I thought I would try something different this week. Please tell me what you think by writing to me at [email protected]  

Normally, I write a weekly letter to you rambling on about what’s on my mind and then segue into letting you know what the DM168 lead story is. This week, I am telling you about my five fave reads that you will find only in DM168.

FAVE STORY 1: Godongwana’s desperate bid to stop SA’s plunge off the spending cliff

This is a big-impact story by our big guns Ray Mahlaka, Caryn Dolley, Mark Heywood and Msindisi Fengu.

Why does it matter?

The Minister of Finance and Treasury have instructed government departments to cut spending because the decision to award public servants a 7.5% wage increase in 2023 (implemented from 1 April), which cost R37.4-billion to implement, was not budgeted for and now there is a big fat gaping hole in the government’s finances. 

What is the impact of this?

Well, basically, a political decision to increase wages was not budgeted for, so the money has to come from somewhere. The only way for the government to afford to pay for this is to rob the poor citizens in desperate need of service delivery, to pay the civil servants who the citizens know are not that ayoba at delivering those services. Go figure! Or, better still, go read all about it, then make your views known when you go out to vote next year. 

FAVE STORY 2: Drug syndicate linked to SA, Dr Seuss and Mexican ‘crime boss’

Caryn Dolley got back from her well-deserved break and immediately embarked on her crazed hunt for the bizarre bastards from our planet’s drug-trafficking underworld who always somehow have something to do with South Africa.

Why does it intrigue me? 

I guess my curiosity is piqued for the same reason I obsessively binge on James Spader playing that criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington in the Netflix series The Blacklist. Caryn gives us an insight into the minds of those who operate outside any notion of morality or law and who opportunistically pursue a trade that exploits the growing numbers of mentally ill, vulnerable and emotionally wounded people who turn to drug use and abuse to numb their inner pain and lack of purpose. 

FAVE STORY 3: eThekwini rates boycott prevails after meeting with mayor 

Our Durban correspondent Greg Ardé writes about the ins and outs of the Westville ratepayers’ boycott in eThekwini, and what went down when ratepayers confronted the mayor this week.

Why am I interested?

Durban is my home town and my heart just aches at the mess that city is in, in particular its water infrastructure woes caused by years of poor management and poor budget allocation by successive ANC administrations. 

It may not be legal, but I am sure, like me, many of you can relate to the Westville ratepayers’ frustration that their money is being flushed down the leaky sewerage pipes by the city’s political incompetents. 

It has got to mean something that more than 1,000 Westville ratepayers have said “enough is enough” – and risk the consequences of withholding their rates from 1 July because they do not trust the city to spend their money unsupervised. Maybe at last people’s power will mean power to the people and not the politicians who pretend to represent their interests. 

FAVE STORY 4: Bathurst food gardens help to keep the SA blues at bay

You have got to hand it to our Eastern Cape reporter Estelle Ellis. She can cover the most heartbreaking stories and then find gems of hope that just make your heart sing. 

What’s the big deal here?

This story is truly inspiring. It’s about one ordinary woman’s quest to fight off cynicism and despondency by paying it forward and backward in her surrounding rural community, failing and learning, and failing and learning, and trying again – and, through it all, making a difference, one seed at a time. It makes you realise that every little selfless bit you do does count. 

FAVE STORY 5: Maverickids – all about how to save money

This week’s Maverickids editor Suné Payne has done a fabulous job of explaining to kids why they need to save and how they can do it.

So what?

If all of you get this supplement to as many kids in your lives as possible, maybe, just maybe, the next generation will be that much better at making budgets and sticking to them – unlike our national and local governments. 

One last thing

We work in the dark and play a guessing game if we do not get your feedback. Please do us a favour and tell us what you think of DM168 and our service by answering this online survey.

The deadline is Friday, 25 August. After that, we will do a random draw and one lucky reader who fills in the survey will win a hamper of books from our Daily Maverick shop. 

Yours in defence of truth,

Heather

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29. DM168 is available for sale at all retail stores from Saturday, 19 August.