Happy holidays
It ' s probably not good for South Africa ' s gross domestic product as cutting out three weeks of productivity must have and effect on economic output , but one of the trends which I am coming to enjoy very much is that more and more of South Africa is closing down over the festive season , and the country is starting to take a complete break from itself at this time of year . Think back 20 or 30 years ago : offices would stay open right through the festive season , albeit running on skeleton staff , ( and even with those few employees at their posts doing not much more than twisting up paperclips and throwing paper darts at one another and taking long lunches ), but there ' s be an obligation nonetheless to turn up for work according to the office roster , thus cutting into the days that one might otherwise have enjoyed getting up late and lazing by the pool . Then the building industry started with its annual shutdown , and pretty soon anybody connected to the building trade realised the futility of trying to trade over the festive season and they too started to close . And so the practice spread , and now you ' ll be hard-pressed to find anything other than a retail store or restaurant open between mid-December and well into January . We are lucky , of course , in that we have an immutably important public holiday on December 16 which provides a good ~ almost fixed ~ starting point for the holidays . And in the Western Cape they are lucky to have Tweede Nuwe Jaar , traditionally the day on which the Coon Carnival parades were held through the streets of Cape Town ( but which was , in fact , a day on which most simply lay about groaning and consuming their chosen hangover cures ) to bookend the end of the season . ( Although , in fact , anybody in business knows that commercial South Africa doesn ' t really come back to life until the middle of January .) The good thing about a national holiday season is that it allows entrepreneurs to take a guilt-free break . As anybody in business for themselves will attest , sitting idly on the beach or lazing by the pool , however deserved the break may be , brings feelings of guilt or “ fear of missing out ” ( FOMO ) when one knows that one ' s competitors are still out there , possibly hoovering up deals that one might clinch were one not lying about . Thus , despite the fabulousness of one ' s holiday , and the fact that one is confronted by delicious food , fine wine , lush golf courses and gorgeous companions , there is always a slight feeling of
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guilt , that one should at least be constantly checking the stock market or commodity prices . But when everybody else is also on holiday , one has no such worries , no such guilt . Of course , we ' re not alone in this thoroughly civilised approach to life . Much of the northern hemisphere closes through August for the same reason . Try contacting anybody in an office in Continental Europe or the UK during August and you ' ll likely be told “ I ' m sorry , he ' s on holiday on the Costa del Sol .” Of course , having everybody on holiday at the same time has its drawbacks , as residents of coastal cities and towns will attest . Anecdotes abound ( and have for many years , incidentally ) of how Capetonians , who anyway view us Vaalies as a lower species , resent our presence in their fair dorp , despite the fact that it ' s us who pay their ridiculously inflated holiday prices and thus keep their economy afloat . Mind you , Capetonians do have a point . It becomes hell on earth to get anywhere by road in Cape Town around Christmas as thousands of “ kydaars ” with GP number plates cause traffic to back up for miles on the city ' s totally inadequate road network . The hostility has sometimes been quite cutting . Some years back when the City Fathers of Cape Town became concerned at a bumper sticker that appeared unduly rude (“ Welcome , Vaalies . Now go home .”) another quickly took its place (“ Hartlik welkom , Oom en Tannie . Come and spend your lovely money ”) But if it ' s hell at the coast , it ' s bliss at home . With so many of our neighbours at the seaside the cities and towns are denuded and going out for a meal , or finding parking to do some shopping , is a breeze . There ' s no doubt , therefore , that the holiday season is the best time of year to enjoy Gauteng , its weather , and the facilities we have at our disposal . That ' s if you can find enough friends who haven ’ t gapped it to the coast to enjoy them with .
WRITTEN BY SMALLHOLDERS , FOR SMALLHOLDERS