Zuma and his family bankrolled by "friends"

President Jacob Zuma faces a grilling in parliament in coming weeks over disclosures that two Durban businessmen bankroll one of his wives' luxury lifestyles.
Opposition parties will use questions in parliament to try to get clarity from the head of state as to why businessmen who have backed him over the years are now picking up the tab for the eight-bedroom house in Durban's plush Morningside suburb in which his fourth wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, lives rent-free.

Both the ID and the DA also want full disclosure about whether the two or other businessmen are covering the expenses of any of his other wives.

Controversial Durban businessman and alleged former NIA operative Erwin Ullbricht and multimillionaire Abdul Rahim Malek have been jointly picking up the tab for Ntuli-Zuma's home since late 2005.

Company records reveal business links between Ullbricht and Zuma's son Mxolisi Saady Zuma, one of five children from his second wife, Kate.

This week Ullbricht confirmed he had paid for Ntuli's expenses out of "love" for Zuma and did not expect anything in return.

Parliament's register of members' interests lists Ullbricht as paying for a lavish party for Zuma several years ago.

The 34-year-old denied receiving any government work and said nobody could compare his footing of Ntuli's bills to Schabir Shaik's corrupt relationship with Zuma, which led to Shaik being jailed.

Ullbricht is listed as a director of four companies, two of which he co-directs with Mxolisi Zuma.

These entities, Gedle Construction cc and Gedle Events cc, were registered in 2006.

Ullbricht said the companies he set up with Zuma's son had "never traded".

The Morningside house, which Malek bought in 1996 for R825000, has been occupied rent-free by Ntuli-Zuma since late 2005.

The company through which Ntuli-Zuma's lease is facilitated, Nxamalala Investments, is not registered.

However, the house is registered in the name of Howard Love Trust and Investment Company (Pty) Ltd, of which Malek is a listed director.

Ullbricht - who was raided by the Scorpions in 2005 in connection with Zuma's then corruption case - said he "facilitated" Ntuli-Zuma's rental of the house, near the presidential residence, King's House, and Shaik's home shortly after Zuma was fired as deputy president in 2005.

As president, Zuma has access to several state residences, as well as his Nkandla home - which is being upgraded at taxpayers' cost - and a salary of R2.245-million a year.

This week it was reported that lawyers representing Malek had written to Ullbricht giving Ntuli-Zuma - who runs several businesses - until March 31 to move out since the home had been sold.

However, on Friday, Ullbricht said the notice had been withdrawn by Malek and that Ntuli-Zuma would continue living there with her two children and other relatives of Zuma.

Asked why he was bankrolling one of the first ladies when she had business interests of her own, Ullbricht said: "I have no knowledge of any businesses interests on her part ... That has nothing to do with me. "

Malek said he had provided the house for Ntuli-Zuma for five years in support of the president because he was being sidelined by the ANC leadership at the time after being dismissed from government.

"He is a good man who is doing something for the poor. He is the poor man's friend," said Malek.

He added that he had "absolutely" no business relationship with the government.

DA leader Helen Zille said: "It is really important to know who, if anyone, is bankrolling the president and his family."

Zille said the DA parliamentary contingent would raise questions in parliament around the benefits from Ullbricht and Malek.

She added that the DA would also check whether any of Zuma's other wives were being paid for by third parties.

About Erwin Ullbricht

Young Ullbricht calls himself Zuma's "adopted" son, and always lurks in the background whenever Zuma appears at public events. He regards Zuma as a mentor and says he has a direct line to the ANC president.

He is often seen on the fringes of Zuma functions, talking on his cellphone. Described in media reports as a wealthy businessman who bankrolls Zuma, Ullbricht has no discernable business empire, but says he spent about R60 000 on a bash for Zuma's 62nd birthday and apparently partly organised Zuma's 65th birthday celebrations.

He is from Treasure Beach, a working-class suburb in Durban. Ullbricht once worked for Vivian Reddy, marketing his Newcastle casino.

Ullbricht's home was raided by the Scorpions in connection with documents relating to Zuma and he was investigated in connection with a curious plot reported in the Durban media as an attempt to assassinate KZN Judge President Vuka Tshabalala.

SA government's excessive indulgence - R158m per month spent on luxuries

The ANC government has spent R158-million a month, or R5.3-million per day, on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation, the Democratic Alliance said on their website.

Last year the Democratic Alliance set out in some detail the amount of money an ANC executive was spending on luxury cars. They also detailed the huge amounts being wasted on conferences and advertising.

Across the board it appears that, wherever there is room for indulgence, it has been excessive and unnecessary, the DA said.

The DA revealed that the problem extends to the amount government is spending on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation. The DA asked a generic question to each national department and, of the 19 departments to have responded to date, between March 2008 and September 2009, a total cost of R1.7-billion has been incurred.

The 19 departments represent roughly half of the national government. The DA estimates that the full cost, between all departments, runs in excess of R3-billion. This means that the ANC administration is spending about R158-million every month, or R5.3 million-per day, on travel, restaurant expenses and accommodation, the DA concluded.

The five departments that have been identified as the biggest food spenders were:

•International Relations: R426-million
•Justice and Constitutional Development: R292-million
•Labour: R159-million
•Public Works: R134-million
•Rural Development and Land Reform: R134-million

The DA also found that the Department of Finance was making extensive use of first class travel and could have saved a significant amount of money had it used economy class.

Good relations cost R426m

Hundreds of millions in accommodation and travelling expenses

The international relations and co-operation department has confirmed spending R426-million on travelling, accommodation and catering from March 2008 to September 2009.

The Business Day reported last Friday that national government departments ran up bills of more than R3-billion on luxury travel, restaurants and accommodation over 19 months.

Govt pays for soccer jaunt

The Eastern Cape health department may have been defrauded of as much as R10-million over the past three years in a scam run under cover of an air ambulance contract.

Spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the initial results of an investigation by a team that included accountants indicated the department had been grossly overcharged for services rendered by the company awarded the contract.

The department was not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of the company, National Airways Corporation.

"But we are investigating possible collusion between some of our officials and their employees," he said.

Typical of the instances of overcharging was billing six hours for a flight from East London to Mthatha, and six hours back.

The department had suspended several of its officials in connection with the scam, and referred matters to the police for investigation, Kupelo said.

The province's head of emergency medical services, Shanks Maharaj, was suspended last year following an investigation into a R95 000 jaunt to Bloemfontein in an air ambulance at the department's expense.

The plane was used to fly officials to watch a Confederations Cup match between Spain and the United States. Maharaj resigned earlier this month, without having gone through a disciplinary enquiry.

Among eight other officials suspended last week, also in relation to the flight, are a provincial operations manager, three heads of ambulance centres, a secretary, two emergency fleet managers and the deputy manager of an ambulance centre. They would face a disciplinary hearing next week.

He said the department had identified 411 irregular contracts worth some R49 million awarded in this way in the 2008/9 and 2009/10 financial years.

Among them was one awarded to a security company to service about 15 clinics in the East London area, for which the company was now demanding payment of R164 000.

Where the hell are we going?

Meltdown the inevitable result of ANC policies
Dr. David Klatzow

The ANC led alliance came to power with many stated and lofty ideals. They flowed from the American rhetoric of such greats as Martin Luther King. “An injury to one is an injury to all”; “Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere”.

Our government, post Madiba, has been slow to give reality to these lofty ideals. Mbeki (Mr. Delivery) turned out to be Mr. Non-Delivery. All functionaries in government were replaced by loyal party cadres.

Everything became ideology driven instead of ability driven. Government interference in the universities has become much more overt and destructive than ever it was under the Nationalists. (Exemplified by the turnabout on the honorary doctorate for Thabo Mbeki).

Our health system was functional to a high level, even for rural black and the urban “non-European” hospitals, whilst an abominable reflection of the apartheid system, worked well with standards high and no shortage of drugs and equipment.

Now in 2010, we contemplate exactly what has been achieved in the 15 years of post Apartheid South Africa.

A previous vice-Chancellor of UCT, Ramphele Mamphela, is on record as saying that Bantu Education was better than the mess we have now.

Our hospitals are dysfunctional for all South Africans who are unable to afford private health care.

The Johannesburg General, Groote Schuur, Pretoria Hospital and many others around the country are mismanaged to such an extent that they have become a threat to health. The hospital accounting systems are in a shambles and suppliers have cut off supplies until their bills are paid. The standards of repair and cleanliness have plummeted. The equipment, supplies and linen have been pillaged and pilfered.
Recently at Groote Schuur I encountered a Neurology ward that had no toilet seats, no toilet paper, no soap and no towels. The chief neurologist there informed me that he would not use the toilets on his ward because they were too disgusting. The legacy of Manto Tshabalala-Msimang speaks for itself.

Our police service is severely dysfunctional. Too many of the serving officers are corrupt. A recent PhD Thesis on the subject put it as 10% and probably higher.

Out erstwhile chief cop, Jackie Selebi, stands accused of corruption whilst he was head of Interpol moreover. This is a national disgrace. The arrogance of the man to run around with the likes of the criminal gangsters that he associated with and not see the conflict of interests is astounding to say the least. The government, who should be doing all in their power to prosecute Selebi to the full, are wasting taxpayers’ money trying to keep certain witnesses out of court on the spurious basis of national interest.

Our education system is a complete mess. We have the results of the OBE debacle to contend with where the only certainty is that we will produce a generation of educationally crippled youth.

We have the ANC government with its ludicrous policies of “quiet diplomacy” which have allowed the stability of the region to deteriorate .The influx of refugees across our borders is fuelling xenophobic violence and is placing scarce resources under huge pressure. Our water supplies are dwindling and those that we have are polluted with faecal matter from the squatter camps along their courses. Cholera is waiting. Much of the water measuring equipment installed at key points on our rivers has been vandalized.

The Cape Times (8/2/10) informs me that ‘DIRE SHORTAGE AT FORENSIC LABS STIFLES JUSTICE”

What do you expect?

In my private capacity as a consulting forensic scientist, I have been warning about this state of affairs for some years. Approximately 4 years ago I warned of the coming ”Melt Down”. To no avail.

The analysts in the Health Department labs are appointed in terms of ethnicity and ideology and not in terms of their ability to do the work. When a previous head of the Laboratory in Pretoria, (Dr Viljoen), attempted to set an examination to regulate the incoming analysts he found that he was expected to appoint people who scored single figure results for the elementary chemistry examinations. The labs are swamped with incompetents and the work does not get done The net result was that he and the other heads of the laboratories have all left the state employ and are lost to the system. Their expertise is not even available to assist the state in pulling itself up by its bootstraps.

At present there are nearly 5000 samples from the Salt River Mortuary which have not been analyzed. The talk is that they will be discarded. So much for justice. The departmental heads are not called to account for this disaster.

Our courts have, for some time now, been grinding ever more to a halt because of the incompetence and disorganization of the laboratories that should be there to assist them.

Morale at the police laboratories is low and the good scientists who are still there would leave if any other opportunities cross their path.

Recently I became aware of a delay of 3 years in obtaining a post mortem report from the Tygerberg forensic department. This is just not good enough.

I have not yet started on the disaster that is coming our way when the productive farms are taken and given to persons who cannot even use them for a proper subsistence, let alone a high technology productive farm to feed South Africa.

There is only one way to stop the rot before it destroys the entire country.

The government must stop the insane racist and aggressively affirmative policies that it has put in place.

Corruption should be rooted out tooth and nail.

All the available talent should be used in getting this country back on track. Stop the centralist interference in every aspect of our lives. It is not for the government to decide as to whether I may open a medical practice where so ever I wish. All that will happen is that the available source of doctors will dwindle as they head for greener pastures. The collective that have brought us to this pass will be blissfully prepared to blame it on the racist government. They are right there about the racism but it is their own racist policies that have brought us to the brink and not those of the previous dispensation.

Education and security must take priority in government policies and non-performing ANC appointees should be kicked out forthwith. The business of suspension on full pay is an inducement to under-perform.

Zuma is a national embarrassment is so many ways that it would be impossible to list them in the limited space at my disposal. However, his exuberant fecundity is the least of the issues.

My primary problem with Zuma is his lack of appreciation for anything other than immediate gratification without appreciation for the consequences. He says what he feels the audience wants to hear, without a jot of sincerity or any intention to perform.
The appointment of Jon Qwelane as ambassador to Uganda sends the wrong message. Why send an openly homophobic man to a country where this lately achieved tolerance is under severe threat?

Why appoint Menzi Simelani to his present position? The man is constitutionally and experientially unsuited to the job and in any event it kicks the notion of separation of power (enshrined in our constitution) in the teeth. One is left with the only rational conclusion that Zuma wants a pal who will not come after him in the little matter of corruption that seems to follow him like a black cloud. For a man who publicly demanded his day in court, he has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid it.

The disgraceful release on parole of Shaik is a slap in the face to our already foundering justice system. The only sense in which he was dying, was he was dying to get out and shop. Shame on you!

It is high time, Mr Zuma, that you stop your philandering long enough to see that your party is systematically destroying this country. As a group, the ANC hierarchy is as racist and as corrupt as the Nationalists. History will judge you harshly.

And by the way, we do not need aircraft (that nobody can fly) and corvettes to sit and rust in Simon’s Town, above education, policing and health.

Maybe I could leave you as I started with two quotes from Martin Luther King:

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”.

And finally, ”A riot is at the bottom, the language of the unheard”.

Dr Klatzow is an independent forensic consultant.

2% on crime is not enough

Let’s stand up against crime together again!

Three years ago Solidarity conducted a large campaign during which more than 30 000 letters against crime were delivered to President Mbeki.

Meanwhile we got a new president, and despite nice rhetoric and a variety of new plans, crime has once again dropped lower on the new government’s list of priorities. Solidarity has calculated that only 2% of the president’s recent State of the Nation address, i.e. 115 of the 4 411 words, were dedicated to crime. In the nearly one hour that President Zuma spoke, he dedicated one minute to crime. The president spent more time – 132 words – on welcoming guests of honour than on saying what he would do about crime. More time was even spent on his hotline than on crime. The Soccer World Cup also received more attention than crime.

Solidarity have again created a website at www.dearpresident.co.za to send letters to the president. To date, more than 37 000 letters have already been sent. Their goal is to deliver about 50 000 letters to the Union Buildings by the beginning of March.

If you have not yet sent a letter to the president visit the website and send your letter. You can also send an SMS starting with the word ‘crime’ to 35960. The SMS will also be counted as a letter of protest.

Let us make a success of this year’s campaign and ensure that the government does place crime higher on their list of priorities.

TAKE PART
Have you sent a letter yet? If not, click here http://www.dearpresident.co.za/ or SMS the word ‘crime’, followed by your message, to 35960. SMSs cost R3.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE
Ask your family, friends and colleagues to also send letters to the president by visiting the website www.dearpresident.co.za

Fifa 2010 Hospitality contracts goes to Mugabe's nephew

By Craig McKune

Fifa’s World Cup Hospitality packages has been awarded to businessman and former Zanu-PF MP Philip Chiyangwa, who is the subject of international sanctions.

Chiyangwa’s Native Investment Group (NIG) was hand-picked late last year to sell World Cup packages for Fifa.

While ticket prices are being slashed in South Africa to fill stadiums, and Zimbabwean fans had only bought 546 tickets by the beginning of this month, Chiyangwa has claimed his Native Investment Group, which he directs, is doing a rip-roaring trade.

Fifa’s Hospitality packages - including premium Match tickets, catering, entertainment, “dedicated hostesses” and travel packages - are managed internationally by Match Hospitality, which appoints regional agents and sub-agents such as NIG.

Match Hospitality is run by Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s nephew Philippe Blatter, through his sports marketing company Infront.

According to Match spokesman Peter Csanadi, NIG was “identified and appointed” - without a tender process - by the sub-Saharan African agent, a joint venture between Primedia and Sail.

“The best possible entities are identified for the respective territory and, provided they are available and willing, they may be appointed as sales agents or sub-agents,” he said.

Chiyangwa has been targeted by New Zealand’s and Australia’s sanctions regimes, according to their websites.

Asked on Friday whether Fifa was aware of this, Fifa officials referred queries to Match, which did not respond.

According to The New Zimbabwe, Chiyangwa - who is building tourist accommodation on residential land traded with Harare authorities - recently told journalists his company had overshot its sales target four times in two weeks.

Csanadi refused to say how many VIP packages had been sold in Zimbabwe, how much they cost or what profit went to Chiyangwa’s company.

Asked how NIG was chosen above other Zimbabwean companies, he said: “I do not think it is appropriate to discuss our business decisions in detail.”

Chiyangwa was provincial chairman of Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West province.

He was well-known for starting the Affirmative Action Group in the early 1990s which successfully campaigned for the Indigenisation Act, demanding 51 percent local ownership of any foreign investment.

Today Chiyangwa is one of the country’s most successful businessmen and was seen this month on BBC Newsnight, where he was paraded by a government official as “a model of a successful businessman in Zimbabwe today”.

Showing off his 35-room mansion and a collection of cars including a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, a Mercedes-Benz and his daughter’s sports cars, Chiyangwa told reporter Sue Lloyd-Roberts: “If I want to buy a jet tomorrow, I will do it here. If I want to buy a Rolls-Royce, I have one. If I want to drive a Bentley then I have one. If it’s a beautiful mansion house, I bought one. I built it myself.”

Last month, the Zimbabwe Mail reported that Chiyangwa would bankroll a bid for the Zimbabwe Football Association presidency by one Lesley Gwindi, through his vice-president hopeful (and Chiyangwa’s employee) Nigel Munyati.

But Munyati later denied he was running for the position.

According to investigative reporter Andrew Jennings, who wrote the book Foul: The Secret World of Fifa, the football federation has been involved in several suspect relationships with rulers and their relatives.

Sepp Blatter was in 1999 awarded The Humane Order of African Redemption by then-Liberian dictator Charles Taylor. In 2002, Taylor’s son-in-law Edwin Snow, head of Liberia’s Football Association, campaigned for Blatter to be re-elected as Fifa president.

Blatter’s presidency is meanwhile entering a critical phase as he campaigns for a fourth term, the success of which relies heavily on a successful tournament in 2010.

But while he has touted 2010 as an “African” World Cup, less than 2 percent of tickets have been sold to Africans outside South Africa, prompting calls for ticket sales methods to be urgently re-examined.

Fifa meanwhile announced last week that a substantial portion of its mid-range category two and three group match tickets (R840 and R540) had been recategorised as cheaper category four tickets (R140) in an effort to fill stadiums.

This came amid admissions by the football federation and the local organising committee that earlier estimates of 450 000 international football tourists were over-optimistic.

The Guardian in London quoted Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke saying 2,1 million of 2,9 million tickets had been sold but many were in the hands of tour operators, not fans.

Related: - http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20100222065008749C381670

Malema still listed as company director

ANCYL leader Julius Malema was on Monday afternoon still listed as a director of SGL Engineering Projects - despite his claims to the contrary in the morning.

A search of the SA Company database, published by Butterworths, revealed he was appointed director of the company when it was registered as closed corporation on 12 May 2009.

The database shows Malema as being an "active" director, along with Lesiba Cuthbert Gwangwa. The company is listed as "In Business".

In the morning, Malema told reporters in Johannesburg: "Since my election as president of the ANC Youth League in 2008, I instructed my lawyers to process my resignations from all these corporations and companies... when I was based in Limpopo province."

Malema came under fire in the past few days from newspapers reporting that he had a lavish lifestyle bankrolled by government contracts to companies he held an interest in.

Weekend reports stated that SGL Engineering Projects had won contracts of over R140 million from local governments in Limpopo, where the company was based.

The SA Company database had Malema on Monday listed as not only being a director SGL but also of three other companies, all of them closed corporations.

He was the sole member of 101 Junjus Trading, appointed on January 23, 2007.

The second company he was involved in as director was Blue Nightingale Trading 61. The list showed him as being appointed director January 19, 2006.

Both these companies were still in business.

Malema was also listed as co-director of Ever Roaring Investments with Mathias Mathews Mathabatha, Mmalehu Onicca Kwakwa, Nomvula Pamela Mhlari and Treasure Poseletso Kekana.

Malema was appointed director on September 8, 2006, and was still listed as "active".
The database showed resigning from only one company - Nkgape Mining Investments - as director. This was on April 12, 2006.

Butterworths' website describes the SA Company Search database is the entire database of companies and close corporations as supplied by the Company and Intellectual Property Registration Office, a division within the Department of Trade and Industry.

The database is updated monthly. According to the website, it was last updated in February 2010.

Malema could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.

In the morning he said his lawyers had confirmed that he was no longer a director of any company.

"They re-assured me that they had removed me."

Asked about this in the afternoon, Malema's lawyer Tumi Mokwena said he had received the instruction from Malema to terminate the directorships.

"This happened somewhere in 2008. He said he did not want to have an interest in any company any longer."

Mokwena said Malema gave his lawyers special power of attorney to handle the matter.

The fact that Malema was still listed as a director of SGL would be investigated, Mokwena said.

ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu said: "He (Malema) gave the orders to the lawyers, whether the database was updated is not our problem."

He said he took exception to the fact that a journalist who did not attend the morning briefing contacted him about the issue.

"You are out of order. F*** you," Shivambu said before putting down the phone. - Sapa

'Stop blaming apartheid for corruption'

Lax and corrupt public officials should stop blaming apartheid for their misdeeds, a senior government official has been quoted as saying in the ANC journal, Umrabulo, featured in The Sunday Independent.

"Apartheid cannot be blamed every time some among them fail to discharge their responsibilities or get involved in corruption," said the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba.

Gigaba, who is also an ANC national executive committee member, said laxity in executing public service duty constituted corruption, but this could not be blamed on apartheid.

"Most of the public servants employed in government today are not from the apartheid era, but were engaged during the democratic dispensation," he said.

Apartheid was inherently corrupt because it "was founded upon a corrupt value system that supported, spawned and was itself, in turn, sustained by corruption".

"Sure, the legacy of apartheid could be blamed, but for how long?" he said.

Gigaba also rejected the argument that poverty caused corruption. "Even where they participate in corrupt activities, the poor are often the victims rather than the propellers of corruption."

"Corruption is, after all, a conscious abuse of power for personal enrichment by those who have such power," he said.

"The largest incidents of corruption in the public service occur among the senior management services among those that earn satisfactory salaries; where large accounts and budgets are controlled, and decisions taken.

"It is at this level that huge tenders and contracts are issued and where kickbacks are often demanded for contracts and offered."

Gigaba called for a new type of public servant who could manage the conflict between private and public interest. Public servants' private business projects should not interfere with their duties as public officials.

"We need to prevent and punish what is morally wrong and to encourage and reward all that is morally right," he said.

"There is a need for the establishment of a professional meritocratic public service that is able to uphold the values and principles of democracy, good governance and Ubuntu, whilst sharing the ideology of development."

Gigaba's words come amid a series of service delivery protests - the latest in Siyathemba township in Balfour, Mpumalanga. - Sapa

Employee claims she was told 'blacks are baboons'

A manager at a BMW dealership in KwaZulu-Natal has been hauled before the Equality Court for hate speech, after he allegedly called an employee a baboon.

Erich Tönsing, a manager at a luxury car repair centre in Durban, is alleged to have told receptionist Ayanda Dlamini that she would "always be a baboon and all black people are baboons".

In papers filed by Dlamini last week, she said the remarks followed her announcement in February last year that she was going to graduate with a national diploma in human resources from Mangosuthu University of Technology.

Tönsing, who has until March2 to respond, has denied the allegations.

"I never made any racist comments whatsoever ... I cannot, however, comment any further at this stage as the company has set up a grievance meeting with an independent chairperson and I will give my evidence to the chairperson," said Tönsing, who manages SMG Group's Durban Approved Repair Centre.

Dlamini, who has worked for SMG - which specialises in BMWs and Mini Coopers - since January 2008, submitted to court a copy of an e-mail complaint she sent to Tönsing a day after the alleged comments.

In an e-mail response, Tönsing apologised for "any discrimination" she may have felt and said the conversation referred to was a "general discussion we had about evolution and not directed at any single person ..."

Dlamini said she was pregnant at the time and only gathered the strength last week to lodge the complaint. She has also laid a charge of crimen injuria against Tönsing.

He was arrested a day later and appeared in court on Monday. However, the case was withdrawn by prosecutors on Tuesday, allegedly due to lack of evidence.

Sean McCarthy, managing director of SMG Group, which owns three luxury car dealerships in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town, was named first respondent in Dlamini's complaint.

On Friday, McCarthy's lawyers brought an urgent interdict in the Equality Court to have his name removed from the court papers. An interim order was granted and the matter returns to court on March 5.

McCarthy said he viewed the allegations against Tönsing in an "extremely serious light".

"This is not our policy, and if our internal investigation shows that any bit of this hate speech incident is true, in terms of the bounds of the law, we will go to the extreme," said McCarthy.

But Dlamini said she felt justified in naming McCarthy in court papers. "Soon after the incident took place I reported it to my younger brother, Harry, who confronted Sean about it and he took no action."

McCarthy denies having spoken with Dlamini's brother.

Message to white South Africans.

Michael Moore’s message to white South Africans. Very funny.

Apartheid, American Style!

SA up to its eyeballs in sewage

A full 97% of the country's sewage system infrastructure is 'dilapidated' and the overall neglect of the country's water and sanitation systems will cost R56 billion to repair.

At the bottom of the cesspit in the findings was Mpumalanga's waste water treatment works scoring a vile 39 (more than 5 times acceptable risk levels), while the North West ranked second – at 33. Barkly East (Eastern Cape) scored 14 on the cumulative risk rating (twice the acceptable risk levels)

Hidden Mortality

From January to April 2008, more than 80 Barkly East children died of diarrhoeal diseases amid initial official denial, avoidance and obfuscation about a malfunctioning and decaying water reticulation and purification system.

An epidemiological report confirmed that the purification process broke down in October 2007, with water tests revealing elevated levels of bacteria and Escherichia coli from then right through until March 2008. The first 15 Barkly East deaths led to a January report recommending the situation be declared an emergency with a wider probe needed. This led to the grim discovery that the baby and child death toll at nearby Sterkspruit was 4 times worse (62 child or baby deaths).

Chief among the reasons identified for the current crisis were

• a lack of planning and budgeting by councillors,
  
• the awarding of contracts to inexperienced contractors,
  
• lack of skilled officials to operate facilities,
  
• inability of officials to budget for and operate infrastructure,
  
• vacant managerial and operational posts,
  
• lack of technical ability to plan+manage capital-intensive water services projects,
  
• mostly unqualified controllers,
  
• lack of financial skills,
  
• poor money management.

Source: - SAMJ: South African Medical Journal vol.99 no.8 Cape Town Aug. 2009

Only 3% of SA’s sewage works are operational

The best and the worst never happens in South Africa, Jan Smuts once remarked. And how right the old man was, when you consider the mind-numbing banality that passes as news of national importance these days.

Amazingly, for a country facing the impossible task of bridging the biggest wealth gap in the world, the ongoing personal foibles of its president (which, to be honest, I truly couldn’t care about, as long as he gets the job done), continually hog the headlines, while the shortfall is made up of the rude outbursts of a township tsotsi who has twigged on to the bright idea that nationalising the mines would, after all, be the quickest way of getting really rich.

Meanwhile, the startling revelation that only 3% of the country’s sewage works are operational, makes it only onto page 10 of an Afrikaans daily newspaper, while the English press never get around to actually covering it.

In the North West, as exasperated farmers in Swartruggens and Sannieshof can attest to, there are apparently no fully functional sewage works. Not a single one.
In the Free State, 99% don’t work.

In a country as critically water stressed as South Africa, this should amount to nothing less than a national crisis.

There should be a flurry of ministerial activity, as departmental heads roll, and anxious engineers are shuttled to and fro across the country, as they frantically try to stem the rising tide of preventable pollution.

Instead, the department of water affairs’ official response is that they have, indeed, commissioned a report on the state of sewage works, but are still putting the finishing touches to it.

Meanwhile, livestock carcasses, infected with tapeworm, are turned away at abattoirs after animals drink water with faecal counts way off the charts, polluted water kills hundreds of babies in small-town municipalities, and irrigation farmers wait nervously for their export markets to slam unceremoniously shut.

The bottom line is that no one of consequence seems to be particularly interested in the art of moving turds from point A to point B in such a way that they don’t end up where they don’t belong, like in a river.

An essential engineering pursuit first perfected by the Romans thousands of years ago, but not deemed important here in South Africa, as we pursue some very dubious other priorities. Like replacing the some 7 374 police firearms that have gone missing over the past three years. Arms that almost certainly all end up in the hands of criminals, who definitely don’t take them out to the shooting range.

Instead, they end up being thrust into your face as your house gets ransacked. After all, have you ever heard of burglars using hunting rifles?

So amazingly, a fair whack of violent crime could simply be avoided if police would just hang on to their weapons. The official response? The minister of police, without the slightest hint of irony, announces that he would like, eventually, to see no-one in the country armed, except the police!

Nothing is ever said about how this haemorrhaging of police weapons will be stopped, or what action will be taken against police officers who lose their weapons.

Instead, private citizens, punch-drunk by the criminal onslaught, are threatened with lengthy jail sentences if the new firearm legislation isn’t followed to the letter.

One can only still hope that Smut’s prediction will hold.

Source: - http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/

See also:- http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/

Couple severely assaulted with stones and beaten to death

An eldery couple was murdered in their home in Tinmyne in Limpopo on Friday, police said.

Superintendent Ronel Otto said the couple, a man aged 70 and his wife, 54, were out in town when two men arrived at their house in Tinmyne near Mokopane at around noon on Friday.

"The suspects overpowered two workers on the property, forced them into the house and tied them up," said Otto.

When the couple returned, they were severely assaulted with stones. The couple was allegedly beaten to death and left their bodies were left in a patch of grass next to their house.

"The suspects ransacked the house and fled in the couple's red Mercedes Benz."

The vehicle was later found burnt out next to a road, 20 km from the house.

The two workers succeeded in freeing themselves and walked approximately 2km to the Tinmyne Police Station to request assistance.

Warning to motorists - Hijackers 'trick victims with number plates'

If your number plates are being flashed to you from another car, resist the urge to stop - they might be hijackers.

According to an e-mail doing the rounds, hijackers are removing motorists' number plates in an attempt to get them out of their cars.

They "stalk" motorists to a parking lot or mall, wait for them to park and leave their car before removing the plates, the e-mail says.

The hijackers wait for the victim to return, follow them on to the road and then overtake them while displaying the number plate at their window.

This makes the victim think they have lost the plate and that the hijackers want to give it back.

"Shocked that your number plate has fallen off your car, you bring your vehicle to a halt to get it from them. This is all they want you to do, and by the time you realise what has happened, it is too late - your car was hijacked or you could have been raped or killed," the e-mail reads.

It warns motorists against stopping for anything, because their lives are more valuable than a number plate.

"Think about what is happening before you react to it. Criminals are clever and cunning but are ruthless in getting what they want."

Gauteng police spokesman Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said that while he thought the e-mail was a hoax, one should never underestimate the lengths to which potential hijackers were willing to go.

"There's a possibility for anything, but it's the first time I've heard of it," he said.

Tips for protecting yourself against hijackings:

• Have your key on you, but not visible.
  
  
• Inspect the outside and inside of the vehicle before unlocking. Check the tyres, number plates and the other side of the car.
  
  
• Know your destination and directions to it, and be alert if you get lost.
  
  
• Always drive with your windows closed and doors locked.
  
  
• Make a mental note of any police stations in the area.
  
  
• When stopping behind another vehicle, leave at least half-a-car's length in front of your vehicle so you can make an emergency escape if necessary.
  
  
• Never open your vehicle window or door for any stranger.

• If a suspicious-looking person is near your unoccupied vehicle, don't approach it.

Malema's lifestyle sponsored by tenders

ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's lavish lifestyle is being bankrolled by lucrative government contracts awarded to his companies, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

Some of the multi-million rand tenders awarded to Malema's companies were from Limpopo, his home province, the paper reported.

Citing official tender and government documents, the paper reported that Malema's companies were awarded more than 20 contracts, each worth between R500,000 and R39 million between 2007 and 2008.

One of the companies, a small engineering firm, profited from more than R130 million worth of tenders in just two years.

SGL Engineering Projects, which Malema co-owns with Lesiba Gwangwa, was awarded projects ranging from road and pavement construction to bulk water supply and upgrading cemeteries.

While public documents reveal that some of the projects were completed on schedule, majority of them were not, the paper reported.

Malema is believed to have used his share of the profit to finance two luxury homes worth about R4.6 million.

Contacted for comment regarding the tenders by the Sunday Times, Malema said: "What gives you the power to ask me that question? Let me tell you, I do not owe you any answer, to be honest. I am not accountable to you... I am accountable to the ANCYL and ANC. My organisations have never raised any concerns about those things".

Malema went on to say "there is no law that says politicians can't be businessmen".

ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu declined to comment on the story, saying he hasn't seen the paper yet.

"I can't comment on things I haven't seen even if you can explain (the story). Call me on Sunday when I have seen the story," Shivambu said.

Nationalise the Malema Millions

By Michael Trapido

When ANC Youth League President Julius Malema addressed the National Press Club in Pretoria, following the heckling and booing of SACP delegates at Polokwane, he confirmed that this conduct was an invitation to war which the ANCYL was accepting.

Fair enough.

Those who had confused Malema’s reception by the SACP with that of a politician being rejected by an audience on account of his lifestyle and conduct towards their leaders were deemed - by me - to be unfortunately misguided, doomed never to lead a political party and unworthy of entering our rich culture of debate.

After all why would the delegates at a communist rally have a problem with a comrade who leads the calls for nationalisation and socialism but lives like a full blown capitalist?

Absurd - must be a personality problem or just total disrespect.

What's more Malema emerged from the recent ANCYL NEC sounding a dire warning to ANC leaders who dared to defy the league's policy positions which was primarily to follow a path of seeking support for the nationalising of mines and the establishment of a state mining company to control the country's mineral resources prior to the ANC's policy and elective conferences in 2012.

His rallying call being something along the lines of Madiba (President Nelson Mandela) having fought for freedom, our war is being waged over economic freedom without which the masses could never be truly free....or something like that.

Perhaps he was thinking along the lines of another famous Julius :

“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

After all if President Jacob Zuma could use references to Jesus (the quote is attributed to Christ) then why not bring in the other chap mentioned in the saying? Which means once you've given everything belonging to Zuma to the president the rest - surely - must belong to Julius Malema, not Ceaser because he's already had his share.

But don't discount the Jesus reference either because like Christ who turned water into wine Malema has turned a R20,000 a month salary into :

• Two multimillion-rand homes - both of which he bought for cash. (Sandown - R3,6-million + mansion in Polokwane in 2007 - R1m)
  
• The Sandown house has been described as luxurious, with three bedrooms, an office, a TV room, a lounge, a pool and a large garden.
  
• House Warming - YFM DJ Oskido provided music, guests treated to R700-a-bottle Johnnie Walker Gold Label whisky and Moët et Chandon French Champagne.
  
• Gucci suit, and Breitling watch worth about R250 000.
  
• Owns black Mercedes-Benz AMG, drives an Aston Martin and a red Range Rover Sport and went to lecture at Wits in brand-new white Range Rover.
  
  (our thanks to IOL and Times Live)

Before we catch any of you sniggering we believe that he was guided by the Communist Manifesto and the new weekly "What your well dressed Socialist is wearing this Winter".

Notwithstanding Malema has made it his life's work to drive for economic equality. That all should be equal under the Sun (remember to use a sunblock factor of at least 50)and nobody favoured above anybody else.

That is why - please don't write in to thank me Mr Malema - I am calling for his assets to be nationalised and the proceeds to be distributed as part of our efforts on service delivery.

It's my birthday present to him.

Malema's millions

This report in The Star newspaper claims Malema owns a R3,6m house in Sandown and a R1m mansion in Polokwane, both of which he paid cash.

You do the maths ...

• Two houses: R4,6m
  
• Cars: R1,2m plus plus plus
  
• Breitling watch: R250 000
  
• Monthly salary: R20 000

Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League president, owns two multimillion-rand homes - both of which he bought for cash.

This disclosure, which adds to questions surrounding how the youth league president affords his lavish lifestyle, comes just a day after Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced that targeted lifestyle audits would be conducted this year.

The Star has discovered that Malema bought his three-bedroom home in Sandown for R3,6-million in December last year.

And, according to the Deeds Office, he owns two houses. The other is a mansion he bought in Polokwane in 2007 for R1m.

The house in Sandown is in Silvela Road and the Deeds Office indicates that he bought it for R36m. But according to the previous owner, the house was sold for R3,6m.

The Sandown house has been described as luxurious, with three bedrooms, an office, a TV room, a lounge, a pool and a large garden.

It is the same house in which Malema held a controversial house-warming party in September last year.

A police reservist said at the time that he was assaulted by the youth league leader. Neighbours complained about the noise and mess that Malema's party had caused. It was a sophisticated bash. YFM DJ Oskido provided the music, and guests were treated to R700-a-bottle Johnnie Walker Gold Label whisky and Moët et Chandon French Champagne.

When asked how he could afford to buy a R3.6m house cash, Malema reacted angrily.

"You and your husband and your family - that's who you need to write about. You go away, just go away," he said before slamming down the phone.

ANC Youth League spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said The Star was being nonsensical. "I think you need to rethink what you are doing. What business is this of yours? How dare you call me and ask for comment on this?"

It's not the first time questions surrounding the scale of Malema's lifestyle have emerged.

Sources in the youth league have said he earns R20 000 a month.

At the same time that the transfer of the Sandown house went through, Malema attended a press conference in a Gucci suit, and sported a Breitling watch worth about R250 000.

The 28-year-old politician owns a black Mercedes-Benz AMG, which retails at R734 000, and reportedly drives an Aston Martin and a red Range Rover Sport, too. Last night he went to a lecture at Wits University in a brand-new white Range Rover - with no number plates - which sells for R1,2m.

Malema is the director of four companies: 101 Junjus Trading CC, Blue Nightingale Trading 61, Ever Roaring Investment and SGL Engineering Projects.

DA youth league leader Khume Ramulifho said he had heard that Malema earned a lot more than the R20 000 he claims.

"It is said that he earns as much as a minister, and that is why he will not go to Parliament or take up any other office," said Ramulifho, who owns one car - an Audi A4 - and a house in Riverlea.

Getting to know the real Jacob Zuma

The latest controversy surrounding President Jacob Zuma illustrates a consistent thread running through his presidency: power abuse.

Zuma believes he is above the law and social norms. He believes that - by virtue of his position - he can get away with anything.

One of his close political associates summed it up the other day when he said, in conversation: Jacob Zuma has a mandate from 11 million people so he can do what he likes.

This attitude applies to Zuma's financial dealings, his relationships with women, and to his relationship with his citizens. If any institution of state gets in his way, it is effectively neutered. If any government campaign requires him to change his behaviour, it is ignored.

Behind his undoubted warmth and charm, this is the real Jacob Zuma. It is also the real ANC.

This is how the ANC understands and uses power. We have, during the past year, witnessed the cynical manipulation that has turned the National Prosecuting Authority and the Judicial Service Commission into extensions of the ANC to protect President Zuma.

The Zuma clique in the ruling party does not seem to grasp that, in a constitutional democracy, ruling parties and their leaders are not above the law or social norms. They may not ignore their own policies. They must be held to account. And they must lead by example.

So what has this got to do with the birth of Jacob Zuma's 20th child?

Everything.

Firstly, Zuma does not consider himself bound by the norms of safe sex that he exhorts his fellow citizens to follow. It is worth repeating what he said in December last year on World Aids Day:

"Prevention is our most powerful weapon against the epidemic… All South Africans should take steps to ensure that they do not become infected, that they do not infect others and that they know their status. Each individual must take responsibility for protection against HIV...It does not mean that we should be irresponsible in our sexual practices. It does not mean that people do not have to practice safer sex. It does not mean that people should not use condoms consistently and correctly during every sexual encounter. We can eliminate the scourge of HIV if all South Africans take responsibility for their actions."

Quite clearly, there is one norm for Jacob Zuma and another for everybody else. This attitude is rooted in the same assumptions that justify his destruction of independent state institutions that seek to call him to account on legal matters against him. After all, he has a mandate from 11 million people. He can do what he likes.

Secondly, the birth of his little girl in October last year neatly illustrates his abuse of power as a husband. This baby was conceived between two marriages. No culture, polygamous or otherwise, justifies cheating on your wife/wives.

This is confirmed by cultural expert Ndela Nelson Ntshangase of the University of KwaZulu-Natal:

"Polygamy allows all children to be born into a family, to have access to both parents, unlike an illegitimate child…If a child is born out of wedlock... the illegitimate child is in a vulnerable position, she is standing on a slippery slope because the child is born into a broken family."

And yet, Zuma has tried to appeal to culture to defend himself.

Like the race card, Zuma and the ANC play the culture card to try and silence legitimate criticism. This opportunistic strategy is actually an abuse of culture. Indeed, it is part of Zuma's pattern of power abuse.

And it justifies further abuse of that culture by his supporters.

As Julius Malema said: "We are Africans, we cannot discuss the private affairs of our elders and Zuma is a father to us all."

The fact is, promiscuity and philandering are not part of Zulu culture, they are in conflict with it. As cultural analyst, Nomboniso Gasa points out:

"According to the cultural milieu to which Malema refers, leadership is earned every day. Ukuzeyisa nobungcathu - self-control, discipline, modesty about one's desires are critical qualities of leadership."

We cannot allow appeals to culture, especially when they are self-servingly distorted, to stop legitimate criticism of an elected leader who is accountable for his actions. Zuma can, and must, be called to account for private actions that have public consequences, particularly when those consequences are so profound.

The truth is that Zuma has set us back at least a decade in the fight against HIV/Aids. His actions will have a far more negative impact than even the Aids denialism of Thabo Mbeki. Getting bogged down in esoteric theories and quack science would have had far less impact on people's behaviour, than a leader who by his own example, justifies unprotected sex. The inevitable response of millions of young men will be: "If the President can do it so can I." This attitude undermines the entire edifice of the government's HIV/Aids programme. It will destroy many lives. And it will cost the taxpayers millions in treating people who contract HIV/AIDS as a result.

There is a clear parallel between Zuma's attitude to HIV/AIDS and his corruption trial. By manipulating the criminal justice system to ensure that he never had to answer the allegations against him in court, he sent out the message that it is okay to be corrupt. It is nobody's culture to justify corruption.

In his admission yesterday, Zuma railed against "opportunistic" critics for encroaching on an "intensely private" matter that does not consider the rights of the child. Really? How touching.

One has to ask: To what extent has his behavior considered the rights of this child, his other children, or every other South African child?

One of the root causes of social disintegration in our country is the failure of so many fathers to take responsibility for their children. Absent fathers rob children of a present parent. Often, they deprive a family of a crucial income source to give children the opportunities they deserve in life.

Zuma is sending out a message that it is okay to father as many children as you want, whatever the social consequences and burden on the state. The difference is that the average single-parent cannot afford to look after 20 children. Indeed, it is questionable whether even Jacob Zuma - on a President's salary - can do so either. Questions need to be asked about where he gets the money to support all his wives and children, but that is another issue for another day.

It may have been feasible in a by-gone rural era, for 20 children of a single father to be properly cared for, nurtured and mentored in an extended family network. In a fragmented urban environment, it is not possible. The children inevitably suffer the consequences. It is nobody's culture to diminish their children's chances in life.

Many of Zuma's actions demonstrate the ANC's belief that there is one law for themselves, and another for the rest of South Africa.

Zuma can get way with things that ordinary people can't. Not only this, he is shielded from the consequences of his actions. This is power abuse, pure and simple.

If there is anything positive about this episode, it is that South Africa is getting to know the real Jacob Zuma, beyond the charm.

The honeymoon, (in the figurative sense at least), is over!

Helen Zille

Open letter to Mr President from Evita Bezuidenhout

Dear President Zuma,

I won’t address you as Father of the Nation because I know you don’t like formalities. I treasure your allowing me to still call you by your Zulu name, Innocent.

For all the years we have passed each other in the passages of power you have always treated me with great respect. Granted, I’ve never been alone in a room with you for more than a minute.

People have come to me in the past few days and said, “Evita, talk to him. Make him realise he is not just a song-and-dance man.”

Of course you’re not. You were a major player in the Struggle against apartheid, and let the world now know that you have been responsible for extraordinary things during the past 30 years. But nothing as extraordinary as your personal collection of beautiful wives.

Liewe aarde, Innocent, what competition are you trying to win here?

How is it possible that a man who is so involved in politics as president of a young democracy that needs as much supervision as a 16-year-old delinquent child finds so much time to share with not just one wife but three?

At what time of day can you get to your office if there are so many wives to kiss goodbye in the morning? And you have to be fair and kiss them all, other¬wise we will sit with a never-ending television series called Desperate First Ladies!

But then, when you should be addressing the problems of poverty, xenophobia, Zimbabwe, presidential pardons - to mention but a few - you spend those moments creating more Zumettes. They say already 20 children from your own loins, and maybe we can add one or two for those slipped out without you noticing ?

Maggies man, carry on like that and you will have your own football teams to win the cup for South Africa in 2018 !

Innocent, I like you. I even respect you. I want you to be the best president we've had since Nelson Mandela decided to hand over the reigns to someone else.

There is no reason for you to fail. You came to power as our third democratically elected leader in spite of a nightmare audition; months of court actions and trials, miles of media blah blah reporting every rumour and gossip. Freedom of speech is sacred in our land and while some of the media went too far and showered you with accusations, don't they have the right ? Is that why today you protect freedom of speech but want terms and conditions to apply ?

You have apologised. I am a bit older than you and yet you make me feel like a school girl at your feet. You smile at me. You laugh at my words. You sing for me and you dance around me. It is captivating. You start to sing. You move into a dance. And when all that is over, the media have forgotten the question.

Of course I have a lot to say but I don't, because I as a white woman have an opinion about the foibles of your government I am called racist and told to shut up or emigrate.

Well, I won't do either ! I will build up enough courage to write you this letter, because it's time we stood up and spoke. Not as whites, not as men and women, but as citizens of a magical country that was given a second chance to make it's dreams come true.

I see some leaders pooh pooh FW de Klerk's celebration of his legendary speech of 2nd February 1990 which lead to the freeing of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC and SA Communist party (SACP) and other minor irritations. They say it happened only as a result of the Struggle. My skat, the last thing anyone expected was to be handed the nightmare of a bankrupt blood-soaked South Africa. We gave it to you and now it's yours, Innocent.

I'm on your side Msholozi, If I may use your clan name, I have no problem with your cultural, traditional weapons of marriage. All your ZuMamas are a joy to behold.

I remember seeing them at the opening of parliament last year, when you made your first state-of-the-nation address as president. They were all asleep in the gallery. Thanks to that we know that there are no power hungry Hillary Clintons among them, no overambitious Winnies or scheming Lady Macbeths.

I have no problem with you. I have a problem with what the people see in you. My son De Kock, does aids awareness talks at schools. Recently he was at a school in Soweto, demonstrating safe sex through the use of condoms. After the talk a group of senior learners approached him. They liked his presentation. "But must you go on about condoms ? We know," said one. De Kock said he was pleased that they were informed but there were many others that needed the information. "Why?" asked the other young man "We don't need condoms. We have a shower"

De Kock laughed loudly, as we all would. There was no smiles on the faces of the young men. "Why do you laugh?" the one asked angrily.

"Well" said De Kock, "you refer to Jacob Zuma having a shower after unprotected sex."

"So ? what's funny ? Are you calling our president a liar ?"

De Kock realised there was no joke here.

"Jacob Zuma is our president, We follow by example," was their parting statement.

Innocent, you lead by example, like it or not !

If there is one thing you need to impregnate it is our country. Give us the benefit of your strength, your humour, your wisdom, your compassion and your focus. We need you.

You might say, "Why must I listen to Evita Bezuidenhout ?"

Well if you listen to Julius Malema, I too have a right to your ear. And I passed woodwork at school with a B+.

So, vuk'uzenzele, M-shower-lozi ! Practice what you preach and, please, put your love in a plastic bag.

Sincerely,

Evita Bezuidenhout

From Evita Bezuidenhout a popular SA political playwright.

JZ does his best work in the dark, so parliament opens at night

Jacob Zuma broke with tradition on Thursday night when he delivered his state of the nation address after lights out, saying he did his best work in the dark. During his landmark speech Zuma declared the country to be surprisingly fecund, pregnant with possibility and with a cervix that was ripe for service delivery.

Zuma went on to stress that 2010 would be a year of both labour and action. "And by that the President probably means he wants to get on top of his work," explained political analyst Scrutiny Gwala.

During his speech Zuma said, "The defining feature of this administration will be that it knows where people live, understands their needs, and responds faster."

Gwala said the statement was not meant as a threat but a promise.

"Although it's easy to see why people might be afraid," he added in a hushed voice. "How does he know where I live?

"It's sounds like the sort of claim you find in the personal column of a newspaper," he said, "but I suppose it could mean other things as well."

Aside from smutty double-entendres and veiled promises to the women-folk of South Africa, Zuma also said his government was planning to reduce crime by taking criminals off the street and incorporating them into the police force.

"We are implementing plans to increase the number of police men and women by 10% over the next three years," he said, adding that it didn't matter how you got the criminals off the street as long as you did.

He said criminals would have nothing to fear as the South African Police Service offered excellent opportunities for people trained in the arts of gun crime, bribery and extortion.

Explaining the decision, Gwala said criminals would probably be free to continue with their usual antics, only now they would have to wear a uniform and pay a portion of their take to the boss.

"It's why they call him the Commissioner," he said.

hayibo.com

Zuma ready to run the Valentine's Day gauntlet

Sources close to Jacob Zuma say that the president is more "apprehensive" of the fast-approaching St Valentine’s Day than he is of the opening of parliament and his upcoming State Of The Nation address.

The evening, in which the president is obliged to meet up with and pay attention to all his various wives, fiancées, lovers, partners, mistresses, sweethearts, girlfriends, paramours, consorts, and significant others, is said to be the most gruelling event of the president's year.

Presidential Wingman Sizwe “Slick” Kaleni has reported that the President has been losing sleep over the upcoming ordeal. "He wakes up in a cold sweat," Kaleni stated during a press briefing. "Even the seven or eight women he uses as blankets don’t calm him down. If anything, knowing that he’s going to have to spend a romantic evening with each of them individually just makes it worse."

A medical team was called to the president’s house earlier this week to treat him for stress and deliver a crate of Hefner-grade viagra.

A special planning committee, headed by Kaleni, has been convened to help the president through this difficult time. "This is a political minefield," Kaleni stated. "Working out how much he has to spend with each woman, where he met them, what promises he made, and which ones can't know about which other ones, is overwhelmingly difficult.

"Remembering all their names is hard enough," he added.

A team of researchers and speechwriters has spent the last three months briefing the president on appropriate talking points and sweet nothings.

Other duties of the committee include organising several shipping-containers full of roses, and finding and booking more than a dozen intimate restaurants within easy driving distance of each other.

Despite the months of careful planning, Kaleni says that the evening will still be a political gauntlet. "So many things could go wrong for him. Forgetting a name, not noticing a new dress, sleeping with the waitress. Any of these could ruin the evening."

"At least it’s not Christmas," said Kaleni, "when he has to get presents for all of his children. When we got that wrong two years ago, the world economy collapsed."

hayibo.com

Zapiro brings back the shower head

The latest Zapiro "Zuma baby shower" cartoon in this week's Mail & Guardian has been making waves on Twitter and elsewhere.

With criticism intensifying around President Jacob Zuma's sexual behaviour, political cartoonist Zapiro has brought back the Zuma showerhead.

He said it was difficult to give Zuma a break.

The cartoonist's latest drawing depicts a larger-than-ever shower firmly affixed to the president's head while delivering the State of the Nation address.

Zapiro first used the shower image in 2006 after Zuma said he took a shower to protect himself from contracting HIV after having unprotected sex.

The cartoonist temporarily detached the shower from Zuma last year, as a sign of giving the president a chance.

Zapiro said Zuma's latest antics proved what most South Africans though about their president.

"All sorts of people tried to give him a break. I lifted the shower off his head according to how well or badly I thought he was doing. More people are criticising, even from within his own ranks. It is obviously an opportunity for me to play around with the shower," said Zapiro.

Zapiro said Zuma should be embarrassed to address the nation on Thursday.

"He has so many children and so many scandals that follow him. It was bound to co-incide with something and as it happens it co-incides with the speech and if I were him I would be so embarrassed getting up in front of the nation," said Zapiro.

Operation Dribble

From the London Review Blog - By R.W. Johnson

Just over a week ago the South African Football Association (Safa) –which is shortly to host the World Cup – sacked its chief executive, Raymond Hack, replacing him with the unknown and untried Leslie Sedibe. Sedibe happily announced that ‘I can promise you parties, parties, parties all the way.’ This week it emerges that Safa is having major cash-flow problems, owes a lot of money to the bank and a whole lot more to suppliers. Safa has to subsidise its 52 regions inside the country to help them pay their administrative costs. Many of these regions are on the point of closure, unable to pay wages, rent or phone bills. Safa itself is said to be ‘paralysed’.

Safa is the battleground for South Africa’s famous soccer bosses, rich men who like cutting a dash and are rough: accusations of attempted or actual murder are not uncommonly flung at them and they are willing to use financial or actual muscle to solve most problems. The authorities are visibly afraid of them. When Irvin Khoza, one of the greatest of all the bosses – ‘the Iron Duke’, as he is known – was found not to have paid his taxes for some time the tax authorities merely called him in for ‘consultations’ and reached a quiet arrangement with him. There was no thought of court action. Similarly, a few years ago the police arrested dozens of referees in ‘Operation Dribble’, having discovered that they had been bribed to fix most of South Africa’s Professional Soccer League (PSL) soccer matches. The police were very pleased at having caught the refs red-handed but then it dawned that they could not be sentenced without the naming in open court of the soccer bosses who had bribed them. This was obviously unthinkable so the refs were all released and continue to manage domestic games in time-honoured fashion.

The coup at Safa was all about bosses. The World Cup will be run by the Local Organising Committee and Irvin Khoza, the chairman of the PSL, is also chairman of the LOC. He also owns and chairs Orlando Pirates, one of the country’s top clubs, and is Safa’s vice-president. Normally he would get his way on anything but Danny Jordaan, who recently gave up the Safa presidency but remains its dominant figure, is involved in an all-out struggle with Khoza. And Jordaan, who used to be an ANC MP, has the backing both of the Football Transformation Forum and of Fifa’s Sepp Blatter. In World Cup year such good political connections count double and Hack, a lonely white, had the common sense to back Khoza (an African) which is why Hack got sacked by the Jordaan forces (Jordaan being a Coloured). The prize at stake here is a seat on Fifa’s 24-man executive committee, which means a great deal of money and power. Khoza had assumed it was his virtually for the asking but Jordaan clearly has other ideas.

The money problems are largely due to the fact that South Africa’s fans won’t pay much to watch rigged games so Safa depends on sponsors who are in a continual state of cardiac arrest over Safa’s antics. Things will doubtless get papered over for now.

However, when, in October 2009, Safa brought back Carlos Parreira as coach of the national team after his predecessor had lost eight of the last nine games, it simultaneously brought in Jomo Sono as its technical director. Somo is another famous soccer boss – he even named his club, Jomo Cosmos, after himself – and twice before on the eve of major tournaments he has pushed out the sitting coach and taken over the managership himself. There is no doubt that Jomo would dearly love to lead Bafana Bafana out to start the World Cup and bathe in publicity as the hosts’ manager, so no one is ruling out a last-minute coup at team level either. But there’s the catch. Jomo’s management record is pretty good – and he used to play alongside Pelé himself – but no one thinks Bafana can get through the first round. Unless, of course, we can rediscover some of the ingenuity revealed by Operation Dribble.

Related -http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article256543.ece

Zuma has once again proved the ANC wrong

The ANC will rue the day they decided - against all logic - that Jacob Zuma shall be president of the country. Today the man is seen by many as nothing more than an object of comic relief.

No wonder journalists in Davos, Switzerland, could not resist the urge to use him to entertain themselves.

Luckily for Zuma, while South Africans wallow in embarrassment and shame, he appears very much at ease with his "culture-induced" indiscretions.

His affable and warm personality aside, Zuma's shortcomings are just so glaring that in a normal country he would not be allowed a look-in at the presidential palace.

Ironically, the ANC faction that brought Zuma to power made the same mistake as Thabo Mbeki, who foolishly wanted to prove mainstream medical scientists wrong with his crackpot Aids denialist theories.

Through Zuma the ANC wanted to prove to the world that an uneducated man from a humble rural background could lead a modern state to prosperity. Needless to say, this grandiosely romanticised project has backfired spectacularly.

Zuma's latest gaffe makes for intriguing times in the faction-riddled ANC. No doubt Zuma's handlers in Cosatu and the SACP must be very worried. They will now find it difficult to bulldoze other factions within the ANC-led alliance to accept a second term for Zuma as fait accompli.

In fact, it is not inconceivable that other factions will be emboldened by this "love child" saga to find their voice and even agitate for Zuma's "recall". After all, a precedent has been set.

However, the very prospect of Zuma's recall will have its own repercussions. Zuma's liaisons with convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik tell us that he is not unfamiliar with the notion of corruption.

Lest we forget, the man went to extraordinary lengths to avoid his own day in court. Now that it is almost certain that a second term is out of question, Msholozi might need to make the proverbial hay while the sun is still shining.

Have you no shame Mr. Zuma?

A proud, young South African writes to President Jacob Zuma

Dear Mr Zuma

It is with the greatest shock and disgust to read that you have fathered one more child out of wedlock under the pretext of culture that must be respected by all and your pathetic spin doctors insisting that we must respect your privacy, your culture and the office you hold. But on second thought, some may argue that there is nothing surprising about your conduct, given your colorful track record.

Mr Zuma there is nothing respectful about this latest sorry episode, you disrespected yourself, your children, your wives and fiancée, your culture, the office you hold and the people of South Africa, to whom you must account.

Let us be clear upfront, your philandering ways have nothing to do with culture, they have all to do with a man with no values, no principles, no morals who only views women as objects to satisfy your seemingly uncontrollable appetite.

This, by all accounts is a direct attack on the values of decency, which most South Africans hold dear and cherish and does untold damage to the heroic struggles of men and women of our country, who have laid down their lives to reverse the backwards shackles of patriarchy and women abuse in our society. By your act, you have set us back many centuries in the cause for the emancipation of women in our country, let alone the fight against HIV/AIDS. Women are not trophies to be branded about Mr Zuma, they are human beings with emotions and dreams like all of us, why could you not exercise restraint and do the right thing if you had good intentions about her.

Granted, the woman involved is an adult who should have known better, but given many scientific studies that show that women are still the most vulnerable in society in terms of economic freedom, therefore are potentially easily enticed by the prospect of security and better life when pursued by vultures like you and the balance of forces is therefore tipped against them when it comes to negotiating safe sex.

It is also curious that in Davos, Swirtzerland, journalists were pre occupied with your sexual life and conquests, while your peers were fielding questions about how we can make the world a better place and change the world economic order, and you happily indulged them, may be to you it was your moment of glory, no Mr. Zuma it was a moment of great embarrassment that made some of us ashamed to be South Africans in Particular and Africans in general.

Remember the perceptions in the west that African men in particular are just a bunch of horny stallions, who cannot control their urges, lazy, corrupt and like easy money and have nothing meaningful to contribute to human advancement and development. How does our generation defend this insult with people like you around.

It seems you have no clue about the responsibilities of the office you hold, granted you committed no crime in terms of our criminal statutes, but in the eyes of most right thinking South Africans you have committed the greatest crime of all, that of failing to be a repository of the values with which we are trying to build this young nation, worse that the woman involved is a daughter of your peer, an act you are repeating.

Have you no shame Mr. Zuma, don’t you learn from your mistakes, the people of South Africa forgave you and gave you a second chance, is this the gratitude you are showing them for their generosity and good nature, or is it your way of showing them how disrespectful your are to them and take them for granted. .

At this time Mr Zuma, you are given a chance to judge yourself and do the right thing, at least we still hope you know the difference, and save whatever little respect you still command with the right thinking South Africans and step aside, this young and fragile nation does not need a person like you to lead its public life.

For once, don’t be selfish, put the interests of the people of South Africa before yours. Before you do perhaps you should ask yourself the question, what legacy would you like to leave in the minds of the current and future generations?.