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Mr President, this is an insult of the highest order to South Africans

I’m glad that the ANC veterans are calling on the President to do the right thing. Sadly, there is a whole lot more than SARS and State Capture that the ANC wrecking ball has been responsible for over the last three decades.
Mr President, this is an insult of the highest order to South Africans
Heather Robertson
By Heather Robertson
21 Apr 2023
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Dear DM168 reader,

The announcement on 16 April that a man pivotal to the SARS State Capture project will be awarded one of  the highest orders of the land by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 28 April made me wonder whether or not our President is serious about dealing decisively with the rot revealed by the Zondo Commission.

Duma Ndlovu is a successful playwright and television producer who has kept millions of South Africans glued to their screens watching the exploits of loved and hated characters on Muvhango, Imbewu: The Seed and Uzalo which unseated Generations as the most watched TV show in South Africa.

If Ndlovu stuck to his brilliant television and theatre career he would definitely be deserving of the Order of Ikhamanga (silver) for achievements by South Africans in the creative fields of arts, culture, literature, music and journalism.

Alas, as the ANC’s very own Veteran’s League pointed out in a statement released today that  Ndlovu should not be deserving of any award as he was the man who introduced President Jacob Zuma to the Italian Rapscallion at Bain and Company South Africa, Vittorio Massone.

My colleague Ferial Haffajee had this to say about Massone: “His schmoozing was so successful that he met former president Jacob Zuma 17 times between 2012 and 2014, and boasted to his colleagues that he knew about Tom Moyane’s appointment as SARS commissioner long before it was announced.”

Zuma hand-picked Moyane for the job and gave Massone unprecedented presidential access.  This happened after the Bain boss paid R100,000 for almost four years every month to  Ndlovu and Mpumelelo Ngema through their company Ambrobrite to be introduced to various figures in the public sector.

The showmen coined R4.8-million over the period for their dabble in political theatre. Our country on the other hand is still reeling from Bain’s role in wrecking the South African Revenue Service.

I’m glad that the ANC veterans are calling on the President to do the right thing. Sadly, there is a whole lot more than SARS and State Capture that the ANC wrecking ball has been responsible for over the last three decades.

The governing party, which has overseen the collapse of Eskom and the dire state of our economy that now has the highest level of unemployment in the world, is definitely not deserving of any kind of national award.

And that brings me to today’s scary lead story in DM168.

More and more South Africans are teetering on the brink of financial trouble because salaries have stagnated while inflation, interest rates, food, medical and fuel prices have soared. And then there’s the disaster of electricity price hikes which we have to pay for despite  expected Stage 8 load shedding in winter. Daily Maverick personal finance editor Neesa Moodley saw the writing on the wall and has written this week’s DM168 lead story explaining just how bad the crisis is.

Hold on tight, we are in for a rough ride.

If you have any advice on how to survive these dire times, write to me at heather@dailymaverick.co.za

Yours in defence of truth,

Heather

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper which is available countrywide for R29.

Comments (5)

Ashley Stone Apr 24, 2023, 10:16 AM

Start with the understanding that we live in, and are “governed” by a Mafia organization. Then acknowledge the top boss (capo de la Tutti) always rewards the good earners. This may not be in an obvious way but at some point the good soldier gets on one knee and gets his/her rewards from the boss. The sooner we all realize this and stop scratching our heads wondering WTF on all these unbelievable disasters (too many to list here) the sooner we will be able to defend our land from “the organization.” They have one intention and that is to enrich the organization (Chandler House?) and of course its sworn blood oath members. The few that “rat” on the organisation are taken out (and that’s not to dinner BTW). Look what happens to the whistle blowers. The bosses at the top are shocked when the oath of Omertà is broken and then the message gets sent down the line to “take the person out” Whenever some boss is arrested in Italy the local community members always say “oh but he was so kind, helped with food parcels, came to visit us during hard times, etc.” (ring any, pre-voting time, bells?) Give a little at the bottom so you can keep taking a lot from the top. We need massive voting change. We need to conquer the two headed (face?) beast. We really are in a battle to save this country and it starts by taking them out (and in this case I mean the seat of power) No matter what anyone says, and to use a good ‘ol mafia saying, “a fish rots from the head down” Vote for change 2024!

Kanu Sukha Apr 24, 2023, 01:03 PM

'Chandler house?' ... I think you mean chandelier house surely !

normfam42 Apr 23, 2023, 10:49 PM

The ANC can be best described as a lump of foul deformity, with eyeballs and no sight. I do desire that as a nation, we become better strangers with this crusty botch of nature.

Blingtofling HD Apr 23, 2023, 06:24 PM

If a soap opera drama producer/writer is given a jewelled crown for creating a fictitious world and characters to entertain south africans, he had nabbed the skill from the ANC who have kept south africa spellbound for decades while they sold south africa their fictitous government of serving their people with fictitous characters acting as ministers. Soap Drama was originally introduced as entertainment when people started working nine to five in factories and they socialized less and less. It was meant as an escape from the humdrum of their daily lives. Our government soap drama was created to distract us, mainly their voters, from the decay which was taking place all around us while they raked in the spoils of popularity. It is like crowning their protege as proxy for their own success at a soap opera government.

virginia crawford Apr 24, 2023, 06:07 AM

A soap opera that has turned into a horror show.

Mark O’Malley Apr 23, 2023, 11:50 AM

As if CR the poser will now withdraw the award .. only criterion : you promoted the arts while in exile , forgot about your crimes after that .That’s like awarding Hitler the Nobel Peace Prize because he was a corporal in WW1, forget about the Holocaust .

Peter Dexter Apr 23, 2023, 10:46 AM

It’s not about the award or the recipient, but is confirmation that CR’s claims about a reform agenda is merely marketing. Sadly, too small a percentage of our voters grasp the importance of such issues, know about them, or if they do understand the implications.