SONA

The first of three volumes making findings and recommendations about state capture was officially handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The report put former president Jacob Zuma front and centre of the capture project saying he actively advanced the interests of the Guptas, intervening in operational matters to help them.

KwaZulu-Natal opposition parties slammed EFF leader Julius Malema for calling on the government to lift all Covid restrictions. Addressing EFF supporters in Durban Malema said the only purpose of the restrictions was to shield President Cyril Ramaphosa from his political opponents. Malema’s comments contradicted his earlier stand on the issue.

Former president Jacob Zuma continued to accuse the judiciary of being captured while he launched baseless litigation to attack the legitimacy of any process that sought to hold him accountable.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ongoing silence and lack of decisiveness on a wide variety of issues continued to be a cause of concern amongst commentators and the public at large. It almost seemed he was hoping that if he ignored a problem it would go away on its own.

The findings released in the second tranche of the Zondo Commission of Enquiry into Allegations of State Capture unleashed yet more shame on a government mired in charges of corruption. The report detailed how billions were extracted from Transnet and Denel but the themes from Zondo1 remained the same: ex-president Jacob Zuma was at the centre of it and the ANC helped the Gupta network.

President Cyril Ramaphosa called for unity against those who are “tearing the country apart” in a State of the Nation Address (SONA) that didn’t gloss over the myriad problems facing the country – the floundering economy, corruption, and the state’s incapacity to quell the July unrest chief amongst them. He accepted the government could have done better…

Replying to the debate over his recent SONA speech, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his confidence in his beleaguered cabinet. “I preside over a Cabinet of ministers that are committed to their responsibilities, minister in whom I have the greatest confidence…” he said as heckles rose up from the opposition. His blanket of approval presumably covered Police minister Bheki Cele, one of the subjects of a damning report into the July unrest, who had just been ordered to apologise for and retract unwarranted accusations he had made against EFF leader, Julius Malema.

In what has been referred to as the “darkest hour since World War II”, Russian forces unleashed an attack on Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin. The invasion sparked an international outcry with UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, urging Putin to “give peace a chance”, amidst widespread fear it could be the start of a war in Europe on Russia’s demands for an end to NATO’s eastwards expansion.

You didn’t need a crystal ball to predict how 2019 would begin – with yet more evidence of corruption and malevolent greed among the ruling elite being put before the Zondo Commission of Enquiry in to State Capture.

It was perhaps to try and deflect attention away from all the dirt being dished on them that the ANC decided to hold yet another big birthday bash for itself even though the anniversary being celebrated seemed, to some commentators anyway, a pretty arbitrary one – 107 (100 you could understand, or even 110).

Cyril Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma used the occasion to make a big public show of solidarity but – again you didn’t need to be a psychic to predict this – it was too good to last. Within a few weeks Zuma was accusing Ramaphosa of being “defeatist” because of his comments about South Africa’s “lost years”.

Zuma and his disastrous legacy have, it would seem, become Ramaphosa’s albatross…

In neighbouring Zimbabwe, a brutal crackdown by the army and police on people protesting an enormous petrol price hike dashed any lingering hopes that the end of the 37-year old rule of the autocratic leader Robert Mugabe, 14-months earlier, would lead to significant political reform.

On the 7^th February, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his much anticipated State of the Nation Address (SONA). While his plans to turn South Africa around were laudable, the jury is out on whether he will be able to deliver on his promises.

Within days of the speech the unions, led by COSATU, were throwing up obstacles in front of his proposed ESKOM reforms. As if to compound the general gloom over the future of the parastatal, this was immediately followed by more rolling black-outs.

The fact that this occurred so soon after SONA made some suspect deliberate sabotage. I certainly wondered if someone was trying to foil my plans – I had just sat down to draw a cartoon on the subject for the Weekend Witness when the lights went out…

The immediate and substantial risk ESKOM poses to the South African economy was also the main focus of Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni’s Budget Day speech. Promising “no free lunches” Mboweni said the Government would not bail-out the embattled power utility although he did allocate R23billion per annum for three-years as a support package with conditions.

Whether ESKOM can actually be fixed is open to question. So once again it is a case of “Watch this space…”

Jacob Zuma continues to rock the boat.
Not a very dainty dish…
Crackdown in Zimbabwe.
President Ramaphosa attempts to defeat the beast.
Jacob Zuma continues to live a charmed life.
President Ramaphosa promises to take action in his State of the Nation Address.
Eskom’s woes continue, impacting on the whole country.
Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, promises to take action in his Budget Day speech.