What Seretse's P45,000 Gaggeanu looks like

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Thursday July 22, 2010 00:00

 

That is the question as the Coordinator for the Government Communication and Information Systems, Jeff Ramsay absolves Seretse of any wrong-doing in the fridge saga and puts the blame on the office of his cousin, Khama.

The minister's infamous fridge does not seem to have special features befitting its price tag.  It is a two-metre long, 70cm wide double door with stainless steel finishing. According to one online shop (Toppreise.ch), the highest price for this type of fridge is P23,507.

While some have argued that a fridge of that price should have many unique features, those who have seen it say it is not that extra-ordinary. Those who manufacture the Gaggeanu 272 say it allows automatic defrosting and causes water that collects at the back to disappear into thin air by magic. The small quantity of defrosted water that collects in the drain channel flows out to a container at the rear of the appliance where it is evaporated.

The Gaggeanu representatives say the fridge warns the user in cases of open door or malfunction. That is where the critics have waded in. They say for that price, the fridge has to do something beyond the ordinary. After all, critics point out that most fridges would warn their owners of an open door?

The manufacturer Gaggeanu, a German company, lists the following as the fridge's accessories; one wine and champagne rack, one glass drawer, two egg racks. The fridge has a capacity of 389 litres net. Inside, it has removable glass trays and door racks in solid aluminium. It has electronic temperature control with digital temperature display, as well as what they call dynamic cold air distribution.  It has four safety glass shelves, three of them height-adjustable. There are two fruit and vegetable containers, solid aluminium door racks,  one large door rack for bottles as well as  five height-adjustable door racks, one of which is continuous while four are split. Is that all?  Bring in the people from Gaggeanu: 'The freezer part of it has three freezer drawers as well as a net volume of 83 litres, with no-frost technology with fast freezing. Temperature adjustable from -16¡C to -24¡C, and its four-star freezer zone is capable of freezing a 14 kg capacity in 24 hours,...'.

'The shelves cover the full width of the door and are spaced at varying distances to provide plenty of storage room. The anodised aluminium used for the shelves is extremely hygienic and easy to clean and will not transfer flavours and odours from one food to another.'

Is that all? For P45,000? The local hire purchase joint can offer more than that. At half the price. But then again what do we know?