Do it now (Eskom)

Do it now
no not pay your TV licence
or a bling-bling account
that you have just to impress
yourself and others with

Do it now Eskom
make them pay (more)
for our transgressions
load-shedding and the like
(like gravy-train-bonuses)

Better now says he
our it-was-a-bolt-minister
small “m” minister former
deep thinker and peoples’ person
(viva the working class)

Do it now Eskom
make that price hike
strike while the iron is hot
kick them when they are down
sooner rather than later

Better now says he
(than in a few years’ time)

Before 2010
Before your lights go out
Before some of us
lose our powers

Penned with a look of bemusement on my brow, Tuesday early evening, 25 March 2008, after our minister Alec Erwin did his I’ll-scratch-your-back-now-watch-mine-Eskom trick.

You can’t allow people to work hard

You can’t allow people
to work hard
for no returns
like a bonus

You can’t allow people
to work hard
and then not honour
your contractual duties

So says our conspiracy-minister
former speak-for-us-minister
now speak-for-himself-minister
and those fattened up
in the same food queue

Never mind your duties
your sense of obligation
towards the rest of us
out on the streets
(like before)

You can’t allow people
to work hard
since they’d expect stuff
the favour returned
(like gravy-train-shares)

All we expect in return
(for our meagre vote)
is that we don’t pay
for the misdemeanours
committed in our name

Perhaps those out on the streets
should work a bit harder
for better returns

And this time we’re not
talking about money

Penned with a look of bemusement on my brow, Tuesday early evening, 25 March 2008, after our minister Alec Erwin did his I’ll-scratch-your-back-now-watch-mine-Eskom trick.

- David Kapp, davidkapp@webmail.co.za