The role of accountability in our constitutional democracy
It is a sad reflection on the state of affairs in South Africa today that the leader of the Opposition has to put pen to paper, or at least speech writer to laptop, to extol the virtues of accountability. Mmusi Maimane has likened accountability to the baking powder that makes the cake of good governance […]
Right of Reply to a Right of Reply: Riah Phiyega, SAPS cannot be led by a cadre carrying a line of unearned medals on her chest
Riah Phiyega, former and disgraced National Commissioner of Police, has challenged the veracity of a sentence in my critique of the SCA judgment in the Jiba and Mrwebi appeals. I commented: ‘Of his (i.e. Zuma’s) second choice, Riah Phiyega of Marikana mendacity infamy, the less said the better.’ I have been asked by her, in […]
OPINION | Jiba, Mrwebi SCA judgment – no need for panic just yet
The ruling this week by the Supreme Court of Appeals that overturned a High Court decision striking two Zuma-loyalists and NPA honchos off the roll of advocates may have been entirely predictable – but it is not a train smash. Careful research by Daily Maverick investigative reporter Marianne Thamm shows that two of the three […]
What is Paul Hoffman’s evidence of my mendacity, deceit and dishonesty?
On reading the comments made by Paul Hoffman about me, it immediately dawned on me that he is disrespectful, careless and driven by hatred. He hates transformation with a passion and is driven by deep feelings of racism. I am writing in connection with an online article titled Jiba, Mrwebi SCA judgment – no need […]
Ramaphoria to Ramaphobia: One step forward and two steps back? Paul Hoffman explores
JOHANNESBURG — In this lengthy piece, Paul Hoffman takes a sledgehammer to any notion that South Africa is currently in a ‘New Dawn’. Despite major political changes this year as well as the targeting of state capture players such as Duduzane Zuma and Tom Moyane, Hoffman highlights other disturbing trends in the ANC that signify […]
LETTER: Short, sharp trial coming?
The parting of ways between former president Jacob Zuma and his attorney, Michael Hulley, was to be expected. It can now reasonably be anticipated that Zuma will contend that he acted on Hulley’s advice in much of the malfeasance that will be laid at his door in the criminal courts. Hulley and Mxolisi Nxasana, our […]
LETTER: Mzwandile Petros’s silent defiance
It is good news for those who respect the rule of law that the misconceived attempts to make Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Deliwe de Lange redundant have been abandoned. It is probably also just as well for rumoured frontrunner as successor, former general Mzwandile Petros, that he will not have to face mortifying questions about […]
LETTER: Hawks need sharp talons
Spare a thought for the new Hawks boss, Godfrey Lebeya, as he prepares for what will have to be a comprehensive clean-out of the corrupt and those who attempted to capture the state. Not only does President Cyril Ramaphosa profess (or is it feign?) inexplicable ignorance of the extent of state capture, he has chosen […]
A woefully inadequate strategy to fight corruption and State Capture
As the process of “graduating into something terminal” due to rampant corruption is at an advanced stage, it is appropriate and timely to consider, with finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, the need for a manifesto for curing corruption, or at least tackling it in the manner required by the highest court in the land. Shortly after […]
Trevor Manuel’s Moseneke/Mogoeng Masterclass Moment Missed
Veteran of the Struggle and former Cabinet minister under every former president in the new SA, Trevor Manuel, was recently given the honour of delivering the Thabo Makgoba lecture at the University of the Western Cape. He did not disappoint. Much has been made of his assertion from the podium that the Zuma era was […]
