A FAMOUS GROUSE
MUCH sniggering, we gather, at the suggestion from Brian Molefe, the lachrymose chief executive at Eskom, that there is a shebeen just a stone’s throw from the Gupta family’s palatial compound in the upscale Johannesburg suburb of Saxonwold.
But so what? Here at the Mahogany Ridge we are of the opinion that every suburb should have a local — including those in which the truly wealthy reside.
They may not have the same problems as you and I, but the moneyed classes do also require a sociable place to relax and kick back their brushed suede heels; a home-from-home where the drink is reasonably cheap, the company not too oafish and where, after a dog of a day at the buffalo auction or on the witness stand, they may with a sense of belonging and in some comfort let fly with the barbed innuendos and other terms of disparagement at those grubby folk who have done much to upset their otherwise pleasant demeanour.
Besides, if Rob Davies, the flappy-trousered Minister of Trade and Industry, has his way with that cockeyed liquor amendment bill, licenced bars and pubs as we know them may soon all disappear and shebeens and other illicit dives may be all that we’re left with.
Until then, however, Tessa Turvey, who chairs the Saxonwold and Parkwood Residents Association, has appealed to Molefe for the shebeen’s address. She told News24 that she knew every street in the neighbourhood, and was otherwise unaware of such an establishment.
Call it fomo, or fear of missing out, but she clearly wants in on the speakeasy action. Would one too many make her Tipsy Turvey? We’re just asking…
Molefe’s admission about the shebeen came during a dramatic results presentation where he and Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane railed away at former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s “State of Capture” report.
The latter was suitably enraged for the occasion, and claimed that Madonsela had struck a deadly blow against Eskom and the people of South Africa.
And, as you do when things get rough, Ngubane even rounded on a journalist, shouting, “We are human beings! We are not machines! You cannot do this to us.”
All very oh dear and all that. But about that shebeen.
According to Madonsela’s report, cellphone tracking records placed Molefe near or at the Guptas’ residence on 19 occasions between August 5 and November 17, 2015.
Breaking down in tears, Molefe claimed that he had not been given an opportunity to respond to Madonsela’s questions on why Eskom had given a R660-million prepayment to a Gupta-owned company and to explain his frequent visits to Saxonwold.
“When a person is known to be a goat thief … one day, when he is is seen walking next to a herd of goats, it does not mean that he has been stealing them,” Molefe said.
“What surprised me is that the public protector says my cellphone reflects that I was in Saxonwold 14 times, in the area of Saxonwold … close to the proverbial herd of goats. There is a shebeen there. I think it is two streets away from the Gupta house. I will not admit or deny that I was going to the shebeen.”
We’re not sure if this explanation offers much in the way of clarity. Whose goats were they and was the herd merely following Molefe? And where were the goats that he did steal? Why was there no mention of this in Madonsela’s report?
For her part, Madonsela, who was an assistant teacher at a Soweto high school in the 1980s and probably knows a thing or two about naughty boys trying to worm their way out of trouble, wasn’t terribly impressed with Molefe’s behaviour.
“He was a master of diversion today,” she told The Times. “By demonising the other made himself look good by default. That was calculated. Even that dramatic exit when he looked emotional … it was a lovely movie moment. He put on a great show.”
Madonsela also revealed that the registration numbers of cars of the “high profile” visitors to the Gupta compound had been recorded by one of her witnesses. They included Molefe’s vehicle.
When she tried to question him about his relationship with the family, or why he would phone Ajay Gupta 44 times between August last year and March this year, Molefe would instead talk about bars.
He appears to have a problem. And not just with drink.
But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel — and it’s not a judicial review of Madonsela’s findings.
It’s a simple two-step programme. First, resign. Then turn state witness. Bleat like a goat, squeal like a pig, sing like a canary. Whatever. But shaft the lot of them.
This article first appeared in the Weekend Argus.
