When Tony Blair became leader of the British Labour Party he set out to befriend media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch owns The Sun, the biggest tabloid newspaper in Britain, as well as Sky News. In previous elections The Sun had supported the Conservatives and Blair understood that he needed the support of The Sun (topless page [...]
Posts under ‘Gwede Mantashe’
“I told you so”
Time will say nothing but I told you so,
Time only knows the price we have to pay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
If we should weep when clowns put on their show,
If we should stumble when musicians play,
Time will say nothing but I told you so.
I don’t often say I told you [...]
But what about the alleged corruption?
The outcome of the disciplinary process against ANC Youth League President Julius Malema has elicited much comment – not all of it very well informed. Opposition parties have (predictably) decried the “slap on the wrists” for Malema, while some commentators have argued that the outcome augurs well for President Jacob Zuma as the sentence imposed [...]
Nationalisation of the Reserve Bank?
I was rather intrigued by news reports that Gwede Mantashe, Secretary general of the ANC, has hinted that the ANC-led government should consider nationalising the South African reserve Bank (SARB). Mantashe said that the “South African Reserve Bank is one of less than five central banks in private hands in the world”.
My first thought was [...]
Where is President Zuma?
We probably do not want to go back to the imperial Presidency of President Thabo Mbeki. In any case, as a matter of ANC and alliance politics it is probably impossible for our President to take on the dictatorial management style of Mbeki, who branded Cosatu as the ultra-left and tried to silence his critics [...]
ANC, know your Constitution (II)
I see dear Comrade Gwede Matashe, Secretary General of the ANC, has been at it again. This weekend he attacked the judges of the Pretoria High Court who rejected the ANC assertion to have an exclusive claim to the name Congress of the People. Dear Gwede, who last wrongly claimed to have been misquoted when [...]
ANC, know our Constitution I: articles 16 and 17
In what might have to become a regular slot on this Blog, I have decided to assist the ANC bigwigs in understanding the finer points of our Constitution. God knows, they really need some lessons. Lesson number one is about freedom of expression (article 16) and freedom of assembly (article 17), both rights enshrined in [...]
Who’s undermining who?
Gwede Mantashe is a man who knows how to take a gap in order to divert attention from very awkward and unpalatable truths. So it must have come as a godsend when he read an interview with the acting head of the NPA, Mokotedi Mpshe, in last Sunday’s City Press. In the interview, Mpshe is [...]
Vusi Pikoli, the NPA and the new President
I was quite startled and shocked by the statement made by ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe on Saturday during the press conference where he announced that the ANC had “recalled” President Thabo Mbeki. It was as if Mr. Mantashe had not read or understood the Nicholson judgment or if he had, had decided not to [...]
