ONE would have expected the administrators of a local authority such as Polokwane municipality, which teems with Ain't Seen Nothing Yet apparatchiks, to have a high regard for the country's liberation struggle heroes and heroines and loathe those associated with oppression.

But not this crowd! The town where the Woodwork Boy hails from and where the Tobacco Pipe Smoking Intellectual got his comeuppance in 2007 is in a league of its own. Its administrators would rather lionise a baas than eulogise their own leaders.

The municipality has named its streets after personalities who have made a contribution to South Africa's history.

Three of the personalities the town has honoured in this way are Paul Kruger, Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki (the Tobacco Pipe Smoking Intellectual himself), in that chronological order.

Paul Kruger is the "father" of the so-called Afrikaner nation who became president of the Republic of South Africa in 1883. Nelson Mandela became the father of the new South African nation when he came to power as the country's first democratic president in 1994, while Thabo Mbeki was president from 1999 to 2008.

The street named after the late Boer leader is called "President Paul Kruger Street". No such special honour was afforded either Mandela or Mbeki. Poor souls.

Theirs are simply called Nelson Mandela Drive and Thabo Mbeki Street.

Guluva reckons the administrators of Polokwane might just as well go the whole hog and call Paul Kruger baas Kruger.

An insult to spaza shop owners

Jimmy Manyi - the beleaguered president of the Black Management Forum and suspended director-general of the Department of Labour - recently told a radio talk show host that BMF was "a professional organisation, not a spaza shop".

Really, Mr Manyi? How dare you insult spaza shop owners by comparing their businesses with your directionless and effectively moribund outfit?

Many spaza shop owners can boast of having contributed to the development of South Africa by helping to deal with the scourge of unemployment and putting their children through university.

What has BMF achieved under Manyi & Co? Absolutely zilch!

New Rag 'trial' issue promises

It's early days yet, but the New Rag - or The New Age newspaper to be precise - confounded its critics when it published its "trial" issue recently.

Granted, its packaging resembled a dog's breakfast but it nevertheless promises to be a newspaper worth reading.

Despite being bankrolled by "friends" of the paranoid Ain't Seen Nothing But the newspaper has not shown signs of kowtowing to the ruling party yet. But continue watching this space.

'Hands of Thunder' a bad loser

In his heyday Jerry Sikhosana was nicknamed "Legs of Thunder" because of his amazing goal-scoring prowess for his team Orlando Pirates.

With the inevitable passage of time his legs are now as stiff as a concrete slabs, which frustrates him. What does Sikhosana, who now masquerades as an amateur soccer coach, do when his team is on the receiving end? He singles out a spectator on the stands and pummels him with his bare hands in frustration. What a bad loser you are, "Hands of Thunder"!

E-mail Guluva on: thatha.guluva@gmail.com