Martin

[Khangisa (Prof. ) @Siyakhangisa]

Ramaphosa launched the Final Revised White Paper on Local Government today at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni.

His central line:

"We cannot build our way out of failure if we do not maintain what we have already built."

The new rule: revenue from electricity and water sales will be ring-fenced for infrastructure maintenance before anything else. No more diverting utility revenue to other municipal functions.

Here is what this actually means.

For decades, municipalities have been using electricity and water revenue as a general fund. That money was supposed to maintain the pipes, the substations, the pump stations. Instead it went elsewhere. The infrastructure decayed while the revenue disappeared.

The White Paper changes the model. One size does not fit all anymore. Powers and functions will be linked to a municipality's size, capability, and performance. If a council cannot deliver, functions move regionally or through concessions.

There is also compulsory licensing for service providers. Separation of service authority and service provider roles. Stronger regulation of water and electricity.

Now connect this to what happened this week.

Tshwane ran without chlorine for three weeks. 408 people sick. Pretoria CBD now under boil-water advisory after a sewer burst. Bronkhorstspruit. The same city. Two water failures in one week.

Why did the chlorine run out? Because the revenue that should have maintained the supply chain went somewhere else.

Why did the sewer burst compromise the water system? Because the infrastructure was not maintained.

The White Paper does not fix what happened this week. It prevents the next municipality from saying the same thing.

But the enforcement question remains.

Ring-fencing only works if the money cannot be moved. If the rules can be bypassed by council resolution, by emergency procurement, by "operational necessity" — then the ring-fence is just language.

Ramaphosa also said functioning water, electricity, roads, and wastewater systems are "instruments of social justice."

They are. But social justice does not come from a White Paper. It comes from a pipe that does not burst. A reservoir that has chlorine. A council that cannot touch the money.

[The Vigilant Fox 🦊 @VigilantFox]

A Planned Parenthood doctor tries to lecture Matt Walsh on child gender identity and insists even babies understand gender.

Then he asked her about Santa Claus, and it was over.

MICHELLE FORCIER: “There’s research and data that show that babies and infants understand differences in gender. Some children figure out their gender really early...”

WALSH: “Have you ever met a 4-year-old who believes in Santa Claus?”

FORCIER: “Mhm.”

WALSH: “So, this is someone who believes that a fat man is traveling through the sky on a flying reindeer at lightning speed coming down his chimney with presents.”

FORCIER: “Yeah.”

WALSH: “Would you say that this is someone who maybe has a tenuous grasp on reality?”

FORCIER: “They have an appropriate 4-year-old handle on the reality that’s very real for them.”

WALSH: “Agreed. Agreed. But Santa Claus is real for them, but Santa Claus is not actually real.”

FORCIER: “Yeah, well, and but Santa Claus does deliver their Christmas presents.”

WALSH: “Well, yeah, but he’s not real, though.”

FORCIER: “To that child, they are.”

WALSH: “When I see a child who, you know, believes in Santa Claus, and then let’s say this is a boy and he says, ‘I’m a girl.’ This is someone who can’t distinguish between fantasy and reality, so how could you take that as a reality?”

FORCIER: “I would say that as a pediatrician and as a parent, I would say how wonderful my 4-year-old and their imagination is.”

Most 4-year-olds can’t even tie their shoes. We don’t let them cross the street alone, pick their bedtime, or choose what’s for dinner. But she thinks they’re mature enough to decide they’re “in the wrong body.”

The most terrifying part about this lady is that she’s also an Assistant Dean of Admissions at Brown University.

She’s not just affirming fantasy as reality in her own practice. She’s helping hand-pick the next generation of doctors — ones who think just like her.

[Martin @YeOldeMartin]

@MYANC Not many manage to this successfully regress the unfinished products they inherited to a worse state year on year, logarithmically.

[Martin @YeOldeMartin]

@ForilTogo @RenaldoGouws @penuelist_ How do you know? Have you personally watched every single Afrikaner? Observing 4 million people for 5 minutes each would take one person 160 years of 8 hrs/day, 5 days/week. Therefore: ridiculous generalisation.

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 JUST IN: While France burns, Polish Member of European Parliament Dominik Tarczynski is WALKING THROUGH Krakow LATE at night, showing all of Europe it's PERFECTLY CALM

"Look how safe we are. Churches are safe. Because we did not let them in. Zero means zero. 'Be like Poland' means be brave." 🇵🇱🇺🇸

"We know what jihadists are capable of. We do not know what second or third generation of so-called refugees will do. Well, actually we do know... we can see what is happening in France."

There are no riots, no burning buildings and no police lines

Poland refused the EU's migrant relocation quotas, and the EU's top court ruled against it. Poland didn't budge!

In the same 24 hours, France's major streets and businesses are burning and being ransacked by leftists, Islamists and invaders

EVERY NATION CAN BE LIKE THIS. It's a matter of CHOICE

[Mark 🇿🇦 @markmywords]

💥

[Martin @YeOldeMartin]

@pegobry_en What might YOUR PRESIDENT then be talking about here?

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

Aucune place pour la violence dans notre République.

Ceux qui ont cassé, attaqué les préfectures comme les commerces, pillé jusqu’à nos mairies, seront poursuivis et punis.

Aux forces de l’ordre, garantes du droit à manifester, je dis le soutien de la Nation.

Nous ferons tous bloc face aux semeurs de chaos, qui ne cherchent qu’à abattre nos institutions et empêchent ceux qui expriment pacifiquement leurs revendications de le faire.

[Ernst Roets @ErnstRoets]

Some ANC politicians in South Africa are talking about stripping their critics of citizenship.

They want us to think of citizenship as a reward for agreeing with the government.

Punishing dissent with exile is a serious violation of the most fundamental freedoms.

[Moshe @IsraelIDFend]

Europe Video 🧵:
October 17, 2026

1. Milan, Italy

[Ryan Visconti @ryanvisconti]

Some of the biggest killers in human history (not counting disease) have been:

- Abortion (3.5 billion+)
- Communism/Socialism (90-150 million)
- Islam (35-270 million)

Isn’t it interesting that Democrats support all these things?

Conservative estimates from the World Health Organization would say that since 1990, 1.5 billion to 2+ billion people have been murdered by just abortion. That’s 3 to 4 times more deaths than all the wars in human history combined (estimated at 570 million).

*Death estimates are from Grok*

[Martin @YeOldeMartin]

@NewsdayZA In that case I’d really like to have a say over which political party then gets to apply my tax money, because I suspect the portion of South Africans who are actually OK for the ANC to get to “apply” it is a very small portion indeed…

[Solidariteit @solidariteit]

Die regering speel met mense se werk. Tot 250 000 poste is op die spel terwyl hy twispunte met die Amerikaners skep en roekelose uitlatings maak.

Gewone, hardwerkende Suid-Afrikaners gaan die prys betaal as ons Agoa se handelsvoordele verloor. Daar is geen rasionele rede om dié verhouding nou verder te verswak nie.

In hierdie week se episode van Die Solidariteit Wêreld gesels Dirk met Theuns du Buisson oor die navorsing wat reeds aan die VSA voorgelê is en wat Agoa werklik vir ons mense se werk beteken.

Kyk en gesels saam: https://t.co/nmvSmOyFEr

[Sir Lebona Cabonena @LCabonena]

Untold truth!!!

After 32 years of Apartheid government in South Africa.

Sasol was born.
Education of the young ones was a priority.
No minister was a millionaire.
Nepotism was not allowed.
SABC was born.
Eskom was excelling, electricity was cheap.
R100 could fetch you 30 litres of Petrol.
The police department was respected.
The health department was the best.
Transnet was born.
The post office was born.
Universities were born.
Our borders were respected.

After 32 years of black government.
ANC ministers are Millionaires
ANC Presidents are billionaires.
ANC cadres, family members, and connected ones are millionaires and billionaires.
ANC government buys a single loaf of bread for R30 while it costs R16 at a bakery.
ANC government paid R59 000 for a single ballpoint pen.
The post office is dead
SABC is on the brink of death.
The health department lacks doctors.
Corruption and looting are prioritised.
Constitutional Court is captured.
The police department is rotten to the core.
The railway road that could stretch from Cape Town to Cairo was stolen by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.
ANC government introduced 141 race hatred laws against White people.
ANC government allowed the singing of the "kill the Boer Kill the farmer hatred song", the corrupt Courts called it a struggle song.
Black girls give birth at 10 to 15 years old.
Foreigners controls our universities.
The courts avoid prosecuting Jacob Zuma by keeping on postponing his case.

[Solidariteit @solidariteit]

Nou vir aksie!

Ná Solidariteit se oproep oor Agoa, met ‘n 1 November-sperdatum wat dreig, het die volgende gebeur:

- Die VF+ het ‘n formele dispuut binne die RNE hieroor verklaar.
- Die DA gaan die kwessie op kabinetsagenda plaas én beloof verdere stappe.
- Solidariteit gaan in die week wéér met die Withuis oor Agoa praat.

Nagenoeg 250 000 mense se werk hang van SA se Agoa-voordele af.

Gevaarligte flikker vir werkers in landbou-, mynbou-, motorvervaardiging- en ander bedrywe.

Die ANC se roekelose hantering van VSA-betrekkinge het ‘n volslae krisispunt bereik.

[BibleLadUK @BibleLadUK]

No church has the right to look down on anyone!

Churches are full of sinners, not saints. If a church makes you feel unwelcome or beneath them, find another!

The only time a Christian should look down on someone is when they're helping them back up.

That's Christianity. ✝️

[Guillaume Herblot 🎖️ @Guigz75116]

En France, on a inventé le Concorde.

En 1969, il décollait et atteignait Mach 2 symbole de la grandeur gaullienne, conçu pour défier les Américains.

En 1972, le TGV 001 battait le record mondial à turbine (318 km/h).

En 1981, le TGV électrique reliait Paris à Lyon à 260 km/h. En 2007, il pulvérisait encore le record mondial sur rail : 574,8 km/h.

Dans les années 70, le plan Messmer lançait le plus grand programme nucléaire civil de l’Histoire : 58 réacteurs, jusqu’à 70-80 % de notre électricité, une indépendance énergétique que le monde entier nous enviait.

Dassault, Sud-Aviation, EDF, Framatome, la SNCF : nos ingénieurs étaient les meilleurs. On avait dix à vingt ans d’avance sur presque tout le monde.

Puis 1981, Mitterrand. Nationalisations massives (banques, acier, chimie, électronique, aéronautique). Semaine de 39 heures. Lois Auroux. Charges sociales qui explosent. Syndicats tout-puissants. Fiscalité punitive. Droit du travail rigidifié.

En moins de cinquante ans, le socialisme a transformé un pays d’ingénieurs conquérants en un pays de grèves, de délocalisations et de stagnation relative.

L’industrie est passée d’environ 28 % du PIB à 11 %.

Le Concorde a été abandonné. Notre nucléaire a été presque démantelé pendant des décennies faute de choix politique mortifère.

Ce n’est pas le destin, c’est le prix d’une idéologie qui a préféré redistribuer et réglementer plutôt que construire et innover.

A bon entendeur.

[Rieb van Janbeeck @RiebvJanbeeck]

South African blacks tend to have the lowest work ethic and the highest entitlement you will find in this life.

[Acclaimed Journalist @Jonathan_Witt]

It’s hilarious that @eNCA is so scared of Ernst that they censor his interview to prevent their own embarrassment. Our journalists really do keep trying to prove that they are the worst of us.

[Ernst Roets @ErnstRoets]

No, eNCA did not publish the interview we had on Friday. They did publish the inserts before and after the interview though.

I suspect it's because I said during the interview that they would be taken to the press ombudsman.

The interviewer introduced me by saying that Lex Libertas has been pushing the white genocide narrative in Washington. I objected and said that's false, to which he responded, saying that if not Lex Libertas, then it's AfriForum pushing the genocide narrative. I told him that's false too, but in AfriForum's absence he persisted that it's true.

I said if that's their position, they can expect a complaint at the press ombudsman.

[Race 🕊️ @multiplanet1]

A retired NASA engineer who had worked on the Space Shuttle program for 25 years was hired by SpaceX at age 62. He described the first week as the most disorienting experience of his professional life.

At NASA, a design change required 3 meetings, 2 committees, a review board, and 6 to 18 months of documentation. At SpaceX, his new supervisor said "if it works, build it. If it doesn't, change it by Friday."

He sat at his desk after the first day and called his wife. He told her he felt like a man who had been swimming with ankle weights for 25 years and someone just cut them off. He could move. He could decide. He could build something in the morning and test it in the afternoon. The constraint that he had accepted as the nature of aerospace engineering turned out to be the nature of bureaucracy.

Within 6 months he had contributed to more design iterations than he had completed in his last 5 years at NASA. Not because he was working harder. Because the time between having an idea and testing the idea collapsed from months to hours. The same brain. The same knowledge. A different operating system.

He described a specific moment where he proposed a modification to a Raptor engine component. At NASA, the proposal would have entered a queue. At SpaceX, the modification was machined by the end of the day and tested by the following morning. He watched his idea become a physical object in 18 hours. At NASA, 18 hours would not have been enough to schedule the first meeting to discuss whether to schedule a meeting.

He told an interviewer: "I didn't get smarter when I went to SpaceX. I got faster. The intelligence was always there. The system was in the way."

The difference between SpaceX and NASA is not talent. NASA has extraordinary talent. The difference is the time between a thought and a test. SpaceX compresses it. NASA elongates it. The same engineer produces 10x more at SpaceX than at NASA because the bottleneck was never the engineer. It was the meetings about the meetings about the work.