The Idler, Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Incognito

guest in

Florida Road

 

THE red carpet was rolled out last weekend for Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia, here on the first official visit to this country since it normalised 25 years ago and emerged from near-isolation.

But was this the first visit ever by an Ethiopian leader? No. In the 1940s, during World War II, Emperor Haile Selassie stayed in Durban with his family.

Selassie – full title: "His Imperial Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God" – had been invaded by Mussolini's Italian Fascists. Our prime minister, General Jan Smuts, gave him sanctuary in South Africa.

Selassie and his family stayed in an Edwardian double-storey on Florida Road, which is today occupied by Jack Salmon's fish restaurant. The property in those days was secluded by a high furze hedge. Nobody except the government knew they were there.

One of the more striking photographs from South Africa's subsequent campaign to drive the Italians from Abyssinia (as Ethiopia was more generally known in those days) is of Haile Selassie striding victoriously in field marshal's uniform back into his capital, Addis Ababa, at the head of a column of South African troops.

Abyssinia/Ethiopia was the only part of Africa never to have been colonised (unless you count the brief Italian occupation). Its ruling dynasty traced its lineage back to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This is mirrored in the national honours bestowed on its notables: Chief Commander of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia; Grand Cordon of the Order of Solomon; Grand Collar of the Order of the Seal of Solomon; Grand Cordon of the Order of the Queen of Sheba; Grand Cordon of the Order of the Holy Trinity (Ethiopia); Grand Cordon of the Order of Menelik II.

Hey, pomp and circumstance. We restored it. One might have thought South Africa was well placed for a leading role in post-war Africa.

But, er, there was an election here which ended all that.

 

 

 

Tired resignation

INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener laments in his latest grumpy newsletter how easily we accept things like the Eskom debacle.

"It's alarming how our lives and language so swiftly and easily absorb words and concepts that were utterly unthinkable. Suddenly we are getting used to the idea of an electricity distribution 'war room' where wise men make informed and capable decisions about who should return to the Stone Age and for how long.

"It's worth reminding everyone that Eskom is managed by people most of whom don't know the difference between WhatsApp and Watt Amps. Remember the chairman explaining how a conveyor belt worked?

"And yet there's a tired resignation. Eskom are doing their best in trying circumstances. It's not their fault that a conveyor belt has parted, coal does get wet when it rains, the contractors have obviously left us with faulty systems and how were we to know? "We have a new boss now. He'll fix it. Just as soon as he arranges his departure package."

 

 

Tailpiece

 

Little boy: "Dad, what do they call that person who can bring you into contact with the spirit world?"

Dad: "A bartender."

 

Last word

The conception of two people living together for twenty-five years without having a cross word suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep. - Alan Patrick Herbert