I know this is a variation on a theme I’ve touched on before, but this charming corner of the Third World has really outdone itself.
I’ve always been content to slowly boil to death like the good frog in a pot that I am, but lately the heat has been turned up several notches. The never-ending rolling blackouts have got to the point where nobody refers to power utility Eskom without appending the word “fucking” as a prefix.
The best part? The government was warned about this about thirty years ago. However, your average politician has their thumb wedged so firmly up their butt that they would risk a prolapse if they tried to remove it and do something actually useful.
Avarice
A Play in One Act by K.N. Pepper pH.D
Scene: An opulent office. GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL is seated at a desk, languidly scrolling through the “Enormous Mansions” section of a random property website. ADVISOR enters stage left, carrying a worryingly ponderous report.
ADVISOR: Uh… apologies for the interruption, but we need to start upgrading and expanding the electricity network immediately or we’ll see total grid collapse in 2023.
OFFICIAL: I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over all this money I’m flushing down the toilet.
ADVISER: But –
OFFICIAL: If I give you some of it, will you go away?
ADVISER: I couldn’t do that. It would be unethical.
OFFICIAL and ADVISER both fall over laughing.
Curtain
