A bad week for John Hlophe

A good week for Lesetja Kganyago

We’re hardly whooping with joy when we look at our home loan statements, but for a person who is cool under fire, independent and generally adult, look no further than Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago. It’s not his fault the ANC’s management of the economy is as effective as Jacob Zuma at a maths Olympiad. But his resolve to keep inflation — the great ravager of wallets everywhere — under control is unquestionable. Pity that most of the above-inflation increases being rammed through are largely due to administered prices — in other words, from the state. 

A bad week for John Hlophe

To Western Cape wine farmer John Hlophe, who is also judge president of the province’s high court, white property owners are thieves. This was his strong implication in a recent address to a fawning Black Lawyers Association (BLA) audience. Hlophe, for years undaunted by the prospect of impeachment, is playing the race card under pressure. He must believe it works for him because the Judicial Service Commission has tiptoed around him for 14 years, but is now recommending his suspension. Perhaps his racist rant to the BLA is a sign that he is feeling the heat.