our honourable state president assures us that, \u201cTreasury has made the money available\u201d.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s comforting news but I hope the Treasury hasn\u2019t borrowed the money from the Suburban Line Shovel Fund (SLSF).<\/p>\n

That sand dune on the line gets higher every time the south-easter blows and I want to take a train trip to Simon\u2019s Town before I die.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to have a drink or two at my favourite Simon\u2019s Town pub and get home safely without having to drive.<\/p>\n

Last Laugh<\/b><\/p>\n

A scruffy hobo in dirty, tattered clothes approached a man in the shopping mall and whined: \u201ccan you spare me a few rands, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose you\u2019ll just spend it on booze,\u201d said the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo sir, I don\u2019t drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you\u2019ll probably gamble it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo sir, I never gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to come home with me then,\u201d said the shopper.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat for sir?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like my wife to see what somebody looks like who doesn\u2019t drink or gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

* “Tavern of the Seas” is a daily column written in the Cape Argus by David Biggs. Biggs can be contacted at [email protected]<\/p>\n

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. by David Biggs I sometimes think our government must be thanking their collective lucky stars for the coronavirus pandemic. It\u2019s rather like a general-purpose Donald Trump pardon. No matter what you\u2019ve done wrong, you just need to mutter: \u201cIt\u2019s because of the Covid-19 crisis,\u201d and you\u2019re off the hook. Eskom is broken, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":2895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-2896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nShovel the sand off the Simon\u2019s Town train track before it\u2019s too late - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by David Biggs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shovel the sand off the Simon\u2019s Town train track before it\u2019s too late\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by David Biggs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-22T19:06:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/01\/img-600b12e0230b1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Shovel the sand off the Simon\u2019s Town train track before it\u2019s too late\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-22T19:06:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late\"},\"wordCount\":532,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/01\/img-600b12e0230b1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/shovel-the-sand-off-the-simons-town-train-track-before-its-too-late\",\"name\":\"Shovel the sand off the Simon\u2019s Town train track before it\u2019s too late - 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