The world's best wire pullers are in SA

2012-02-06 07:45

Chris Moerdyk

Dear President Zuma,

Just to let you know that I have found your next Minister of Science and Technology.

For the life of me I cannot remember his name, but he looks like Vuyo Mbuli's younger brother and can be found pretty much every day outside the little superette in Groot Marico right on the main road between Pretoria and Zeerust.

This incredibly well-spoken and highly intelligent youngster spends his days at manufacturing the most remarkable objects out of plain old galvanised wire. His "12-in-1" special is an aesthetically pleasing wire basket that with a few deft turns of the wrist converts from a fruit bowl, to an egg basket, to a flower vase, cake stand, to a whatsitsname on which to put hot plates and all sorts of other things.

It's a sort of wire Rubik's Cube but a lot better because you can’t store eggs in a Rubik’s Cube.

It is quite phenomenal and uses a technique which he referred as some involving bionmetrictwhatevers.

Mr President, he is being wasted making these R100 biometricwhatevers (R80 for the 8-in-1economy version).

But, this fellow is not alone. There are thousands of quite incredibly talented wire artists in South Africa, who can be seen on the side of the road patiently pulling their wires. They can make cars, trucks, birds, aircraft - you name it, they will make it. They even make life-size sheep and lions, buck and penguins.

It is an art form which I believe must surely be endemic to South Africa and should, I believe, be at least accorded the same amount of publicity as that damned annoying Vuvuzela.  I have no doubt that visitors to South Africa would much rather play with their wire thingys than annoy their neighbours back home with the horribly discordant Vuvuzonkyourbrainsout

I don't know whether any representative body - a sort of Association of South African Wire   
Pullers - exists, but not only should it be formed without haste but Government should offer them strategic industry status.

But most of all, Mr Pediment you should really consider some of these intellectual, highly inventive and creative giants as members of your cabinet.

Right now they are the epitome of South African entrepreneurship and we should nurture them and support their painstaking efforts so that they will not just be scraping out a living but creating profitable careers for themselves.

So, there you are Mr President. Send your blue light brigade to Groot Marico and pick up this fellow - give him a place in your Cabinet and listen to him carefully he is wise beyond words and a bloody good salesman too.

Kind regards,
Chris
 
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