Hello again

The upcoming general election–we still don’t have a date  but it could be as early as May– is taking up lots of newspaper space. Stephen Grootes writing in Daily Maverick believes with Zuma having left the ANC–or not having left, according to him– and campaigning for the new uMkonto weSizwe (MK) party and with the IFP and the DA so prominent in KZN, our second most populous province, a lot hangs on the results achieved there.

This past weekend the NEC (National Executive Committee) of the ANC debated Zuma and decided to do nothing. The fear is that if they come after him immediately, he will just get even more publicity (and support) and will be seen as a martyr. Zuma thrives on their silence and openly talks the cadres down. There is a strong view that Zuma rather than the DA or EFF will destroy the ANC.

MK is making strides in Gauteng and Mpumalanga and is finding support from churches in the area where they are actively campaigning.  What is clear is that there is absolutely no love lost between Ramaphosa and Zuma.

Rise Mzanzi, the Party led by Songizi Zibi must also not be written off. They are campaigning mostly amongst the young voters and are a very real threat to the ruling Party.

Siwela in The Citizen had this to show for our generous amount (360) of political parties ready to contest the elections in yesterday’s Citizen, showing only the best known:

Yesterday it was reported that the State and the Presidency have launched legal action against Jacob Zuma for the nearly R29 million he owes in legal fees for his corruption trial where he made the State pay for his personal costs.

Lots of the news this week has been about the matric results achieved by our scholars leaving school. The final results released last Thursday are celebrated as the best ever. A record result of 82.9% of those who wrote the final exams had the Minister of Education ecstatic with joy.

But South Africa’s education system is in dire straits with over 40% of South African students not making it to matric. When you take into account the number of kids–345,626–who dropped out between grade 10 in 2021 & grade 12 in 2023 with those who never even registered, the pass mark is under 50%. Add to this the ridiculously low standard set for passing (40% for your main language and 40% in two other subjects) and the results are nothing more than pathetically mediocre. With such poor quality of school leavers is it any wonder we have the largest unemployment figures in the world?

The ANC for too long celebrates mediocrity. Did the Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshegka say anything about the high number of drop outs or the low standards.  Well she did suggest that the government would have to do something about the shocking drop-out rate.  Not good; particularly when one considers that the largest slice of our National annual budget is for basic education. Brandan had this telling cartoon in Business Day yesterday:

Another ‘ownerless’ building in central Johannesburg burnt down this week.  Two people were burnt to death and four are hospitalised as a result of the fire.   Johannesburg is a mess.

Two major companies in Israel, Shufersal and Rami Levi, have stopped ordering grapes from South Africa. This shouldn’t surprise you after the action SA instituted against Israel at the ICJ.

The DA, our largest Opposition Party has lost yet another non-white member. MP Mr. Ghaleb Cachalia has quit the Party because of their Israel/Gaza policy. He was the shadow minister for public enterprises when he tweeted on X that Israel is committing genocide and John Steenhuisen, Party leader, turfed him out because it is not the DA’s official view.

Ace Magashule, the former ANC Sec-Gen wasted no time in forming a new Party after being expelled from the ANC. He is deliberate and he attracts attention. This week he attacked a fellow physically for refusing to accept Magashule’s new Party T-Shirt. Ace is now being sued for assault.

Now for some very good news. Cape Town has been placed 2nd in the 50 best cities to visit. ‘Time Out’ ranked the top 50 cities for a visit and the Mother City comes in just after New York. Not surprisingly we are now experiencing our best tourism activity ever. The top 10 ranked cities for a visit in order are:

New York & Cape Town

Berlin,  London,  Madrid,  Mexico City,

Liverpool, Tokyo, Rome, Porto

The Newport Deli is becoming my ‘go to’ place for coffee catch-ups with friends whom I haven’t seen seen for years. This week it was to meet that recognised genealogist, Eli and his lovely wife Jill. They are from Perth but both grew up in Cape Town and pleasantly come back reasonably regularly. Our chat was general but Jill told me all about her project to “teach” young school kids about the holocaust. What an interesting couple and what a lovely breakfast we had.

From there it was a rush to UCT Summer School to listen to Clem Sunter talking about the state of  the state of SA and the state of the world. Henry got all the usual suspects all together for this event to listen to Sunter talk about current scenarios and strategies. Not unsurprisingly the lecture hall was packed to hear what this guru had to say about the state the world is  in. Clem has published many books like The Mind of the Fox, the High Road and the Low Road and he referenced the different colour flags that are showing in our country—mainly red!. It was one of the longest lectures I have ever attended and I enjoyed every minute.

The cricket fracas with sacking of the Jewish lad from the captaincy of the U/19 National team has delivered  all sorts of reactions. None of them positive as far as the Cricket Board is concerned. One of the top sponsors, Betway, has decided to end their very substantial sponsorship  and other sponsors are making similar noises. Criticism of the chairman of the board, Lawson Naidoo has been blistering and of the move to remove the very bright lad, David Teeger– he achieved 7 distinctions for his Matric results.     The game that opened the tournament was SA vs West Indies. It had a strange outcome in so much that Teeger’s replacement as captain got hurt. The newly appointed captain tripped and had to leave the field and Teeger took over as captain. SA won the game —Teeger was made 44 and took two wickets.

On Saturday in Toronto Dricus du Plessis became the World No 1 mixed marshal arts middle-weight fighter in a very close and bruising encounter with the American, Shaun Stikland whom he outpointed by just 1 point. It didn’t take long for some wise guy to point out that in the world he may No. 1 but in Brakpan, he is only No. 6.

The Stormers played in Paris on Saturday evening and won a tight match narrowly against Stade Francais in Paris in freezing conditions where the temperature dropped to -1C during the game. A narrow win in tough conditions, but our boys now qualify for a home Semi-final.

Bafana Bafana sneaked into the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations last night drawing 0-0 with Tunisia.

Spurs play Man City in the FA cup 4th round on Friday night late.

As always,

Gerald