The Week That Was

Gerald Potash,

Hello again,

A great deal has been written in the press this week about the court action of genocide instituted by SA against Israel at the ICJ (International Court of Justice). It is going to cost SA millions as the very top advocates and attorneys have been chosen to argue the charges in the court at The Hague today and tomorrow (Thursday & Friday). Israel has responded by charging SA with conspiracy and supporting a terrorist organisation by issuing statements of support for Hamas the very day after Hamas perpetrated the gruesome massacre of 1200 people at a music festival in Israel on October 7.

When one considers that Hamas is vocal and repetitive about killing all Jews everywhere I wonder how SA hopes to win a case against Israel when Israel is the only country ever to advise opposing citizens to clear areas where they intend to bomb during a war.  The Americans believe that SA has no case at all and that the matter will be rejected by the court. Our media have taken the opposite view and believe it is an open and shut case.

This week, Ivo Vegter writing in the Daily Friend has two in-depth articles criticising SA’s application to the ICJ. I can pass them on if you would like to read them.  

Then SA has not been a favourite of the ICJ. In 1971 it lost its case at the Court in The Hague when it tried to convince the world body that Apartheid was best for Namibia and it should not be given independence. In 2015 SA ignored a direct order from the court to arrest Omar Al-Bashir, President of the Sudan who had been found guilty of genocide in his own country. He had been sentenced to jail time by the ICJ where citizens in opposition to his regime were bloodthirstily wiped out by his army under his direct orders.

You will recall that our President Zuma hugged Al-Basjir and sent him home to escape arrest. That was illegal.

CNN reports that Israel is nowhere near wiping out all of Hamas. “Challenges remain and an endgame is far from sight. Few countries at war set deadlines. Israeli officials have warned of a lengthy war that could stretch through the entirety of 2024 and beyond”.

Cyril makes lots of speeches and one to celebrate the 112th anniversary of the founding of the ANC irked me when he spent much too much time rationalising the Party’s support of ‘the Palestinians’.  Nothing about the terror group, Hamas, mind you. He was simply justifying taking Israel to Court. It is sickening.

Anything to garner support for his corrupt Party to retain power.

Jacob Zuma is doing what he does best: Hogging the limelight. He has spoken at meetings looking for support for his new political party, MK. From the audiences he is attracting in KZN it looks as if he is going to give the ANC a run for their money in the upcoming general election. Certainly in that province. Good. The more votes he attracts the less votes the ANC will win. Zuma is certainly not going to garner votes from any of the other parties.

Stephen Grootes writing in the Daily Maverick on Tuesday believes that JZ will be expelled from the ANC—the Party he headed up for so many years.

The ANC is a bunch of liars. I have been writing that for years and this week the Secretary-General of the governing party, Fikile Mbalula (still wearing his keffiyah) has admitted to that during the parliamentary investigation after Thuli Madonsela’s report on Nkandla.  ANC MPs were told to lie in parliament about the “fire pool”. Zuma had a luxury swimming pool built at his Nkandla estate for R3.9 million that we tax payers paid for because he called it a ‘fire pool’. A parliamentary investigation that the government set up to investigate the cost said it was built to have water on hand should any of his Nkandla homes, all with thatch roofs, catch fire. All lies. All supported by well-paid cadres sitting in Parliament .

That ‘formal governmental inquiry’ exonerated Zuma from paying even 1 cent. Typical. But only because the ANC MPs lied under oath. They are as crooked as Zuma. This cartoon from Brandan appeared yesterday in the Business Day newspaper:

Zuma’s fate in the ANC will be decided early next week according to Fikile Mbalula, when the NEC of the Party meets.  

TimesLive reported on Monday that John Steenhuisen leader of the DA will take legal action against education minister Blade Nzimande over allegations that he received kickback payments from service providers contracted by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

This all after hundreds & hundreds of students, who qualified for grants, did not receive them. A series of recordings leaked by OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse) fingered the Minister directly.  Nzimande, who is also the head of the SACP (Communist Party), has denied it all.  The recording reveals that also the Communist Party received R1 million kickback. But then you expect communist leaders to be rich by feathering their own nests while everyone else remains poor, don’t you?

Steenhuisen also had a full ‘go’ at Cyril. He repeatedly called him a coward. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Surprisingly, Andre de Ruyter says he wants to return to SA. Well, that’s what the Daily Investor reports. Certainly that may be just what will be necessary to begin the criminal cases against all those tainted with corruption at ESKOM.

Meanwhile an electricity expert is convinced that power outages will be with us until 2030 and Die Burger on Monday warned that every week this year there will be outages.

Oscar Pistorius is out of jail. It was a battle for him to get his parole but having served just more than half his sentence he was able to apply. He first tried too soon and then when he tried again it was opposed by the Steenkamp family. Finally he was let out this week with very stringent conditions. He has to do community work and things like sweeping floors in his church. Apparently he has put on lots of weight and he now smokes. 

June Steenkamp, the late Reeva’s mother says she is the one serving a life sentence without her daughter.

This is Siwela’s depiction of Oscar’s tough conditions of parole from The Citizen:

Sundays are very often good times for catch-ups and last Sunday certainly was — for two very exceptional meetings; three if you count our lovely breakfast on Sunday morning with Clive & Christine where Ronnie (ex Stellenbosch like me) & Lea were also invited. After breakfast we rushed through to Sea Point where I met up with Julius whom I hadn’t seen in almost 50 years. These days he is in diamonds in Cincinnati but when I knew him he was a stock-broker and I an articled clerk in the same building in down-town Cape Town. Boy, did we have some catching up to do! The meeting with old friends is a rare treat and I enjoyed every minute of our chat.

After getting home that afternoon I rushed off for tea to Gordon’s Bay where Jeffrey & Rene have a lovely holiday home. The tea a little later turned into a whiskey but catching up with some of their guests including Beryl & Michael, with whom I had and still have so much in common in business & otherwise, was lovely. It was hard to pull myself away after a truly memorable day of socialising.

Spurs have drawn the top English & European side, Manchester City for their 4th round of the FA Cup encounter, but before that they meet Manchester United this weekend in a Premiership clash.

Two  real toughies! So………COYS.

As always,                                                                               

Gerald