Weekend weather: As cold inside the ANC as outside, with no money

It looks as if it’s going to be a cold and windy weekend for Gauteng, as the warmer sunny days disappear into overcast and chilly climes by Saturday.

It’s as if the weather’s paired with what sentiment must be like at ANC offices countrywide, where staff have not been paid for some time, joining comrades in state-owned companies who continue hovering between whether they will be able to put food on the table anytime soon, or not.

Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni’s weather will see some areas get super cold with temperatures approaching zero on the minimum side and around 26-28 degrees Celsius by day. The difference in temperature is as vast as the chasm between President Cyril Ramaphosa and his nemesis Ace Magashule, who in July tweeted Jacob Zuma, saying he should be strong, things will get better and that “it might be story [sic] now, but it can’t rain forever”.

The former president has since been hospitalised at a secret location. This weekend, Estcourt and its surrounds may see a twinkle of snow.

Twitter’s always a great place to measure the mercury in the nation’s temperament and, just as we all love talking about the weather, tweets by the overtly garrulous and self-important twitterati is an endless source of inconsequential entertainment.

An ANC strike is irresistible material for the EFF and Julius Malema’s sidekick Floyd Shivambu couldn’t help himself this week, weighing in and commenting “Wildcat strike? Workers are not paid for three months and a dismissive reaction from the dying organisation is to characterise workers’ legitimate demands as wildcat strike? They must close their offices forever!!”

Shivambu was quickly shushed by a few users, with one notable comment telling him off: “You must concern yourself with the people who lost their monies in the collapse of VBS [Mutual Bank]. Don’t pretend to care about the ANC workers.”

Seems he left it to other tweeters to defend him, but that didn’t really pan out, just like his leader’s personal choice silence on whether he has been vaccinated or not.

Yet, Malema at least encouraged others to do so.

At least Polokwane’s weather and much of Limpopo will be toasty with highs around 28 degree Celsius this weekend.

The Eastern Cape will be mild with some rain forecast for the Gqeberha area. There will be no snowy weather though, despite Democratic Alliance (DA) rainmaker John Steenhuisen promising that the high unemployment rate in the area can be remedied with a vote for the party in the maybe-maybe-not municipal elections later this year.

The DA quoted him on Twitter bemoaning an unemployment rate of 44.4% in Nelson Mandela Bay. He said the metro’s “5-year roller coaster ride is a cautionary tale to voters hoping to turn the tide on SA’s jobs bloodbath. In the upcoming elections,” he said, “a vote for the SA will be a vote for jobs.”

Local government elections are traditionally contested on service delivery such as garbage removal, potholes and sewage, with ratepayers voting in the belief that someone will get the trash collected on time or take up the charge on community issues in council.

Politics is not a magic wand and while it’s as rational as the weather patterns, thunderstorms produce rain while political rhetoric just leaves a bad aftertaste.

Weather supplied by the People’s Weather Channel.