RANJENI MUNUSAMY: When there's a Gupta elephant in the room
'The president clutched a cellphone in his hand throughout — perhaps a call or instructions were expected from individuals not at the conference'
The ANC Women’s League’s bizarre inclusion of six men in its delegation to the party’s national policy conference‚ under way in Johannesburg this week‚ is so far unchallenged. But President Jacob Zuma’s “walkabout” at the Nasrec conference centre on Monday also constituted a rather odd moment in South African politics. The president’s inspection of the exhibition stands on the sidelines of the conference provided the rare opportunity for contact between the long-suffering media pack and No 1. Zuma strolled around a display of bronze statues of struggle heroes like the king of the jungle on the prowl while the press gaggle captured his every move. He stared some of the statues in the face while Chris Hani‚ Walter Sisulu‚ Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo stood frozen in time. It would seem this was the type of struggle veteran the president preferred — lifeless and muted from criticising him. The president clutched a cellphone in his hand throughout — perhaps a call or instructions wer...
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