The Week That Was- ANC, Cyril, DA, South Africa, Zuma

Hello again,

The weekend newspapers were harsh on Ramaphosa. His decisions in favour of the ANC rather than of the country have devastated the economy and kyk hoe lyk ons nou. The ANC has become a home of parasites, criminals and bootlickers due to his timidity and faintheartedness. His spinelessness has cost us dearly.

Melanie Verwoerd in the Daily Maverick has a full go at John Steenhuisen and Helen Zille, the high profile leaders of the DA. Steenhuisen has come under criticism for attacking the small Parties standing for election. He believes that they are diminishing the DA’s chances of retaining control of the Western Province, the only viable and corruption-free province in the country. The DA has a small working majority in the province and the many small political parties seriously threaten that majority. What is certain is that the DA will have to fight hard in the few weeks left before we vote. Verwoerd is also critical of the manner in which the DA turned their backs in some of the cities and towns where they could have formed a coalition with the ANC…… to better manage service delivery in those towns. Look at the absolute shambles that Johannesburg and  Ekurhuleni are now.

Tom Eaton writing in TimesLive also criticises Steenhuisen for going after Songezo Zibi leader of Rise Mzanzi. Eaton makes the point that Steenhuisen is giving Zibi and his party far too much publicity and thus is not doing the DA much good. Zibi must be delighted with it all.

But the harshest political outlook for our future after the election, which is also probably the most realistic, comes from David Bullard writing on Tuesday in Politicsweb.

Don’t for one moment show surprise that Jacob Zuma was back in court again this week. He is suing Cyril Ramaphosa for divulging his medical records to Billy Downer and Karen Maughan. Downer is the prosecutor in the state’s case against Zuma and Thales, the French arms dealers and Maughan is the journalist who has been reporting these events.  Zuma has had 6 applications against Downer remaining as prosecutor turned down by our courts but to the Stalingrad-delaying expert tactician that JZ is, that is not important. ‘Keep at it, and if knocked down take it to another court’ seems to be his modus operandi.

Zuma was thrown out of court yesterday for the same matter. Now nI think he must be understanding that Downer is going to be the prosecutor in his upcoming trial.

Zapiro’s cartoon shows Zuma out of his political grave after a decisive criminal judgement which would preclude any other candidate from standing for parliament. But Zuma uses Ramaphosa’s remission of sentence as a reason good enough to expunge his sentence of more than a year. Only JZ could get away with that where anyone else would be prohibited from standing for parliament.

The list of ANC candidates for the general election stinks. The number of cadres on the list fingered directly by Judge Zondo (who asked that they must be investigated) and even others tainted and who are living well above their incomes, is worrying. Take the deputy Minister of water and sanitation, David  Mahlombo. He is number 13 on the list of candidates for representation of the ANC in Parliament. Apart from the R80 million that he signed off in his previous cabinet position (which is still unexplained ….no one knows where the money went but you can guess), staff also confirmed that he received parcels of cash when he was Minister of State Security. He is also known for frequenting a “massage” parlour where he is very well-known. The parlour is owned by a self-confessed gangster in Limpopo whence he gets driven in plain clothes and without blue lights flashing on his car.

The ANC still do not have posters on any of our street poles. Nor in the city where the poles are bending under the weight of those of other parties. No money? The ANC denies that. Mind you I read they are now going up with a smiling Cyril saying ‘Let’s do more together’.

Thuli Madonsela is now a professor of law at Stellenbosch University but she was previously our Public Protector and served out her 7-year term. She is still highly thought of and is acknowledged as a legal authority. That is why I enjoyed this cartoon from Siwela in the Citizen so much:

Gayton McKenzie, a charismatic convicted bank robber with an extremely dodgy past, is the leader of the PA (Patriotic Alliance) party. He has joined with five other small parties to stand against the DA in the Western Cape. He says that if he doesn’t replace the DA he would consider going into a coalition with them.

The EFF have made it clear that if they are asked to form a coalition with the ANC to govern they will call for Julius’s deputy, Floyd Shivambu, to become Minister of Finance. What is scarier than that? The Rand will tank like never before if that were to happen.

There are 50 Parties contesting these elections.

This has been another week of a normality that we are not used to. Again we have had no load-shedding this week. I wonder  how much of the very expensive diesel the Min of Electricity has set aside to keep our lights on for the next few weeks until the election.

What an iconic landmark we have right here in Cape Town — the Mouille Point light house which is 200 years old.  It is one of 44 working lighthouses in the country, has a light that can be seen for more than 40kms and the famous horn warning is known as Moaning Minnie to the residents in the area.

Nearby, the QE2 and the Queen Mary docked behind each other in Cape Town harbour on Friday bringing about 8,000 tourists with money in their pockets into our city. The access roads near the harbour were a nightmare for us regulars, but it was all worth it. Tourism really is doing well and creating lots of  jobs. Long may it continue.

Volkswagen is investing R4 billion in its Eastern Cape assembly plant. There they will build a brand new small SUV. That’s very good news indeed.

Since 1970 Cape Town has hosted its famous 2 Oceans Marathon which is 56 km long. This past weekend saw 11,000 runners not only from SA but from all over the world running in the marathon while 16,000 took part in the half marathon. The city was full with not only runners but also their supporters who were here to enjoy our special hospitality. Gerda Steyn for the fifth successive year was the ladies winner – a record in itself but also again in a record time. Unfortunately, despite being a highly successful event in magnificent CT weather there were two deaths of runners.

You know it’s hard being a Spurs fan. On Saturday afternoon the coach was on the couch with me watching Spurs play at Newcastle. It was tough sitting and watching the home team smash our boys by 4 goals to 0 and…… they deserved their win. They simply played so much  better. Oh, dear.

But it was a wild weekend for the top clubs. Arsenal lost and Liverpool lost!! So in the top 5, three teams lost. Man City won and go back to the top of the log.

As always,

Gerald

source:The Week That Was – Africa Unauthorised