Momentous Things are Happening

The National State of Disaster for Covid-19 ended on a midnight on 5 April.  After 750 days, according to the Daily Maverick.  After 739 days, according to me.  Over such disagreements are Twitter Wars started and friendships ended.  Heck, in "Gulliver's Travels" two countries went to war over which end of a boiled egg –the sharp end or the big end– people should open!

So, to be accurate, then: The Declaration of a National State of Disaster was dated 15 March 2020. If we don't count that day itself, then 750 days is correct ("are correct"?  I'm never sure).  But the Regulations only came into force on 27 March 2020.  That's where my 739 days come from.  For a transitional period, some regulations remain for 30 more days, until 5 May.

These include wearing masks in indoor public areas like shopping centres. All shops and businesses can operate normally, but with restrictions on the number of people at a time.  We'll all be glad to be back to no mask-wearing this coming month.  And back to being embarrassed when we fail to recognise our friends when shopping.

Well, now we have another National State of Disaster, this time for the KZN floods. Measures to alleviate the floods must be applauded.  But when the dust or, rather, mud, settles, who will be held accountable?  Climate Change certainly had its impact, but floods there are not that rare.  Did municipal authorities keep waterways open?  Did they turn a blind eye to people building on flood plains and unstable slopes?  Municipal negligence costs lives too.

Then there is the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.  It's two months in, with horrendous destruction and deaths, and no sign of a resolution.  Except the UN Resolutions that our government won't support.  While we can't affect the war directly, we can deplore our government's failure to at least condemn Russia's deliberate attacks on civilians, hospitals and schools. This is an attack by a dictatorship on a sovereign democratic country!  It should be obvious that we should not side with the aggressor.  Yet our government supports dictatorships, while opposing the democracies who buy most of our products.

Odd Jobs:  Back to top

Broker, definition: someone who makes you broke.

Another Mondegreen

“Money for nothin’ and your chips for free”.

Correct lyric: “Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free” from Dire Straits’ ‘Money For Nothing’.

New on the Block, Movers and Shakers  Back to top

• Panarottis Italian Restaurant, Shop 43, Upper Level in Morning Glen Mall – Family Dining with a kiddies play park. Open every day 09:00–21:00 except Christmas.
• Fashion Co, Shop 44, Upper Level in Morning Glen Mall – Clothing" for women.
• Workwear Outlet, Shop B, Upper Level in Woodmead Value Mart – Protective clothing, overalls, gloves, boots, etc.
• Crocs, Upper Level in Woodmead Value Mart – Crocs footwear. Open Mon–Fri 09:00 - 18:00, Sat 09:00 - 17:00, Sun / Holidays 09:00 - 15:00.
• Crossover, Upper Level in Woodmead Value Mart – Luxury lifestyle and denim experience that stocks exclusive well known international brands such as Roberto Botticelli, Diesel, Kaporal, Replay, Vialli, Cruyff and Palladium.
• Mugg & Bean, Upper Level in Woodmead Value Mart – Restaurant. All-day breakfast, light meals, toasted sandwiches and snacks. Generous portions and bottomless coffee. Open Mon–Fri 06:00-17:00, Sat 07:00-12:00.

News from The Future

It's May in the year 2030.  Some random headlines:

• Former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo delivers Part 37 of the State Capture Report, is granted a six-month extension on the rest. NPA eager to start prosecuting once it has studied the final report.
• Eskom announces Load Shedding Stage 16 due to wet coal.
• Putin defiant as Ukrainian forces reach the outskirts of Moscow.
• The Rand rallies to R30 to the US Dollar.
• Political pundits confidently predict that the ANC government of President Hlaudi Motsoeneng will lose the 2034 General Election.

Thought for the Week:

We are all boerewors.
The boerewors sausage is mince and spices in a hog casing.  when you eat one, all you are doing is changing the casing.

Tired of Google Spying on You?

When you sign up for a website, you're often presented with a "Terms of Service" that outlines how your data is collected and used. But, did you know that all that information about you, that you work so hard to protect, is rarely ever your exclusive legal property?

Most websites demand a perpetual license to your information, with rights to use it as they see fit. Some websites even grant themselves the right to sell your data individually, or even use your personal photos in advertisements for their service, all without your permission!

The site "Terms of Service; Didn't Read" (ToS;DR) helps to summarize and rate terms of services for popular sites. DuckDuckGo uses their ratings as part of the Privacy Grade shown for websites in their app and browser extension. As an example of the ToS;DR ratings, look at DuckDuckGo compared to Google

Try DuckDuckGo as an alternative, more private, search engine.

Destroyed:  Back to top

• Birkenstock in Woodmead Value Mart – Shoe shop - men's and ladies'.
• Fossil Outlet Woodmead, Shop H in Woodmead Value Mart – Swiss-made Fossil watches, bags and accessories. Was Upper Level.
• 082 Car Wash, Shop X in Woodmead Value Mart – Was in the car park, southwest corner (towards Macro).
• Steers and Fish Aways, Shop M in Woodmead Value Martt – steak, burgers, grills, and fish. Was Upper Level.
• Trappers, Shop B in Woodmead Value Mart – Outdoor clothes, tents, boots, jackets, Omni-Shield™ raingear. Columbia international unisex sportswear, Was Upper Level.
• Body Fuel Express, Shop 03 in Petervale Shopping Centre – Filtered water, juice, frozen yoghurt, spices, energy drinks, just-fizz cooldrinks, rooibos infused ice-teas, water filters.
• Maskscara Nails - Sandton, Shop 04 in Petervale Shopping Centre – Nail salon.
• Plus 233 Barber and Beauty Shop, Shop 67 in Morning Glen Mall – Was Upper Level. Hair relaxing/retouching, fix lace wigs, hair treatment, colour highlights, cut-&-blow waves, twist & braiding.
• Leesk, Shop 44 in Morning Glen Mall – "Authentic clothing" for women and men. Was Upper Level.

You know you're South African if...

If Eskom hasn't announced an outage for 2–3 weeks, you wonder what the problem is, and start to miss load shedding.

POPIA: Update on The Information Regulator

The Information Regulator (South Africa) has, probably wisely, apparently abandoned its old website at the Dept. of Justice (www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/), which now redirects to their new site, https://inforegulator.org.za/.  That is probably the good news.

The bad news is that, well over 9 months since the POPI Act came into force on 1 July 2021, they still do not have an online process to register Information Officers.

The slightly better news is that they do claim to respond to registrations by email.  We are still waiting for an acknowledgement of our application prior to 1 July 2021, but let's try again... we'll report back on whether they do indeed respond.

If you would like to try too, and tell us of your experience, here are the steps:

1. Download the registration form obtainable somewhere on www.inforegulator.org.za (but not easy to find!)
2. Complete the form.
3. email it to Registration.IO@inforegulator.org.za
4. Within 7 days (they say) you should receive acknowledgment for registration and, an unspecified time later,
5. Receive the registration certificate with a reference number.

Overheard at the Checkout

"Did you see the news?  Our Defence Force is in really bad shape."

"Does it matter?  Nobody is going to invade us."

"What about Russia?"

"They wouldn't dare!"

"Why not?

"Everyone knows: In Africa, we EAT Russians!"