GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Wake up, there is a war out there
We have inured ourselves to political assassinations, unable to face the true horror of our situation
Here are some facts from SA today, two decades into the establishment of a constitutional democracy: • SA’s sitting president, Jacob Zuma, has now explicitly and publicly stated that he had survived an assassination attempt. He claimed this past weekend, "I was poisoned and almost died just because SA joined Brics," before explaining that he had survived three doses of a concoction designed to kill him. • The Moerane commission of inquiry into political killings in KwaZulu-Natal is currently under way. Some witnesses are having to appear before it with armed guards. According to reports, to date 89 people have been killed in relation to local politics in the province since March 2014. No arrests have been made. • A wide range of senior public representatives and officials have reported receiving death threats. They include former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, former deputy finance minister M...
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