POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS
AUBREY MATSHIQI: Zuma and Gordhan’s battle tops 2016 political story of the year
The ANC must elect its first female president. If this consideration prevails, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will be the strongest candidate, writes Aubrey Matshiqi
As we bid good riddance to 2016, I have no doubt that the "proxy battle" between the president and his finance minister must be declared the political story of the year. The second prize must go to Orwellian manipulation given the fact that the truth was the main casualty in the battle between President Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan as their supporters and opponents tried to present truths as lies and falsehoods as truths. Enveloping the truth in lies as well as ensconcing lies in the truth became the main weapon of Orwellian warfare, and the media the preferred site of battle. The third prize goes to state capture and the "State of Capture". In this case, every attempt was made to reduce state capture to the Gupta factor. The manipulators of truth and lies also succeeded in convincing South Africans that state capture should not be seen as something much broader than capturing individuals in the state and the ANC. Attention was diverted from the fact that state cap...
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