Humphrey Tyler
THERE is just a hint of appealing eccentricity about Funky=D5s restaurant i=
the new Bat Centre at the side of the harbour in Durban. This is not just=
because the waiters wear funny waistcoats. Maybe it=D5s because the buildin=
is not quite finished. There are no balustrades on the steps you climb to reach the door, for=20 example =D1 just some brightly coloured plastic strips that dangle along th=
edge to remind you not to fall off. There is also a slightly strange glitter in the eyes of the owner, Lou Gott=
He=D5s a bit like a gnome with a pigtail. Every so often he gives a curious=
wild laugh. And, talking about the staff, where did he find such unfailingl=
slender waitresses? They are as slim as pencils. With little bumps, of=20
The ambience inside is strictly functional, double-deck. There=D5s jazz fro=
Wednesday evening through Sunday and the band sits on the lower level.=20 There=D5s a very impressive bar along one wall. The bar stools and the chai=
have unusual metal backs and you wonder how they will feel. The answer=20 is fine. There=D5s no nonsense with tablecloths. This is a place to eat and drink on=
bare table tops, and talk. The word wassail springs to mind. This is a good=
wassail place. The wine list is extensive. It knocks many of the more pretentious local=20 restaurants and hotels for a six. The bottles have been cunningly selected, often from lesser-known Cape=20 estates and co-ops, like Eersteriviervallei, best represented here by a bol=
sauvignon blanc. (John Platter, the wine writer, quoted on the wine list,=
calls it =D2dramatic=D3. Okay.) It costs R18,50. Among the reds, there=D5s another Eersterivier, a pinotage (=D2Wildly=20 flavoured, exotic=D3) for R22,50. Many other wineries are represented. There are bottles from Hartenberg=20 and Craighall and the more widely known Blaauwklippen and Simonsig,=20 and fortified wines and sparklers. For KwaZulu-Natal, the range is large=20 and the prices very reasonable. In fact, there could hardly be a pleasanter way to see the day out than=20 sipping wine inside or on the balcony, and dipping into plates of =D2light=
options=D3, like lamb kebabs (hugely popular at R10,50), Tandoori chicken=
schwarma (spicy, stir-fried in a fresh pita; comes with tomato salsa,=20 delicious, a substantial meal for R15) or a =D2cocktail basket=D3 which has=
samoosas, chilli bites, sausages and a chilli sauce dip, all at R10,50. Gottini says his Tandoori chef =D2comes from Jo=D5burg=D3. He should chain =
up and never let him go. The man is also a marvel with fresh line fish. One lunch we had huge cutlets of grilled kob. The kob comes with lemon=20 butter, rice and stir-fried vegetables (R20,50). There was a time in Durban=
when if you wanted really good, fresh line fish, you had to drive to the=20 Metropole Hotel in Cape Town. But no more. There is a range of salads =D1 smoked chicken salad, calamari, Greek and a=
Funky=D5s special which has Danish feta cheese, walnuts, prawns and lettuce=
tossed in a vinaigrette sauce and garnished with slices of egg from (pleas=
note) free-range hens. There is a difference. Meanwhile, in the kitchen two dedicated local Indian women are conjuring=20 up little pots of curry =D1 lamb curry (medium or hot, R26,50), prawn curry=
(R35) and vegetable curry (R17,50). These are served in little three-legged=
pots, with one pot for the rice. The papadums are freshly made and you can=
taste it. We shared a salad to start (the prices range from R13,50 to R18,5=
and the salads make a substantial meal in themselves) and went on to share=
a lamb curry. It was aromatic, flavourful and the meat was tender, with hardly any bones.=
Lovely spices. Proper curry. The reprinted menu has dropped dhal. It=20 should go back on. There are seven windows in the restaurant walls. Looking out is like=20 inspecting live murals. A pilot climbs on to a huge vessel, the Ornella.=20 Tugs toot. Another view gives you cranes unloading a freighter. The word is getting out. Last Saturday evening Gottini says about 300=20 people wined and dined there. He sold out of all sorts of things. He looked=
surprised. He shouldn=D5t be. Even strangers are beginning to find the place. You can recognise the=20 tourists fairly easily. Often they carry cameras and their knees, mostly, a=
rather pale. No reservations except for special functions, and Funky=D5s does not have a=
phone yet. Phone the Bat Centre for help: (031) 32-0451
Business Mail
The privatisation imperative
Privatisation, by any name you care to choose, is now on the agenda. Reg=
Rumney reports
Among the many reasons for government to privatise state-owned=20 enterprises, ideology is probably the least compelling. This is the view of Rand Merchant Bank public sector finance head =D1 and=
ex-ANC economic adviser =D1 Neil Morrison. Speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg this week Morrison sketched=20 the economic imperatives for privatisation. Chief among these is the need to reduce the state=D5s R30-billion-a-year=20 interest bill on central government debt that is estimated to rise to aroun=
55 percent of gross domestic product. Morrison=D5s comments come after the release last week of the Ministry for=
Public Enterprises=D5 guidelines for the restructuring of state enterprises= , a=20 tentative document which nonetheless includes privatisation as an option. Morrison reckons that privatisation could knock roughly R6-billion off the=
State=D5s interest bill, more than the R5-billion budgeted for spending on =
Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) this year.=20 He includes in the definition of privatisation a wide range of options, som=
mentioned in the government guidelines. They range from outright=20 divestiture of a State-owned company or parastatal to the public, through=
private sales, joint ventures to outsourcing and the granting of concession=
Yet privatisation would make little sense if it were, as detractors sometim=
allege, =D2selling off the family silver=D3 to cut debt. Morrison was careful to stress the fiscal objective was only one of several=
forces driving privatisation in various countries. Others were, typically,=
ideological, efficiency, domestic capital market development, the=20 restructuring of industry, ridding the government of a management burden,=
foreign and domestic investment promotion, wealth redistribution,=20 technology transfer and industry modernisation. A spin-off, noted Morrison, was that the privatisation of a large utility=
company, for example Telkom, puts the spotlight on a country=D5s reforms=20 and alerts international investors about opportunities. Picking up on the need to encourage foreign investment, a discussion=20 document, issued by the South Arican Chamber of Business (Sacob) this=20 week on the government guidelines, notes that privatisation must be seen in=
the context of a number of other economic reforms in labour, trade, tax and=
=D2The prime objective of the RDP is job creation within the framework of=
the provision of basic needs. The most important component of job=20 creation is investment, either domestic or foreign.=D3=20 Sound restructuring of state assets will give the government an opportunity=
to accelerate economic growth by attracting new sources of investment,=20 says Sacob. The Sacob document remarks that while South Africa can learn from the=20 experiences of other countries, they cannot simply be adopted. There is no dearth of experience. More than 100 countries have engaged in=
privatisation programmes over the past 10 years, and more than 10 000=20 state organisations have been privatised during the past 15 to 20 years,=20 according to Ernst & Young London partner Guy Wilson. Wilson, in South Africa recently to help E&Y partners analyse the local=20 situation, echoes Sacob=D5s comment, saying South Africa would be ill- advised to pick one method and apply it. All stakeholders =D1 trade unions, workers, =D2disadvantaged communities=D3=
management and the government, must be accommodated, he says. Indeed, Morrison believes privatisation can benefit all stakeholders.
This is contrary to popular opinion, which would have it that privatisation=
are a way of selling off unwanted state firms and parastatals to the public=
resulting in massive job losses. He cites a United States study of 12 privatisations in the United Kingdom,=
Chile, Malaysia and Mexico. These studies showed that workers gained in=20 10 out of 12 cases; consumers seven out of 12 cases; and governments and=20 buyers nine out of 12 cases. Consumers tended to lose out in airline=20 privatisations, probably because fares had been heavily subsidised. In all cases, privatisations had positive economic effects, Morrison said.=
They ensured the correct pricing of goods and services, increased=20 investment, and led to flexibile hiring policies. Privatisation cannot be steamrollered, however attractive it might seem, to=
wring productivity increases out of what are perceived to be idle parastata=
E&Y privatisation head Henri Stall also points out that if a specific=20 privatisation fails it has catastrophic consequences for further=20
Basically the idea must be sold to all stakeholders: Staal calls this creat=
a conducive political climate. It is essential unions accept the concept, he says.=20 This has been proved in South Africa. The union movement spearheaded=20 successful resistance against the privatisation initiative launched by=20 President PW Botha in the mid-80s. The Botha government managed only=20 to privatise Iscor. The new government appears to want to hold on to parastatals to help it=20 fulfil RDP objectives. Privatisation does not necessarily mean loss of=20 control, however.=20 Morrison made the point that increased efficiencies that result from=20 privatisation can reverberate throughout the economy, especially public=20 utilities such as Eskom and Telkom are privatised. Eskom, it had been argued, was a low-cost producer of electricity and there=
was no need to privatise it. He remarked that research showed that while a=
public enterprise might show efficiency in the short term, over time that=
efficiency will disappear. It was desirable to minimise the risk to the=20 government of that happening. The new government has a better chance of embarking on privatisation,=20 particularly as it becomes clear that there are a number of alternatives to= an=20 outright 100 percent sale of shares at a discount, and as the benefits of=
successful privatisations become tangible.