Just Thinking

In December 2012 GIZ took us to see a theater performance at Hansa-Varieté-Theater in Hamburg. I had a good time, although, I cannot recall what the show was about.   I think I was the only guy among the ladies.  I enjoyed the show and found the concept of socializing as if you are in restaurant whilst you are in theater strange.  There were waiters serving people as we were in there.  I bumped into someone’s booze as I was moving out, possibly, to a bathroom.  The guy was pissed off and I apologized.  He asked whether I was going to buy the bit that was spilled.  I apologized again and it was ok so I moved on.   I think that was the only theater show that I attended in the year that I spent in Germany as I missed a trip to see the Lion King performance.  That was around Christmas and I missed my family and just had to spend some time with them in South Africa.  I left the cold German Winter for the South African Summer...

Government  Strategic  Planning starts with the manifesto of the ruling Party. This is the document that a ruling Party uses to attract votes. It is the promises that it makes to the electorate. After elections a 5 year Medium Term  Strategic  Framework (MTSF) is developed from the ruling Party’s manifesto by Government. This MTSF turns the manifesto into a Government Program and it takes other government plans like the National Develop ment Plan (NDP) into account. This process is normally led from the Presidency by a unit known as the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. Treasury also plays a role. The MTSF has to be adopted by cabinet. It then become binding on everyone who works for Government. All government departments have got to find where they fit in that MTSF. They each develop a departmental five year  Strategic  Plan. This plan is basically the Department’s response to the MTSF which is, in turn, a response to the ruling Party...