Transnet's special schmooze unit

ONCE again Engineering News has shown it is the only publication in the country capable of writing anything sensible about the oil industry. Instead of publishing appallingly amateurish gunk like most daily newspapers, it takes the trouble to assign real journalists, rather than half-trained, semi-literates. But does the oil industry take note and brief Engineering News accordingly? Does it, my eye! Following up the continuing pipeline saga, Engineering News reports that the projected cost of the new Transnet pipeline has jumped to R11,5 billion, significantly up from the original R9 billion. No real surprise since bureaucratic delays still seem to be getting in the way of action. The truly crazy thing is that although everyone knows that the pipeline is absolutely essential to the economy, Transnet still needs a licence. In other words, bureaucrats who don't know are once again getting in the way of those who do -- at the taxpayers' expense. Maria Ramos the Transnet CEO is forced to use polite phrases like "regulatory uncertainty" to describe this obfuscation. It all goes to prove what we all know that our civil servants are neither civil nor servile. To add insult to injury, Transnet has now had to set up a special "executive-level unit" to "manage its relationship with the various economic regulators governing Transnet businesses." Translated, this means the setting up of a group of highly-paid individuals whose job it will be to schmooze bureaucrats into making the right decision. It makes Spigot weep.