Planet Rugby Forum

sorCrer wrote:Malema: “Our country has been captured. Our country is being molested by the Guptas and Jacob Zuma, without Vaseline.”

Sandstorm wrote:

sorCrer wrote:Malema: “Our country has been captured. Our country is being molested by the Guptas and Jacob Zuma, without Vaseline.”

No. Way.

sorCrer wrote:

Sandstorm wrote:

sorCrer wrote:Malema: “Our country has been captured. Our country is being molested by the Guptas and Jacob Zuma, without Vaseline.”

No. Way.

Loves the vaseline does ole Julius. Here's the best one ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmf-EAIO6hM

saffer13 wrote:The stuff these okes come up with.

Like "The leading cause of death in SA is people dying"

Fangle wrote:

saffer13 wrote:The stuff these okes come up with.

Like "The leading cause of death in SA is people dying"

That's accurate. Who said it, and do you have a link?

troglodiet wrote:

Spoiler: show

troglodiet wrote:

sorCrer wrote:Malema: “Our country has been captured. Our country is being molested by the Guptas and Jacob Zuma, without Vaseline.”

Pole wrote:

sorCrer wrote:Malema: “Our country has been captured. Our country is being molested by the Guptas and Jacob Zuma, without Vaseline.”

Malema is Alischoice and I claim my prison lube..

Wilson's Toffee wrote:

troglodiet wrote:

Zuma again illustrating his contempt for education and qusalificatins. And the general SA public.

A basic illiterate thumbing his nose at the civilised world ...

Gwede Mantashe wrote: We were given a list that was complete and my own view as the Secretary-General, I felt like this list has been developed somewhere else and it was given to us to legitimise it.

...

My own view is that I’m very uncomfortable because areas where ministers do not perform have not been touched. Ministers have been moved and the majority of them were good performing ministers. I’m very much uncomfortable with it.

How small is this? Really? Is it now petty o'clock? Cancelling a memorial service. What kind of big man, big boss, big person in charge does this? What are you so afraid of, President Zuma?

But this is South Africa. A country, as Richard Poplak will tell you, with zero chill. And someone who had just lost her life partner, who is in mourning, who has given so much of herself to the Struggle, against Apartheid and for a better South Africa, was not taking it lying down.

The service will go on, said Barbara Hogan. “The country needs to be taken back. A country united is never divided. And this country is not for sale. Thank you”.

It was incredibly powerful stuff. The symbolism of this, a widow, in mourning, defying a President of the same party her sadly-departed husband dedicated his life to. Who spent 26 years in jail for his beliefs. And Hogan should be able to rest now, she has done more than her fair share for this country, spending eight years in jail, with time in solitary confinement, and was the first woman in this country to be convicted of high treason. At the time, “high treason” meant taking on the apartheid state.

Rinkals wrote:Well, Barbara Hogan seems to be very riled.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-03-31-reshuffle-chronicles-its-time-to-stand-up-recall-zuma-hogan/

Doesn't sound like she's going to be letting it slide, despite Zuma's attempts to stifle comment by cancelling the memorial service of one of the most important (with Mandela) struggle icons. Zuma will lose a lot of support over this. The Guptas won't care, though.

sorCrer wrote:

Rinkals wrote:Well, Barbara Hogan seems to be very riled.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-03-31-reshuffle-chronicles-its-time-to-stand-up-recall-zuma-hogan/

Doesn't sound like she's going to be letting it slide, despite Zuma's attempts to stifle comment by cancelling the memorial service of one of the most important (with Mandela) struggle icons. Zuma will lose a lot of support over this. The Guptas won't care, though.

Doubt she would being Kathrada's wife.

14:26
Derek Hanekom and Pravin Gordhan get the loudest cheers of all.

The crowd doesn't want to stop cheering.
14:25
Huge cheers and standing ovation for the ministers and deputies and the ones who have lost their jobs this week who are in attendance.

henry wrote:

Wilson's Toffee wrote:

troglodiet wrote:

Zuma again illustrating his contempt for education and qusalificatins. And the general SA public.

A basic illiterate thumbing his nose at the civilised world ...

Please be ironic. Please.

City Press has heard that Zuma’s backers concluded in recent weeks that it was safe to get rid of opponents such as Gordhan.

They advised him that “it is high time to move” to avoid looking weak and being seen to be afraid of ratings agencies and big business.

New Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba was only expected to “tinker with fiscal policies here and there, where we need radical economic transformation”, said an NEC member who is close to Zuma.

“So, we dealt with Treasury. The rand will go down and it will pick up again because we are not going to come up with major policy changes.”

Strategists in the Zuma camp also noted that Gordhan and those ministers who had challenged Zuma’s authority had “no constituencies” in the ANC and would be unable to destabilise his support.

Motion of no confidence

Zuma’s backers are confident that they will muster the 201 votes needed to stave off a motion of no-confidence and ensure his survival.

Said one: “It is not easy for an ANC member, especially the backbenchers, to take an anti-ANC position.”

An ANC MP, who has been lobbied by the opposition, said this was a desperate move by opposition parties which was unlikely succeed.

Mbete’s voice would be needed in the meeting of the six officials so that she, Zuma and Duarte can hold out against Ramaphosa, Mantashe and Mkhize. This will kick the debate to the NWC, which leans in favour of Zuma. They will argue that the contention between the officials should be dealt with internally and that ANC members should not collude with the opposition against an ANC president.

It is unlikely that the three officials would be able to counter that argument. It might also be difficult to call a special meeting of the national executive committee (NEC) to discuss the matter if there is disagreement amongst the officials on doing so. The ANC constitution is silent on how special NEC meetings can be called if there is disagreement amongst the officials or the NWC.

The result is that even though Mbete would have to schedule the parliamentary debate, the ANC will probably prevent its members from voting in favour of the motion. While leaders of the opposition parties are engaged in behind-the-scenes lobbying and negotiations with ANC MPs, the vote will be all the more difficult if the members have to defy an express instruction from the ANC. Some ANC MPs might still vote according to conscience against Zuma but it might be dicey to secure the requisite numbers.

This is now high-stakes politics. With deep divisions at every level of the ANC, the situation is unstable and difficult to predict. Zuma has played his cards by executing the reshuffle. Now he must fight to survive, and that fight can take various forms in the ANC and using the institutions of the state. His opponents across the political spectrum and in civil society need to think hard and smart about strategies to continue to isolate him from his backers and weaken his base.

What ultimately counts is whether they can cut short Zuma’s presidency and rescue the state from further capture and looting. That will not be an easy battle to win. But South Africa’s week of hell was also not a walk in the park for Zuma. He is also battered and bruised. 1

The final deathblow might not happen quickly but it needs to be decisive. Therefore the execution needs to be meticulous.

While Gigaba attempted to reassure the country that the programme would not be “reckless” and “will be implemented at a pace and scale that the country can afford”, these commitments will be dissected and analysed in the months and years to come.

With rumours swirling for years about the role of Russia and Gupta-related companies, such a rapid move on the nuclear issue is only likely to add to suspicions from an increasingly critical and sceptical electorate. South Africans are more alert now than ever before not only to possible nefarious activities but also around the question of whether our ailing economy and inability to raise the huge capital required can tilt our economy to breaking point.

At his first media briefing, Gigaba expressed a more populist view of not only economic policy but also his world view. It is precisely this world view of disdain for global financial institutions, big business and economic orthodoxy that has increasingly found support within several subsections of the ANC including the African National Congress Women's League, the African National Congress Youth League, the MK Military Veterans’ Association, and the Black Management Forum among others.

Gigaba’s statement on this was clear: “I will not be distracted by issues that are not relevant to the task at hand — accelerating radical economic transformation … for too long, there has been a narrative or perception around Treasury, that it belongs primarily and exclusively to ‘orthodox’ economists, big business, powerful interests and international investors.”

So, taking the rhetoric literally, South Africa just did precisely what it does not need – create further policy uncertainty and negative sentiment. Although Gigaba did concede that “South Africa was open to [ratings agencies] and accessible to them”, this was less than convincing.

Gigaba’s statement points to an almost indifference of the ratings agencies and a disregard for what a downgrade will do to the cost of capital and inability to spend on crucial infrastructure and crucial social services.

houtkabouter wrote:I don't think anything is going to happen about this. People dont seem to have the energy.

Fangle wrote:Half a dozen years ago, my contact in the reserve bank told me that the ANC was enacting legislation that would make it easier for them to control the treasury directly. This is another step in the process.

Fangle wrote:I hear that S & P have degraded SA to junk status.

South Africa's credit rating has been cut to junk status by the ratings agency S&P Global.

The agency said that political upheaval, including the sacking of finance minister Pravin Gordhan, was endangering the economy.

Chris Malikane‚ an associate professor of Economics at Wits University‚ said while “there is a lot of hype with the ratings agencies‚ the fact of the matter is that even if they cut the investment rate in South Africa‚ the average South African will not be much affected in the short-term.”

But the downgrade could in the longer term lead to higher interest rates‚ making it harder for families to pay for vehicles and their home loans.

The main thing a downgrade would bring‚ said Malikane‚ was is an increase in the risk premium‚ meaning lenders increase interest rates because of a perceived greater risk in default. The result is households with capital in investments and assets are going to be mostly affected.

Their net worth will decrease. But‚ Malikane noted “most households in South Africa don’t have the assets to be affected”. Where households could be greatly affected is credit lending.

Nxesi, from all accounts, is a different kettle of fish and the sports department is likely to function on a contrastingly more low-key basis from now on - both in policy-making and in introducing grandiose innovations.

saffer13 wrote:You've always been a bit of an ANC apologist though rinki.