Quote of the week
It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.
Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.
The journey is part of the experience — an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca.
Mr Manyi must have realised that the DA had a point because two days later, on Wednesday 28 March, an email was sent to all government communicators which stated the following:
Dear Colleague,
A few days ago the GCIS sent you guidelines on the suggested response to the Democratic Alliance parliamentary question with respect to trips undertaken by government officials to Bloemfontein in December 2011 and January 2012. Please do not respond using the suggested guidelines until further notice. An email will be sent tomorrow morning providing clarity on way forward.
Until then, please do not respond to the question and do contact me if you have any queries.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and assure you that clarity will be provided by 09h00 tomorrow morning.
Regards
Neo Momodu
The new set of guidelines sent out this morning offers an entirely new argument as to why each ministry should not answer the set of questions posed by the DA. The old line that only officials who “happened” to be in Bloemfontein attended the celebration and that that those who did would somehow gain “humility” from the experience is gone. The new line is that “a number of state agencies and departments were mandated to make preparations as part of the courtesies extended to any President/Head of State visiting a country.” It adds that “officials from different departments were deployed to ensure the smooth running of the event.” – Press statement by Wilmot James about the use of state resources for the ANC centenary party.
