And I don't mean market bulls, either. It's been a rough couple days in Johannesburg, starting with my delayed flights that caused me to miss my Zurich Club chapter meeting put on by MoneyWeek SA. I was also supposed to have a round-table lunch engagement with the editors of MoneyWeek SA on Friday, but as it turns out, Friday was a school holiday and many of the editors had to leave early. Something that should have been known before hand, I'm sure, but done is done. And to top it all off, my rather rude "cab" ride to the airport got his bumber whacked as we were exiting. He said a few choice words and ran across several lanes of traffic to yell at the guys who hit him. It wasn't bad, but it was his car, and the back taillight was damaged. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get out of Jo'burg. And I do have to say that the view outside my hotel room quite nearly makes up for it. I have a gorgeous view of the ocean. Actually things started looking up when I met my driver, Roger, at the airport. Like Brian, my Jo'burg driver, he was very nice, and very willing to talk. We chatted about politics. Turns out the ANC has started losing power here in the Western Cape. The original "plan" was to bring in a lot of immigrant, promise them a job and free housing in exchange for a vote. Well, the people came, but the jobs and housing didn't, and, according to Roger, it's not for lack of money or power. It's greed and corruption. These misdeeds - and broken promises has lead to a splinter group called COPE, but Roger says the people don't really care who's in charge so long as they deliver on services and keep the economy going... Something that's getting harder and harder to do these days. Roger had to admitt, too, that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider. Again, we talked about the World Cup 2010. We passed a stadium being constructed for the sporting event. I asked Roger if it was on schedule. He laughed, "No, it's behind... But they promised the mayor that it will be done by December 13, 2009." We'll have to wait and see...