Where is it written -- we were thinking, here at the Mahogany Ridge -- that it is mandatory for executives and other busy people to take time out from whatever it is they're doing and respond to a summons from the ruling party? Is it out of courtesy, or is it terror that compels the corporates to drop everything at a moment's notice and nip off to Luthuli House for a frightful bollocking?
Had he so wished, could FNB chief executive Sizwe Nxasana have rejected ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe's invitation to drop by yesterday, and given him the sort of brush-off we'd no doubt receive had we asked the banker to swing past the Ridge so we could touch him for a loan?
But meet they did. Mantashe had his delegation, and Nxasana his. To have been, as they say, a fly on that wall. Did the bankers struggle to keep a straight face as Mantashe and company detailed yet again their objections to people who speak their mind, and those whose opinions differ to theirs?
Who could blame them for any nervous laughter. If his reckless comments following the Amplats retrenchment announcement were anything to go by, then it is clear that Mantashe has very little grasp of how things work out there in the big world. It should not have been at all surprising, least of all to the ANC and government, that in the face of massive strikes and the global slump in the price of platinum, Amplats would want to cut back on production and lay off workers.
The mineral resources minister, Susan Shabangu, was bad enough; outraged, she darkly hinted that Amplats could lose their mining licences -- although President Jacob Zuma told investors at the World Economic Forum at Davos that a review of the company's licences was not on the cards.
But Mantashe took it way further, and threatened to "auction off" any shafts that Amplats mothballed. He told SAfm, "They have stolen our money. They are a British company now. They have a responsibility to talk to South Africa on the operations."