A good week for Fikile Mbalula

A good week for Fikile Mbalula

This magazine has had a lot to say about Fikile Mbalula’s habit of inserting his foot into his mouth before attempting speech — all entirely justified. So when the clown prince of ANC politics does anything positive, it’s entirely against the run of play. But his recognition that the country needs the return of a Scorpions-type crime-fighting unit is a welcome sign. It is also, of course, an implied criticism of the ANC’s efforts to kill the Scorpions in 2008 to protect its compromised leadership.

A bad week for Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has again failed to take the nation into his confidence. Perhaps the biggest spectre over South Africa’s economy in recent times has been the country’s enigmatic relationship with Russia. The rand was torpedoed by reports that South Africa sold arms to Russia, while our efforts to protect Vladimir Putin are risking our preferential access to US markets. Yet Ramaphosa has no plans to release the inquiry report into whether we did actually ship arms to Russia. Haven’t we spent enough time in the dark?