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I have written previously about the tendency of some countries, with their laws, some of which are based on very sensible approaches to unfairness in the past, to chase away many of their successful people. South Africa has quite a few such laws and when I write for example of new wealth taxes, chasing away Doctors or people like that, it is very easy for people to say that that is not an issue, new people will just rise up and take those jobs. The problem is you lose experience and it is amazing to watch how politicians, who make up these laws, make choices about their own health.
One only must look at, for example, Zimbabwe and its leader Robert Mugabe. He has had a series of absolute disastrous laws in Zimbabwe, including the confiscation and handing over of all the farms to people who did not farm them properly, which led to large scale drought and the economy collapsing. When it comes time though for Robert Mugabe to get medical treatment he does not, like the rest of his country, have to worry about the fact that a long time ago all the leading medical specialists left Zimbabwe and have never been replaced, because they are not looked after in that country. Oh no, in his case, like the dictators of many African countries, he simply gets on a plane and goes and gets medical treatment in other countries. In other words, his health is too precious to put in the hands of the same people he would expect to look after his own people.
Political leaders never pay the price of the policies they implement. The implement populist policies or things that suit them for their country, they let them fall apart, but they don’t get medical treatment in their own country and they invariably don’t keep their wealth in their own country either. Zimbabwe is a wonderful example to learn from, a warning for any country before it implements one disastrous policy after another and it is a bit of a tragedy that some, in particular Julius Malema of the EFF, actually thinks it is a success story.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Friday 31-Mar-17
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Brenda Du Toit said:
on Tuesday 11-Apr-17 03:39 PM
Hopefully South Africa does not become the next Zimbabwe.Its Sad to see where our country is going to .People must start to wake up and make a change in their country.
Liz said:
on Wednesday 05-Apr-17 09:45 AM
This is the sad reality of many of todays political leaders. Integrity and honesty are characteristics severely lacking, and their forever unsatisfied hunger for wealth and power override any commitment they may have to their country and people.
brumilde said:
on Wednesday 05-Apr-17 09:37 AM
Yeah another awesome law for SA... i can moan here as much as i want ,,, not going to help . these people are idiots and the people that vote for them to put them in charge are idiots. in the land of the blind the one eye man is king.. or something like that. we should learn and grw. but the crap these politicians are getting away with.
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Wednesday 05-Apr-17 09:14 AM
This is actually quite infuriating. Why are selfish people placed in power. When you become president your sole goal and focus must be for your country. The leaders of today have one goal and one goal only. Self benefit. They are destroying beautiful countries for self gain and when they have destroyed everything and taken advantage of every citizen in their country, the people are left to suffer while they have the luxury to fly anywhere they want to to get whatever THEY need. All I can say is.... God help us, because we are now in a lot of trouble.
Lourien said:
on Tuesday 04-Apr-17 12:30 PM
When politicians make new laws, they only think about their situation at that specific time and not focusing on the future of the country or the people working in the country. Making a living is hard especially when you need to pay people working for you and now the "tax man" is just taking another chuck out of your profit due to the latest law that was implemented. Doctors and farmers are some of the basic people we need in our country to make a living and they are all leaving due to all these laws. I agree with the fact that political leaders are not affected by the policies they implement. Our country has now also received junk status which is a more worrying factor but this is due to the people in charge of the country that have not even received proper education.
Nikita said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 04:15 PM
The government clearly does not appreciate how important some of these professions are to a country. Our teachers, doctors and nurses who are not privately employed are for the most part really badly paid professions leaving us with really bad quality candidates for some of the most important positions in our economy. Its a vicious circle.
tersia said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 03:08 PM
Unfortunately our country is going the exact same route as Zimbabwe. It doesn't even surprise me that they would of course not seek medical help from their own country. They know the damage they have done and the great people they have chased away, but would never admit or try to rectify the situation. One can only hope that people will soon enough wake up and make a change in their country.
Sarah said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 02:54 PM
Our country is a beautiful place and I just hope one day we a someone to run it that actually cares about the people and the country . When will all this just stop?
Jessica M said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 02:53 PM
Oh Julius must be very happy as he is one of the rich so 45% of his money will also be taxed, or maybe it won't after all he is Julius and the law doesn't apply to him. I find it sad that we heading the same way as Zimbabwe. When will people wake up....
Liesl said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 09:28 AM
Michelle Obama said something in one of her speeches that went along the lines of "power does not make you who you are, it REVEALS who you are" and that rings true for me in every aspect of life not just for a president of a country.
Henrietta said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 09:19 AM
It is sad and ridiculous the state in which Zimbabwe is and I really hope that we do not follow. It's silly to chase away the talent and then have to rely on people outside of you country with your health it just goes to show how bad the country really is. Hopefully South Africa does not become the next Zimbabwe.
Alexis said:
on Saturday 01-Apr-17 09:55 AM
People are to learn from the mistakes of the past....in our case we are repeating the mistake of others. The problem is, and I have said before, that they do not care. As long as they are sorted, who cares about the people whom actually matter. It is very sickening to see a beautiful country being destroyed as this country is being. Change needs to come, but when is the question, I am worried that when it is too late!
Joyce said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 05:53 PM
I think chasing away the successful people is not a good idea, the lesson should be learned from our neighbour country which tried that and now facing consequences
Prishani said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 05:32 PM
This is so disturbing but a sad and true reality many politicians don't ever have to face the harsh consequences of their actions but yet they expect the people of their country to suffer and bear the costs. Most of these politicians need to sit down and seriously consider what a real leader is!
Thabitha said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 05:25 PM
What is wrong with these old man, when they need medical help they must not be given help especially Mogabe he must stay in his country with no doctor’s and Talent
Jadine Esterhuizen said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 04:07 PM
Its the same people you need the most you chase away. Take our country for example. Finance minister's situation..but yet he was the person that cared more about the citizens and their financial well being than what the president ever did.........
Michelle said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 04:01 PM
The leaders of the country think that at that moment their plans will make a huge difference in a positive way. Once they see it is not working out it is too late, and then they will never be the ones to be blamed. I think these people only want to get recognised and they don't think of the effect it will have on the people of the country. One bizarre decision can lead to big problems for the future. We must just hope and pray for a leader that knows what he/she is doing.
Jolene said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 04:01 PM
This is just another example that people in high positions think they are better than other. I bet if Mugabe had to go to his local clinic, if it even still existed, he would have been horrified but it is easier to turn a blind eye and hop on a plane and get excellent medical treatment elsewhere.
Melissa said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 03:58 PM
Everyone must stand together and help each other where needed. People must stop thinking that they are better than others. Like things are looking now it is just going to get worse
Daniella said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 01:12 PM
Its quite sad actually that Robert Mugabe, the person who is solely liable for the well being of his Country regarding their health facilities. Ruined them all which resulted in leaving his Country with insufficient health care, Yet he can just hop onto a plane no problem. Not experiencing the problems that he has caused.
Angelique P said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 12:19 PM
I hate it when people think they are better than other people. Just shows you how much he cares for his people and the country. Everybody must be treated the same way.
If South Africa is going to be run by the same people we are going to be the next Zimbabwe.
You can't expect South Africa to be a success if the people that are in charge only think about think themselves.
Our president only do what he wants so that he and his staff can benefit from it. This is a JOKE how can you expect other countries must take us seriously if they go on like this.
This topic makes me so negative because no one can do anything about it. We need change!
Bianca said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 11:27 AM
I believe strongly that our political leaders and in particular our president do not realize the consequences of implementing such policies and laws and the ripple affect that is has. We have and are going to continue to loose some great business people, doctors and other professionals due to the wealth taxes and even more as a result of absolutely silly decisions like firing our finance minister. When the news broke of the suspicion of him being fired, the Rand took an absolute beating and then stabilized in a sense and when he was confirmed as being fired, the Rand fell some more. It is crazy how this is impacting our country and economic growth but it only seems to be the citizens that are concerned and not our political leaders.... Something is wrong... Professionals that add value to society and the economic value to the country are going to continue to emigrate to another country where their wealth and knowledge is appreciated and not abused.
Suzanne said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 10:37 AM
Shocking! You can't receive adequate training if there is no one to train you. You will never have the same level of expertise and every generation's skill set will deteriorate. People like this do not care because it will not effect them directly, they can just up and go and receive medical and other services somewhere else.
Mathilda said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:56 AM
It’s not even funny anymore how our President does stuff its getting ridiculous
Today we heard about the Cabinet reshuffle the new people he appointed in that positions is something to laugh about no wonder the Rand already took a punch
It’s as if he wants our country to go to nothing
Juliet said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:41 AM
If the talent leaves, the new talent has no one to learn from in any event which leads to a disaster. Carte Blanche had a show recently emphasizing another pushing factor making experts flee the country and that is the high insurance medical practitioners have to pay obviously due to increasing medical negligence claims.
Jadine Richards said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:31 AM
South Africa has a had a miraculous way of self-recovery in the past. I'm not exactly sure what this could be attributed to but we do seem to be able to pull ourselves back to a relatively stable position after disastrous periods. However, I am not optimistic about our future prospects of success in this particular situation. Zupta's recent actions compounded with past decisions may just be the straw that breaks the camels back. Today is a sad day for this country.
Clare said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:30 AM
I was told not to give up on our country things will get better but I don't know when. Everyday is getting harder and harder to stay here. if its not Zuma it is Julius Malema really can all this stuff just stop.
Zanell said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:25 AM
it is the sad reality we live in, I don't think this will ever change in actual fact in any Country, its just how the cookie crumbles...
Helen said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:01 AM
I would be proud of my own country I build, but defiantly not Robert Mugabe, he does not trust his own rules and policies he implemented in his own country. This blog is so true, even in South Africa right now majority of politicians sending their kids study overseas and maybe even immigrate after some time. Why? They probably trust that South African educational system is not very strong and they are more opportunities for their kids overseas.The same time their own people struggle to get in to schools, because we do not have enough schools to accommodate all the kids and with the poor financing of education - some of the schools are in the terrible condition. So sad to say but if our president and his team will not change their ways of running their own country they should be proud of, we will all face Robert Mugabe fairs.......
Jessica Apfel said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 08:52 AM
I think we should have a sense of optimism and learn from Zimbabwe's 'failures'. I dont think it is fair to soley concentrate on the pitfalls on one such country when clearly this plagues most Africa! Land reforms are evident within our own country and we should brace for the effect. That being said, Zuma just recently reshuffled the cabinet and he will 'never pay the price of the policies he implements'
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
