Well today we have been told that our situation in this country is about to get worse - much worse. I guess this is nothing unexpected but I thought they wouldn’t be so “in your face” about it, particularly when people are rioting over many of these issues!

From next month we are told to expect another 40 cents rise in petrol and diesel. This is going to make food costs spiral as well. There is also going to be another interest rate hike which is going to affect everything again.

There is talk of the government increasing tax for middle income earners again and possibly a new increase in property taxes. As usual it is the middle class that is going to be hard hit.

Eskom has come out saying that we should expect wide spread load shedding during this winter and they warn that many of these could be unexpected as they won’t be able to keep up with demand.

We are heading for bad days in South Africa. We are going to have more people starving to death, dying of cold because they don’t have electricity and people being evicted from their homes.

But there is going to be another possible effect: the township populace are not going to react well with all this bad news. If we think that what is happening with the foreigners is bad, what is in store is going to be much worse! It wouldn’t surprise me if we are heading for a civil war…

Petrol price is going to increase ’substantially’ again in May according to the minerals and energy department. We are looking at an increase of perhaps up to 50 cents at least.

Funnily enough this announcement comes just when the Central Energy Fund (CEF) is closed for the week and they have said that all queries should be directed to the department of minerals and energy.

The increase is to recoup about R3-billion not passed on to the motorist in previous price adjustments - or so they tell us.

It is about time that the government scrapped this stupid legislation and allow petrol companies to compete in a fair and open market! Supermarket chains should also be allowed to discount petrol if they see fit. That is what free enterprise is all about.

Why do we just stand idly by while our incomes are raped by an incompetent government? I am pretty sure that the price increase is probably to pay for the massive bonuses that the hierarchy will probably receive shortly. I am sick of being screwed over each year by these people! Aren’t the people of South Africa suffering enough without doing this? Petrol increases = food increases = even less money to spend = increase in crime. Remember most of South Africa are living below the poverty line!

Following an article on IOL questioning whether the price increases were due to a lack of money or a lack of management, we hear today that the National Electricity Regulator (Nersa) is officially investigating Eskom.

The focus of the investigation is regarding the January load shedding and their unplanned maintenance of their generators. If they are found to violate their license agreement, they could face fines of up to R2-million per day.

In addition, they will be looking at the public submissions on Eskom’s application for the 53% price increase. Nersa is expected to make their decision by 6 June.

After speaking to a number of people, although they welcome the investigation, they do not feel confident that the truth will emerge or be made public. I must admit that I do not have great confidence either. We all know that public submissions these days have pretty much been disregarded - just look at the road name change fiasco’s in KZN.

One of the biggest problems these days is the publics lack of confidence that their voices are being heard. People are feeling that they are being ignored and that the media in particular are not fighting for the issues very strongly. People also feel that the powers that be just shove through their agenda whether we like it or not. I totally agree.

It is about time that government and public bodies realise that they are meant to be the servants of the people. They are meant to represent the people of their constituency and to fight for the things that those people want. They are not there to ignore the people and do as they please. As soon as they ignore the people they are meant to represent, we have ceased to be a proper democracy and moved over into the realms of repression. Isn’t it funny that this repression is a communist idea and most of the government are communist sympathizers?

I just can’t believe the mentality of some of the big South African companies and ex-para-statals. How can they in good conscience give themselves multi-million Rand bonuses each year when the company doesn’t perform?

The first big one this year was of course Eskom. Despite load shedding, bad management and basically screwing up our electric infrastructure, the top management were awarded huge ‘performance’ bonuses.

Now we hear that SAA is doing the same thing. Top management will receive an estimated R72-million in bonuses this year. For what?

SAA has one of the worst rates of baggage loss, damage and pilfering in the world. They have frozen the salaries of workers and recently threatened mass retrenchments. This is on top of an increasing loss of revenue! How can these management types expect these bonuses?

Certain South African companies now have this culture where bonuses are expected and not earned. Does this come from being old para-statal companies? I have no idea but it is almost laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Unfortunately we have become a country where people think they are ‘entitled’ to everything - whether it is deserved or not. This is merely a form of legal corruption.

It is about time that workers and citizens stand up against these greedy people. Every worker in SAA should go on strike until either everyone gets bonuses, management explains why they deserve bonuses, or at the very least the bonus money is used to improve the working conditions.

However, unfortunately, most people are just to apathetic to get off their bums and do something, which will merely perpetuate this culture of ‘give me’.