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Something fishy about McBride's search f... Changing the role of the Reserve Bank a ... |
Something fishy about McBride's search for fresh LM prawnsTHERE are many people who consider that Robert McBride is extremely lucky not to be languishing in a South African prison. The fact that he is also a senior official of the SA government merely adds to the amazement. McBride, you may remember, was convicted of the Magoo's Bar bombing in Durban. It was a particularly cowardly act of terrorism as the place was hardly a military installation and posed no threat to the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. Perhaps it was just the prospect of blowing a few innocent citizens with white skins to smithereens that appealed. In the many nefarious and shady dealings that lead to the 1994 election, McBride (who was on death row) was used as a bargaining chip by the outgoing administration and his freedom was traded for that of Barend Strydom, an equally repulsive individual whose crimes were thought to nicely balance those of McBride. McBride is back in the news because he has been arrested for running away from the Mozambican police on suspicion of being involved in gun-running. The Irish Sunday Times has even suggested McBride may have links with the IRA, an allegation his wife Paula has strenuously denied, saying she and her husband, like Gerry Adams, support the peace protest. Perhaps it's just his misfortune to have an Irish surname, but if any links between a South African official and the IRA are established it should do wonders for Anglo-South African relations. McBride is currently a Foreign Affairs director in charge of the Asian desk so clearly geography is not one of his strengths if he was arrested in Mozambique. However, with the job comes a valuable diplomatic passport which allows the user to slip in and out of countries unchallenged. It's perfectly possible, I suppose, that McBride suddenly felt the urge to eat some fresh LM prawns and decided to push off for a few days on his own with more than half his annual travel allowance (R55 000 in $US) about his person. It does seem rather unlikely, though, as does his wife's imaginative explanation that he was engaged in a private, one-man investigation into gun-running between Mozambique and South Africa. Perhaps other government officials are also conducting private investigations into drug smuggling, child pornography, car-hijacking or any of the other criminal activities that have proliferated since the ANC came to power. It's at times like this that the government probably wish they had a team of spin-doctors to offer the meddlesome media a plausible explanation. Like their medical counterparts, the spin-doctors also have to take an oath. Only, in their case, it is the "hypocritic oath". They have to promise to suppress any information which could damage a politician's ability to further milk the public coffers. If that fails, they have to resort to a system of elaborate lies and hope something else will happen to distract the media's attention from the issues and good spin-doctors will often engineer a publicity stunt, usually involving the Spice Girls. The SA government is still fairly primitive in its responses whenever it gets caught with its pants about its ankles. The normal knee-jerk reaction is still to deny everything until the overwhelming weight of evidence makes it blatantly obvious that a politician is telling a whopping lie. They then resort to plan B, which is to accuse their critics of racism. With that excuse looking a little threadbare and with our politicians keen to maximise the advantages of office, I predict spin-doctors will become a regular feature of SA life before too long.
Last December I wrote a small piece about the environmental rape taking place on the banks of the Vaal. Sasol was proposing to extend its mining operations along the river, disturbing a delicate eco-system and making life unpleasant for local property owners. The article attracted a few letters, one of which accused me of having been bought lunch by someone opposing the development. I know every man is supposed to have his price but I would like to think mine is substantially higher than the price of a lunch. Anyway, the good news is that on March 5 the High Court set aside the authorisation permitting Sasol to mine coal in the area.
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