Disappointment
Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman this week coined the term ‘snigger factor” to describe the point at which a politician’s career begins to head south, usually as a result of a sex scandal. In this regard, United States Republican Senator Larry Craig is now fighting a rearguard battle to keep his job after being snared in an undercover gay-sex probe.
‘Larry Craig seems to be the only person who doesn’t understand he’s done,” a Senate Republican leadership aide said this week.
Rachman says politicians are finished when they lose their dignity, and according to him it is the small details, the ‘bizarre little lies” that do the real damage.
There has certainly been no shortage of strange details regarding the case of South African Judge Nkola Motata, who was arrested for drunken driving earlier this year.
The state alleged that Motata was “at least” four times over the legal alcohol limit when arrested, the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court heard this week. He also allegedly misspelled the name of his legal division as “Transval Provinicial Divisionn” and struggled to write down his phone number.
The state claims the Pretoria High Court judge told the female police officers who tried to arrest him: “Fuck you, stupid female officers, you can’t arrest me”, “females can’t arrest me”, “you stupid ladies can’t arrest me” and “a female can’t arrest, it must be a male”, reported the Star.
He claimed he hit the wall when accidentally reversing after avoiding a reckless and speeding car. “I wasn’t drunk at all ... I had been with one of my colleagues earlier that night drinking tea,” he was quoted as saying.
Bizarre.
Even more disappointment came when South African Broadcasting Corporation chief Dali Mpofu huffed and puffed and tried to blow the Sanef house down. He broke ranks with the South African National Editors’ Forum over its stance on the Manto Tshabalala-Msimang debacle. “We cannot remain quiet while our mothers and our democratically chosen leaders are stripped naked for the sole purpose of selling newspapers,” he said.
Sure, the Sunday Times probably did sell quite a few newspapers when it brought to light how the health minister apparently had a theft conviction against her and how she may have needed a liver transplant because of alcoholism, but democratically chosen leaders answer to those who elected them, and an alcoholic health minister—never mind the many previous complaints about her ineffiency—qualifies as a dire matter of public interest.
| FULL SPEED AHEAD | NOT SO FAST |
| Mosiuoa Lekota It was a courageous move this week on the part of the African National Congress national chairperson to suggest the Jacob Zuma anthem Umshini Wami should be shelved in favour of songs promoting peace and reconciliation. Sure, it raised the hackles of Cosatu and Zuma supporters, but maybe it is indeed time to put away the machine gun. |  Baleka MbeteThe Speaker of Parliament disallowed an opposition question over the health minister’s 1976 theft conviction, saying it used “offensive or unbecoming language” and reflected on the integrity of the minister. However, she would not identify the “offensive” words, and chased opposition MP Mike Waters out of the House for pursuing the issue. Come back, Frene Ginwala ... |
Most-read stories
August 30 to September 5
1. Sorry, I quit, says US senator arrested in toilet
It all came to an end under a clear blue Idaho sky, in the harsh gaze of a dozen TV cameras. Senator Larry Craig, who started the week as a revered stalwart of the conservative wing of the Republican party, ended it with his career in ruins as he announced his resignation on Saturday.
2. Sundowns midfielder Leremi dies in car accident
South African international midfielder Gift Leremi (22) was killed after he lost control of his car and was flung out of his vehicle, Ekhuruleni Metro police said on Tuesday.
3. Madisha tells his version of donation
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha has made public affadavits telling his side of the story relating to the missing R500 000 donation to the South African Communist Party (SACP). Madisha and a witness say they delivered the money to SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande in 2002.
4. Seeking servants of the people
Sodibana eLimpopo (“we will meet in Limpopo”) says a song gaining popularity in the tripartite alliance in the run-up to the African National Congress’s (ANC) December national conference. This serves as a reminder to all those who aspire to lead the ANC about the power of ordinary members to choose their leaders.
5. Zuma: A charge before December?
The state has decided to reinstate criminal charges against African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma who will likely be back in the dock before the end of 2007, events in Bloemfontein this week suggest.
6. How not to understand Zim
Most media coverage of Zimbabwe unthinkingly repeats and reinforces a Western and neoliberal perception of the history and causes of that country’s political and economic crisis.
7. Crumbling economy threatens Mugabe’s grip
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe survived years in colonial prisons and still more years of international isolation. He has weathered the challenge of a now weak and divided opposition, seen pressure from Western powers fade, and maintained support from neighbouring countries that still regard him as an African liberation hero.
8. Zimbabweans flee to more misery in SA
Crispin Mutamba fled exhausting bread and fuel queues in Zimbabwe for wealthy South Africa, only to find himself stuck in another one for three months outside Home Affairs in Pretoria hoping to get permission to stay.
9. ANC: We knew of Manto’s theft charges
The African National Congress (ANC) said on Wednesday it knew about Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s dismissal on theft charges from a Botswana hospital in 1976, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio news reported.
10. Leadership for a new age
As the bell summons delegates to the Polokwane rendezvous, is the ANC inspiring confidence as a leader capable of taking the country into a new age?
