The diary of a former drifter

It should be a crime for anyone who calls themselves a blogger to neglect their forum for so long. I do apologise. If there's the smallest possibility that I have regular readers, take solace in the fact that I do feel the same amount of guilt as I did when in high school I didn't write in my diary for a week. I'm back and I hope to continue entertaining you as best as I can.

I do have some exciting news as to why I have been MIA for so long. For those of you who are new to this blog let me catch you up on the latest happenings that are important. Since 10 April, I've been freelancing at Woman & Home magazine. But not the kind of freelancing that allows me to backpack through South Africa writing about where I've been and the people I've met. I was helping them out in the office with bits and pieces like fact-checking articles. I had been seated at the Beauty Editor's desk, before they'd hired Ashleigh and some of my regular readers might remember my hesitation in making that desk my own. Then Ashleigh arrived and the game of musical chairs began. I packed the lid of a Mondi Rotatrim paper box and like a drifter I didn't develop any ties to my new surroundings. My next destination was a former features writer's desk. The new features writer would be starting soon, so I made no plans to lay down roots. I was now being confirmed from week to week now, as opposed to monthly. This might sound scary to some in today's economy, but I embraced my inner nomad.

It was Thursday and the new features writer, Karishma, was arriving the following Monday. I spoke to the assistant editor about being confirmed for the upcoming week, but I was unsure of where I'd be moving to next. As of Monday, there weren't any desks left open in the office.

Whilst working on some fact checking, I was called over to the board room. I'm such a nervous personality amd I immediately started to sweat. I'll never forget my interview for school prefect. As I got up to leave the interview, I noticed an enormous amount of residue left on the plastic seat. To this day, I feel sorry for the poor soul who had to sit in that chair after me. The chairs in the Woman & Home boardroom are plastic too, but thankfully I was wearing a winter outfit, so I'd have some safety absorption layers if the flood gates were to open.

Luckily the meeting didn't take too long and after about 10 minutes I had been offered a permanent position as a features writer. Halala! I was still going to be living out of my Mondi lid, but I had a job. My desk was on it's way, but until then I was still playing musical chairs. I got the chance to inhabit my assistant editor's throne of a chair which was amazing. I also got a feel for the production desk, but it's about as functional as Apple iOS6 maps. It's a desk meant for scanning and that's it.

I now have my own desk which anyone is more than welcome to tour. If you're feeling really generous, you can always send a desk warming gift. Hint: a stationary tray is at the top f my wish list. In my bottom draw I keep a selection of teas. My extensive two tea collection includes Lipton's yellow label and green tea. My trusty tissue box has migrated with me and even though my desk is lacking in space, it has pride of place.

As of today, I've been at Woman & Home for three months and I've been permanent for a month. So I'm all grown up with a reasonable tax deduction at the end of every month and 15 days annual leave. Halala!

Tax, Honesty and Steve Tshwete

So I'm in a bitching mood. But I think I have every right to be after I discovered casual labour, like myself, get taxed 25%. I'm barely earning the minimum taxable income annually to pay tax with a job that is not secure, but I have to be deducted 25%. My own assumption is it's an unfair tax law in place to weed out fraud. But when it is my only source of income, I get a little upset. You might argue that I should count my lucky stars that I still live at home and my parental unit covers a lot of my expenses. And yes. I do count myself lucky, but I think it's an unfair tax law for those who don't have their parents as a safety net. By the way, Sars, I'm still waiting for an answer to my query with regards to my 25% monthly deduction.

We just had the auction of Julius Malema's fabulous home. It knocked off R5.9 million off of Malema's R16 million debt to Sars. My issue is how did this bill get so large? How was he allowed to total up such a ridiculous amount? And if you think R16 million owed to the tax man is shocking, the late Lolly Jackson seems to be the king pin of tax evasion. With R100 million tax bill, I'm slightly peeved that 25% of my measly salary gets taken away.

So what's the lesson here, kids? I need to find a freelancers union.

On to my next gripe. Why can't we just be honest? That already sounds naive and pathetic. But wouldn't it be easier? Wouldn't you save yourself some embarrassment? Look at our police commissioner Riah Phiyega. Her cross-examination at the Marikana Commission in April is the perfect example of where one should be honest. Her answers have been criticised as obvious attempts to avoid the questions. I find it incredibly upsetting this Marikana Massacre has not been taken seriously. Grow a back bone. Accept responsibility. People will respect you more for your honesty than your ability to dance around your answers and weave a response so riddled with over used euphemisms and clichés.

Guptagate has set the nation on fire and not long before that we had the Nkandla-gate scandal. All I hear are crickets. No one is willing to take the fall. And I'm not talking about the sacrificial scape goat. I'm talking about someone standing up and of their own free-will, directed by what's left of this country's moral compass, and saying, "It was me. I'm sorry." I'm tired of hearing I don't know and rehashed lines of Shaggy's 'It wasn't me'.

 

The Zambian deputy president's comments about our world class African country were refreshing. For once someone was honest, granted Guy Scott could have put a little more thought into the construction of such a statement. But for once someone put themselves out there and was honest.

I promised in my Customer Experience blog that if I moaned about something, I would include a compliment. Well for today's post, I'd like to follow David O'Sullivan's lead and compliment the Steve Tshwete Municipality. Surprise! It's not in the Western Cape! Located in Mpumalanga, this municipality has received a clean audit and they did this through depoliticising their administration. Leave your political affiliation at the door and do the job. Well done.