Piqued

The crop of imbeciles currently protesting about Chapman’s Peak are doing a bang-up job of shooting the messenger. I’m not saying that their unhappiness is unwarranted, but their vociferous complaints are about as logical as waiting until after a factory has already been built before whining to the shift supervisor that you don’t like widgets.

I’d be interested to know if any of them bothered to research the facts before buying into this farce so wholeheartedly. Of course, since it’s a lot less effort to swallow a catchy sound bite than take the time to wade through a dull pile of documentation, my guess would be “probably not”.

It’s kind of ironic, because one of the contentious issues – i.e. that of environmental degradation – was addressed in excruciating detail in accordance with the requirements of the prevailing Environment Conservation Act (one of South Africa’s proudest monuments to bureaucracy) way back in 2003. The trouble is that nobody noticed at the time. Certainly not the banner-waving “activists” who claim to be so concerned about the mountain.

In essence, to ensure that the habitat of the extremely rare phonus balonus conjobbium was not compromised in any way, numerous rounds of public consultation were undertaken before the authorities allowed construction to commence. As a result, the project was in limbo for years before spade and topsoil had their first meet-’n'-greet. That’s when people woke up and started bitching. Shortly thereafter, the politicians and other bottom-feeders with agendas emerged and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics got applied with ruthless and depressing efficiency.

I’m not suggesting that people stop being idiots – after all, stupidity does appear to be an essential part of the human experience. I just wish they would ration themselves occasionally.

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