Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

l The SA Navy recently lost 22 qualified firefighters to the private sector due to outdated equipment and vehicles and non-payment of technical incentives resulting in extremely low morale.

l So Rear Admiral Litchfield-Tshabalala is back in office. As an officer and convicted criminal, what a fine example she is to her subordinates.

l I am in the air force and dying to leave because of politics, poor salaries, the boetie-boetie syndrome … and these are just a few of the issues. I wonder if the president knows he has such a messed-up Defence Force? Is there a way these issues can be dealt with on TV?

l Eskom, education, health, SAA and now the navy. Well-trained people are leaving these institutions in droves. All for the same reasons. Find out how many people have left Telkom. – Red van de Walt

l The South African Navy has as its leader, the Chief of the Navy, a man who has never served at sea. The appointment next year of the next Master at Arms of the Navy (the most senior Warrant Officer) has also never served at sea. I thought the navy was all about serving at sea. What a joke.

l I was at Langebaanweg Air Force Base for 20 years as a technician. I was awarded worker of the year in the air servicing unit that was the best in the air force for the year – and I did not receive a performance incentive. This is a good example of what’s going on.

l Admiral, a 1% per annum increase in salary as an incentive for working well is ludicrous. Where are our promised allowances? Time to set sail, guys.

l Wake up, admirals of the fleet, with your fat cat salaries. Your crews are starving and can’t provide for their families.

l I was forced to hand in my resignation because I demanded that white officers and two coloured instructors return PCs that were taken from SANDF premises to be used at home by their children. What the (black) admiral did is what the whites got away with for many years. – Senior comms technician

l With lies, no discipline, poor salaries, corruption, no leadership and prejudice coupled with nepotism, what defence force?

l Grants are unacceptable. They encourage dependency on the state which is funded by the real workers in society and not the politicians.

l Skweyiya, the poor don’t want grants, they want jobs. Where are the jobs the ANC has been making a noise about since 1994? You shouldn’t be giving grants to young, healthy people.

l Zola, I agree that the basic income support grant should be urgently tabled and implemented as many people have no work and are starving. A new age of prosperity will dawn.

l In many First World countries tail-docking is illegal and has been for years. A rottie without a tail is scandalous. Mutilation is what it is. Don’t kid yourself and think docking is quick and painless. I’ve been a veterinary assistant for years and the way puppies carry on makes me want to cry. Cruelty is cruelty, no matter how you look at it. – Victoria Butler, Darling

l Albany, New York, Louisiana, Maryland, Richmond, Virginia – these are all names that existed in America before it got independence from Britain. Washington was built by the Americans, not the British. Keeping the original names has done the US no harm. South Africa should follow the example. The new SA should give names only to cities and places created since 1994.

l Mr Jordan, the population is forecast to double by 2050. We need two of every town we have. All this growth is black. The white population is not growing, so race and history issues do not arise. I hope all these new towns will have new names so map-reading will be easier. We can keep the old and add the new, so doubling the number of towns.

l The letter from M Riordan-Bull last Saturday sums up our country and government, and it seems as if we are rushing down this lane without South Africans realising it. We are heading for complete disaster.

l M Riordan-Bull, the ANC became blatantly racist when Mbeki and his racist ‘leftenant’ Pahad took control.

l Does Rob Henry think his disability excuses him?

l Re ‘Mboweni’s madness’, at last someone sees reality. With inflation driven by factors Mboweni cannot control, like fuel and energy prices, it is no use increasing interest rates. Thanks, Weekend Argus.

l Higher interest rates assist in retaining foreign capital, strengthen the rand and thus fight imported inflation. They also discourage the creation of artificial money (ie credit) not linked to GDP which in itself weakens the currency.

l Jabulani, if only our leaders had your brains and your understanding we would all as Africans, no matter what our skin colour, be much better off.

l William Saunderson-Meyer, my husband has been a traffic officer in Cape Town for 34 years. About two years ago he suspended 60 derelict taxis over a period of five months and the thanks he got was to be investigated for being a racist after the taxi association complained. So please do not make out that traffic officers do not attempt to safeguard our roads.

l To the Nigerian drug dealers who keep giving my young daughter 'free' drugs, I hope you burn in the depths of hell.

l Is there any particular reason why there have been no lights on the N1 for four or five months for 500m from the Woodstock bridge incoming?

l To that woman who drives a blue Audi TT convertible from Table View in the mornings, get off your cellphone as you cannot keep to your side of the road.