Julius owes Jonnie an Apology

Just what has the head of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema, got against Michelin 3 star chef Jonnie Boer that he flies to Harare to sing “shoot the Boer?” This is probably the last nail in the coffin of SA wine industry support for the FIFA soccer World Cup as Jonnie was scheduled to lead the Dutch charge down to SA in June, looking after the stomachs of visiting Dutch diplomats and royalty.

Jonnie Boer

Jonnie runs the only Michelin 3 star restaurant in The Netherlands, De Librije in Zwolle, where he stocks a catholic selection of SA wines. To have politicians like Julius calling for him to be shot before the meal is even cooked, is probably too much for even a famously liberal Dutchman to stomach.

Meanwhile the World Cup is shaping up as one of the biggest SA disasters since the Laingsburg Floods. At dinner at the Troyeville Hotel last night (caldo verde and fresh Cape salmon), manager Matthew reported they’d so far taken three dinner bookings for the seven matches to be played less than 1Km away at Ellis Park. No wonder FIFA’s shadowy “official hospitality partner” Match last week returned 45 000 airline tickets to SA Airways and 450 000 room nights to various hotels. Those lucky wineries who supplied Match with wine should stand by for many happy returns.

La Motte GM Hein Koegelenberg tweets that “Sales of corporate hospitality packages are 50% below target, with sponsors and partners returning thousands of tickets for premium seats, according to FIFA.” So the Troyeville Hotel is just the tip of a rapidly melting iceberg. Hein notes that SA has spent $4.6 billion on this fiasco, money which would have been far better spent on education. After all, The Pretoria News reports that Mr. Malema’s matriculation results include a G in woodwork (standard grade) and an H for mathematics (also standard grade). His mark for singing was not reported.