Zuma has become symbol of South Africa’s deep-seated problems but, if we are to move on, we must lose our obsession with him
Schabir Shaik
Posted inNews/Politics
The shabby sheik stirs up Durban Country Club
Groucho Marx memorably said that he wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would be so undiscriminating as to have him as a member. That’s clearly not a life philosophy shared by Schabir Shaik, former financial bagman for President Jacob Zuma and now paroled convict. This week a birdie whispered in my ear that […]
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
The traitorous Clive Derby-Lewis: Killing him softly
Personally, I was all in favour of Clive Derby-Lewis, conspirator in the 1993 killing of SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani, being hanged. Nor would his also being drawn and quartered, the medieval punishment for traitorous assassins, been lamented. Unfortunately our Constitution is a model of jurisprudential enlightenment and eschews such state-enacted barbarism. So the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Of thieves, crooks, thugs and so on
Business people the world over work to build political connections in order to gain competitive advantage. There is no law that prohibits the creation and existence of such mutual relationships between business and politics. Both are intrinsically linked and cannot exist without the other, especially in a pretentious free-market system. The lowering of ethical standards […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
High Court of the Executive: Zuma’s remission of sentences
On April 27 1994 all South Africans could vote for the first time to mark a new era of equality and justice for all. This stands in stark contrast to how the rule of law, criminal justice and equality in the execution of criminal sentences are viewed by the executive today. Last Friday it was […]
Posted inGeneral
Selebi won’t be released on medical parole
While speculation is rife about the current state of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi’s health, and pursuant thereto the possibility of him reporting to prison to begin serving his sentence, one thing is certain at this stage, he does not, as yet, qualify for medical parole. In terms of section 79 of the Correctional Services […]
Posted inGeneral
Not The Mac Maharaj News
While going through the Sunday papers it became clear to me that the media are under immense pressure to stay within the bounds of South African law. Not only is a Protection of State Information Bill on its way but the National Prosecuting Authority Act and even the case law prohibiting the naming of litigants […]