OH WHAT A CIRCUS, OH WHAT A SHOW!

So all those clowns that thought South Africa was immune to the woes of the world now have mud on their faces. All the fancy checks and balances (as well as the dreaded Credit Act) that were put in place were mean't to protect us from the effects of the Global Economic Crisis, but they haven't.

Government departments that were already struggling as a result of widespread corruption and mal-administration, are now on the brink of collapse. A quarter of a million people have lost their jobs in the first six months of the year, demand for goods has hit rock-bottom, economic growth is on the decline, and we are technically in a recession. Whooppee!

I want to digress for a bit. I am about to launch a range of confectionery (sweeties for those that don't know) that is affordable and is a real money-spinner. I really thought I was going to do my bit to help stimulate the economy, but guess what?

It took the Registrar of Companies 12 weeks to register the legal entity through which I am going to trade, and the VAT department is taking another 21 days to provide me with a VAT number. Speaking of the VAT department. 200 work-stations of which only about 20 are manned. Oh boy!

Needless to say, I have lost three months of trading, and the jobs that I thought I was going to create, are still only in the pipeline. Ok! This has nothing to do with pageants, but it is an example of why we have not avoided the Global Economic Crisis. Bureaucracy is killing entrepreneurial will and motivation. But, back to pageants.

Another quasi-Government entity that is on the brink of collapse is the SABC. The SABC owes it's suppliers hundreds of millions of rand, and I read in the paper that independent program producers are going to march on the SABC and demand payment. Yeah right! Do you think they care? The directors are probably already skimming the last available funds in the kitty and giving themselves Platinum Handshakes before the Sheriff of the Court arrives to attach the assets.

With all the trouble at the national braodcaster, the question now is who is going to broadcast the Miss SA pageant at the end of the year? Personally I don't think it will be too much of an issue if the pageant is not broadcast. The pageant survived successfully from 1956 until 1985, and the only coverage it got was the weekly articles in the pages of the organising newspapers, and a 5 minute slot on SA Mirror that was shown at cinemas.

I seriously doubt that M-Net or E-TV would want the pageant since it has become a political toy, and because of that, the target audience that under normal circumstances would be sitting down to watch the show, have lost interest and would rather watch something else. Also bear in mind, that the pageant no longer attracts THE most beautiful women in the country, and if viewers wanted to watch a fashion show they would watch FTV. So what now?

Either Sun International moves the pageant away from Sun City to a large venue in Johannesburg, and puts on an Extravaganza with dancing bears, tumbling clowns and the like that will attract the crowds in their thousands, or they give up the pageant and start a Miss Sun International pageant if all they want is a poster girl for the company.

I haven't been to Sun City since 1998, but I swear, the crowds that swarmed the place back then do not resemble what I now perceive to be the target market of their marketing campaigns. Ok! So most companies offer better deals to potential new customers than which their loyal supporters get. Oops!

So, in summary, the organisers either move the pageant to a venue in Johannesburg and hope that they will get mileage from printed media coverage, or they give up the pageant. At this point in time it appears that the pageant will not be broadcast, and if it is, I suspect it will be a highlights package a few days after the event.