All’s well that ends well.
Things certainly ended well for Nathan Ganas’ widow, Denise, this week, but for Momentum it’s far from over. The insurance company has a lot of work to do to clean up the egg on its brand face.
The waves of national outrage in reaction to our tenacious chief reporter Tanya Waterworth’s story and follow-ups were astounding. And it was good to see Momentum finally come to its senses before Julius Malema and co marched to its offices.
Things also ended well in court for the Xolobeni community in the Eastern Cape. The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that there couldn’t be any mining in the area without a full agreement with the local community.
While Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe is unhappy with the verdict, it signals a welcome end to unscrupulous, blast-and-run mining that has left many communities with serious environmental and societal damage, and nothing to show for it.
But that’s all that ended well this week. Not the mini cabinet reshuffle-cum-recycling with some teeny weeny trimming that left me, and I’m sure millions other long-suffering South Africans, disappointed.
I expected a slashing of the number of ministries and a minibusload of old cadres to be shown the door.
President Cyril Ramaphosa needed to send a message to everyone, including investors, that he means business, that the new dawn is still alive.
Another disappointment was the repo rate increase that soured Black Friday for many of us in debt. Eish!