Feathers fly over hot food cock-up
A government ban on the sale of cooked chickens has awakened revolutionary fervour in South Africans – especially those who shop at Woolworths
Picture the scene. A small bedroom, clothes strewn over the floor. A cracked mirror hangs askew on the wall, and a naked lightbulb dangles above an unmade bed. At the foot of the bed sits a slovenly man with a shock of uncombed hair, staring at the window. On the windowsill stands a chicken, staring back. The caption reads: "The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression."I was irresistibly reminded of this classic Gary Larson cartoon when the Great Chicken Wars erupted in the third week of lockdown. People who had heroically soldiered on for the first few weeks, eking out a miserable existence with precooked meals, the odd Lindt chocolate ball and the dregs of their wine cellar were suddenly asked to make yet another Great Sacrifice. No preroasted rotisserie chicken from Woolworths!Yes, in a fit of pique the government, in the person of trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel, announced that the fast-food sections in supermarkets a...
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