DOCUMENTS

"This is not a Banana Republic!"- Malema

And nine other of the best items from the weekday media

10. The Cape Argus report on how certain Democratic Alliance members are playing the race-card in an ugly battle for party leadership in the Western Cape

Andisiwe Makinana writes that two DA councillors in the Cape Town metro, Frank Martin and Grant Twigg, "have voiced their unhappiness about what they call the party's soft handling of white transgressors compared to black ones. They have cited alleged leniency by Western Cape Premier and party leader Helen Zille in disciplining Western Cape party head Theuns Botha, who is Community Safety MEC Lennit Max's main rival in the leadership race."

In an email addressed to other coloured members of the DA, the newspaper reports, Martin wrote: "Do yourselves a favour and look at the provincial congress agenda. All profile roles are handled by whites - Afrikaner whites to be precise. Not a single coloured or African on that programme. Yes, the coloured and African delegates will be there, but as praise singers, entertainers and dancers."

9. The Carte Blanche survey of the scandalous state of South Africa's roads:

The programme points out that potholes which could be repaired for a few hundred rands are being left unattended to by inept municipal and provincial roads departments. They end up causing thousands of rands of damage to motor vehicles and also horrendous accidents and injury - for which the state is liable for millions of rands if negligent.

8. Phylicia Oppelt's column in The Times on the dangerous example ANC Youth League president Julius Malema was setting for the youth of the country:

Oppelt writes: "Let's forget for a moment the political implications of Juju's ascendancy. What are he and others just like him doing to our sons and daughters' view of the world? When they see him swanning around in designer labels, his chubbiness clad in Armani and Hugo Boss, what could they possibly think, apart from - Juju equals the good life? It tells them that 12 years in an education system has no value because hard work, diligence and perseverance have no place in a consumer-driven world where German watches and cars must not be earned, but expected."

7. Ray Hartley's interview with SACP deputy secretary general, Jeremy Cronin, on Times Live

Cronin tells Hartley: "There's this massive - I think it's 2½million - [group of] young people between 18 years and 25 years old who are not in school, who are not in tertiary education training of one kind or another and who are not at work. You then run the danger of a politics of great men, of demagogic appeals, of patronage - fly in, provide them with food parcels or promises of one kind or another, a house that is the personal gift of some politician or whatever."

6. Tim Cohen's column in Business Day on tenderpreneurship and South Africa's culture of get-rich-quickism

Cohen notes: "we have culture of rampant get-rich- quickism. In a sense, the country was founded on a culture of get-rich-quickism. This got worse during apartheid, when thinking long-term seemed a silly idea. Then it got worse again after Gordhan's own government decided to foster this environment by turning a blind eye to a multitude of frauds or quasi- frauds that bedevil the service delivery process. By establishing set-asides as a legal requirement, it has created a whole new class of ‘tenderpreneurs' who use black economic empowerment as a kind of cover for hitchhiking on to legitimate tenders. The cost inflation involved is an obvious result. Another consequence is less obvious: many legitimate businesses now operate by a simple rule that they don't do business with government because they know they are going to lose, or if they want to win, they will have to pay a bribe. So they just don't go there."

5. The Star report on the spy report underpinning Malema's allegations of a plot by SARS and Pravin Gordhan against senior figures in the Zuma camp:

Moshoeshoe Monare wrote that The Star was approached last year by a disgruntled former employee of SARS, Michael Peega, "who claimed he was part of a secret intelligence unit in the revenue service established by Gordhan. The Pretoria-based Peega, 34, said Malema was referring to his document.... Peega said part of their brief was to investigate the lifestyles and tax status of senior Zuma supporters. This was during 2007, when the ANC's succession battle reached its apex. Others on Peega's list included national police commissioner Bheki Cele.... However, Peega was fired by Sars for allegedly getting involved in rhino poaching and is facing criminal charges. He claimed he was part of a sting operation, a claim denied by Sars."

4. The Lood se Praatjies column in Beeld imagining a special sort of hell for ANC heroes:

This would be a place where "verbitterde comrades gedwing kan word om net First Watch te drink, roomkleurige safaripakke te dra en in ongelisensieerde Hi-Aces rond te ry. Hulle sal in Hop-huise bly, met water en elektrisiteit wat deur 'n ANC-stadsraad aan hulle ‘voorsien' sal word. Hiervoor sal hulle elke ses maande 'n enorme foutiewe rekening van die Johannesburgse metroraad ontvang - wat hulle dan sal moet gaan bevraagteken by 'n nors, ongeletterde vent wat net deur 'n eenrigting-venstertjie in 'n gebou in Braamfontein met hulle sal praat. Spesifiek sal hul vullis deur die Tshwane-metroraad verwyder word, hul riool deur Sannieshof bestuur word en hul drinkwater uit die Hartbeespoortdam kom. Elke liewe straat sal Thabo Mbeki-rylaan heet en geen naamsverandering sal toegelaat word nie."

3. The Mercury report on how Jacob Zuma's benefactors are bankrolling the luxurious accommodation of the president's second wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma:

Wendy Jasson da Costa notes that "MaNtuli has lived in the Innes Road property on Morningside's millionaire's mile [in Durban] for five years, along with the two children she has with Zuma, and other relatives of the president. The home was leased in 2005 by one of Zuma's benefactors, Erwin Ullbricht [from] Abdul Rahim Malek, who bought it for R825 000 in 1996....Ullbricht, who refers to himself as Zuma's ‘adopted son', told The Mercury he had facilitated payment of the rent on MaNtuli's home and confirmed that other business people were involved in the upkeep, but declined to identify them."

2. Ray Hartley's article in The Times pointing out the bitter irony behind the current anti-corruption campaigning of Zwelinzima Vavi & Co:

As Hartley notes "Vavi and Cosatu were at the forefront of the destruction of the criminal justice system's will and capacity to deal with corrupt officials with political connections: Vavi was among the most vocal supporters of the dismantling of the Scorpions. The Scorpions had lent South Africa much credibility by fearlessly pursuing corruption in the political elite... And their investigation of Zuma was ready for trial when it was shafted by Mokotedi Mpshe on the grounds that there had been ‘political interference'. Vavi was full of praise for the pre-emptive exoneration of Zuma, despite the heavy price that the criminal justice system has paid."

1. Redi Direko's interview on Talk Radio 702 with Malema on the tendertrepeneurship charges against him:

Malema tells Direko: "If there is any wrongdoing, let Malema get locked up, this is not a banana republic where Julius gets away with breaking the law."

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