The Week That Was

Gerald Potash,

Hello again,

When the DA discovered that Cyril had secretly amended the ministerial handbook to give his bloated cabinet even more perks—free electricity and water, as much as they like— at our expense they raised a proper uproar. But that was just the beginning, it later seemed that Cyril had enlarged each cabinet minister’s staffing portfolio to include a“food aid service, registry clerk, driver/messenger and portfolio co-ordinator.” Each minister now got four extra staff members to add to the 11 that they already had.

This is the biggest slap in the face to the people of SA that you can imagine. To add more than R87 million a year for this absolutely unnecessary expenditure, that we tax-payers pay for must be the end for the ANC when more than half of S Africans are living below the bread line and there are reports of children dying of hunger. See another report in this week’s Sunday Times on the editorial page on child malnutrition.

Sies! 

But the brouhaha had affect. On Monday the current ministerial handbook was quietly removed by Cyril and the 2019 handbook becomes applicable again.

A breaking news story on Tuesday made all the headlines in yesterday’s press. Markus Jooste’s empire has been attached by the Hawks. His farm in Stellenbosch, Lanzerac, his private Trust, his home in Hermanus, all his art (valued at R99 million)—all attached. These assets are said to be worth about R1.4 billion. His wife’s car has been attached too and even his girlfriend’s assets and the 11 properties in the swanky Val-de-Vie Estate where she lives are attached.

Jooste caused the biggest financial scandal ever on the JSE when his company, Steinhoff, was put into liquidation in 2017. The share crashed by 90% in a day and plenty lost plenty. 

 It has taken our investigative arm until now to finally have enough on him to proceed with this action.

This is a BIG story and it will run……

Watch this space.

Another top news story of the week has been the leaked Dis-chem memorandum from its founder and CEO, Ivan Saltzman who warns that no whites are to be hired from now on in order to urgently achieve the government’s BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) requirements. Dis-chem is our second largest pharmaceutical company listed on the JSE and management must now “take the knee” when         economic integrity and staff capability should be the only reason to hire. In fact it is reminiscent of the Nazi’s warning employers not to hire Jews in the 1930’s.The reaction to the memo has exposed this government and its  policies as being as racist and biased as the Nationalist government ever was. The BEE requirements are to be complied with or severe fines will be imposed. This is nothing more and nothing less than Apartheid in action.

No wonder our country is teetering economically.

Making lots of news during the past week was Brian Molefe. Oh, he has made lots of news lots of times. This big-shot who once headed up PRASA and then ESKOM and who then went on to became an ANC MP is at last getting some comeuppance. 

He was in court again on Friday with 11 other high profile crooks being charged with everything you can throw at puppets working for the Guptas. This case, inevitably has been postponed but that was not the only news concerning Molefe last week.

The other news directly connected to the big-shot was the fact that Standard Bank attached his holiday home and had it auctioned to recover some of money that he owes them. The house was sold for R5.5 million less than the R8.5 million that Molefe paid for it!

The Hawks have said they are now going after the money that he got illegally via his irregular pension payouts. That’s a cool R9.9 million plus interest.

Money obviously meant nothing to Molefe while he was running the show at the behest of the Guptas. He gave them, they gave him…….that’s how corruption works. 

The two arrested Gupta brothers are still in jail in Dubai fighting not to be extradited back to SA.

At last the NPA is showing some teeth.  

For several weeks we have been hearing and reading about Greylisting. SA is trying to avoid being placed on a list by the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) the international watchdog for terrorism and money laundering. Business Leadership SA has issued a warning that SA is 85% likely to be added to the list but there are steps to be taken that could save us from it.

If we are indeed placed on the list it could cost us heavily because SA would be far less investable. It could also have a negative impact on the Rand. 

One of the main problems we face according to FATF is that there is not enough investigation and prosecution of corruption cases. But BLSA is optimistic that we could still dodge the bullet because the NPA is busy and is now bringing the “baddies” to trial. Money laundering and terrorist financing are a worry though and much more will have to be done pretty smartly. Did you know we finance terrorism? 

Cyril spent the weekend in Saudi Arabia telling the wealthy Saudis that SA is a wonderful place to do business. 

He also suggested that they join BRICS and told them that other countries are also keen to join. 

Next year SA will host the BRICS get together.

A listed construction company, Calgro M3, is pulling out of KZN because of the construction mafia who put the lives of their employees at risk. The gang situation is getting totally out of hand and the lack of policing is so obvious and so sad. It is killing any chance we have of a financial recovery.

The Daily Maverick publishes a weekly newspaper every weekend known as 168. This week their front page highlights the 10 ANC local councillors who have recently been murdered. They are victims of the gangs that operate so blatantly in so many areas. Those councillors were made to make way for others to get closer to the ficus and so grow fat on the spoils of our tax money.

Really, who would want to invest here? 

Never a week goes by without Accused No 1not hogging press space. On Monday in court we should have heard the status of the case where he and Thales are to face the music. 

But you know Zuma. He tries every trick in the book to get the prosecutor in this case removed and so delay the trial. This Arms deal Corruption trial has been on-going for almost 20 years and everyone is getting very tired of JZ’s stalingrad strategy. Yesterday Judge Koen ordered that the trial will now begin on January, 30 2023. So Accused No 1 has gained a few more months.  This cartoon from Zapiro in Daily Maverick really sums Zuma up very well:

Our Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkwebane was in the news again this week. She is facing an enquiry into her fitness to hold office by Parliament. She, taking a leaf out of her  champion’s book, JZ, and has appealed that the Chairman is biased against her and he should recuse himself. He disagreed and told her so. So she lost yet another appeal and the enquiry now continues for a day or so.

But that’s not the end of the road for this stalingrader. She has appealed to the Western Cape High Court who will next Tuesday hear whether to overturn the ruling that confirmed that the suspended public protector could not to return to work. 

The story of UCT continues to rage. Prof. David Benatar has recently written a book: “The fall of the University of Cape Town” and he believes that the whole system is rotten and that the decline of the highest rated university in Africa is inevitable.

His recent article to News24 is here for you to read by clicking on this link:

https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/opinion-david-benatar-the-fall-of-uct-will-continue-20221015

The many municipalities that are under administration is a legacy of the dastardly corruption that permeates nearly every sphere of ANC dominance in the country. This week we read about the Police in Johannesburg being illegally double billed for fancy motor cars for months in a row. David Tembe, the police chief is directly fingered, of course. 

60% of our municipalities are dysfunctional and 20% are near collapse. Maladministration and corruption has caused enormous water shortage problems and Johannesburgers now have electricity AND water load-shedding. This is the cartoon (I think from the Daily Friend) from UBUNTOONS & (c)NATHI that really says it all:

The Foreign Minister of the Ukraine cannot understand why SA did not support the UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for holding illegal referendums in occupied Ukraine. We are a part of a very small group of countries who turn a blind eye to the ruthless devastation created by this war that only Putin wants. In politics, as in life, you are known by whom you associate with and we(SA) associate with skunks.

Our ‘word of the year’ this year to celebrate World Dictionary Day is load-shedding. Phala Phala, Xenophobia  and Inganekwane were runners up. Last year it was vaccination and the before that Zondo Commission were our words of the year.

The coach was on the couch on Saturday evening and also on Sunday evening to watch two important games in the Premiership. Sunday night’s encounter between Man City & Liverpool was probably watched by the biggest TV crowd ever and the ‘best team in the world’ lost to Liverpool in an enthralling encounter. Fortunately the Spurs game on Saturday evening was less stressful ending up with a comfortable win for “our” team.

Late last night neither the load-shedding nor the late kick-off could stop the coach and I from watching Man U play Spurs. We both wish that we had simply not stayed up. Spurs were terrible and Man U were deserved winners 2-0.

Oh, it’s hard to be a Spurs fan.

As always,                                                                                                

Gerald