Just when you thought it could not get any worse, it just did. Jacob Zuma clearly wants what he wants and he wants it now. And so, the prospect of JZ waking up to a R4 BILLION jet under his Christmas tree at his R250 MILLION Nkandla on the 25th has edged a little closer with the […]
Jacob Zuma
Posted inNews/Politics
Something stirs behind the dull eyes and zombie shuffle
Just occasionally one glimpses, behind the dull eyes and zombie-like shuffle of President Jacob Zuma’s disengaged administration, the values that sustained the African National Congress in the struggle years. It’s a briefly cheering reminder that all is not yet lost. This week Kgalema Motlanthe, in an uncommonly frank Business Day interview, skewered the movement to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s creaky legislative edifice under siege from gravity
While a president, by definition, oversees and takes responsibility for the exercise of state power, how they do so differs widely. Former president Thabo Mbeki was something of a control freak. He not only personally shaped all policy, but he also authorised every major exercise of state power and any government initiative of importance. It […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Fifa, Blatter and SA crookery: No surprises
So Sepp Blatter gets the Fifa presidency again at the tender age of 79. He has been president since 1998, far too long to be in power over one of the most powerful, economy-boosting juggernauts the world has ever known. If a country gets the green light to host the World Cup, the payoffs for […]
Posted inNews/Politics
South Africa drifts under an awol captain
President Jacob Zuma has been South Africa’s most detached leader ever. The result of his hands-off style and often mysterious absences is political capriciousness, organisational chaos, and an inability on the part of the state to govern effectively. In his laissez faire administration ministers have been allowed to do much as they wish in setting […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics
Richard Calland and the Maimane moment
Richard Calland’s latest article (“Maimane may engineer Zuma’s exit”) is a master class in fanciful political analysis. Even if published in the opinion section of the Mail & Guardian, its grasp on reality makes it more suited to fiction than a newspaper. His belief that the next leader of the DA would be able, or […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
SA government’s response to xenophobia a farce
By Prof Kopano Ratele In the midst of the xenophobic violence that has erupted in South Africa, absurdity has once again begun to overrun the country. The images and reports in the media scenes have been horrific, reminding us of eight years ago when our society witnessed gruesome violence against foreigners. But the expressions of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Waiting for the crap attack on Zuma’s statue
When the statue of President Jacob Zuma is eventually erected at the Union Buildings, carefully sited to avoid falling into the large shadow cast by that of Nelson Mandela, there will be joy and ululation throughout the land. For despite his manifest failings and a large bill still outstanding for home renovations, he is our […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
No country for Chicken Littles
“The erosion of institutions” has become something of a buzzword. Add to this the “paralysis in crucial institutions”, and “institutional fabric being unwound”, and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in Mobutu’s Zaire. They’re usually adjectives attributed to the local commentariat: which interpret any event as a sign of the country’s imminent implosion/race war […]
Posted inGender violence, General, News/Politics
Why I criticise the government, intombazane and other degrees of equality
As someone recently told me, “it’s very easy to criticise the government”. That is true, but deserves further thought. The reality is that this is exactly what our current political dispensation fought for. The lives lost, families torn apart and the blood shed was all done in the hope of creating the very freedoms that […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
Doctor who? You can’t fake leadership
Another week has passed and two more prominent South Africans have been accused of faking their academic credentials. This time, however, the ignominy is particularly cringe-worthy: our ambassador in Washington, Mninwa Mahlangu, and his counterpart in Tokyo, Mohau Pheko, have reportedly been caught out for doctoring their CVs. That they remain in their posts is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma might just be what our democracy needs
It is undeniable that South Africa hasn’t been in the best shape under Jacob Zuma’s “leadership”. Energy supply is a hot mess, economic growth has been lacklustre, corruption scandals blow over with no repercussions, and democratic institutions have been undermined and weakened one after the other. As worrisome as this may be, is it not […]