FRED KHUMALO: Count your blessings
I realised that though I was not rich enough or connected enough to land tickets to the Mandela 100 music festival, I could afford to dine out
So President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has increased his country’s minimum wage by 150% — the sixth readjustment this year. I was green with envy until I learnt that the latest jump takes the monthly minimum wage to about $50. Inflation in that country is so rampant it skyrocketed to 1,350,000% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. But the latest figure is an improvement on past performance. The previous number had so many zeros Jacob Zuma would have been in trouble: "Eh, hundred and eleventeen thousand million trillion and, eh … listen carefully now." Looking at the dire economic situation in Venezuela I was happy to be a South African. Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves. We whine too much. Yes, it is our right to complain. Only through raising hell are we able to get the politicians off their fat behinds. And, yes, there are many things to complain about — corruption, crime, negligent drivers — but judged by international standards we still have a lot to c...
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