So far the 2023 silly season has been a rank disappointment. Something really stupid should surely have happened by now, but instead we have had a series of grim missteps by the government, which might have been funny were it not for the twin facts that they will all cost us a great deal of money, to little beneficial effect, and that the government is actually serious about them.

The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has swept wholly untouched through parliament despite forensic lobbying and counsel from the private sector and, indeed, the government itself. All it needs to become law is the signature of President Cyril Ramaphosa. And then, bam, it’s there...