One of the most difficult things to do in the public service is to fire non-performers. In fact it seems to me the law, the Labour Relations Act and related legislation are designed to make it near impossible to fire people who do not perform. It was therefore truly heartening to see President Jacob Zuma…
So, nationalisation will be debated — big deal. When Mandela was released from jail 20 years ago, one of the first PR gaffes to be associated immediately with his name was the claim that the ANC was going to nationalise anything that moves. Typically none of that happened because you cannot take at face value…
Lough out loud on Saturday SABC circus back in town again. I preferred the board led by Khanyi Mkhonza and Christine Qunta. At least they were able to tell the government where to get off and knew when to acknowledge that “they sucked”. I preferred Dali Mpofu — at least he was not found to…
When Mokotedi Mpshe “plagiarised” a dusty and overturned foreign judgement to justify dropping the embarrassing charges against the ANC president on the eve of the 2009 elections, most of society simply shrugged and got on with their lives. Some media and opposition parties made noise for a day or two, but there was really little…
Laugh out loud on Sunday Methinks the media tribunal is a good idea after all. For the first time after 16 years of democracy politicians will have a haven where they can run off to appeal against the media’s nosy ways. The public will also have a well deserved break from all the exposés on corruption…
At the heart of the current battle within Cope, it seems to me, is the battle between the old, which is refusing to die, and the new, which is hindered from being born. This political stalemate will kill Cope if an urgent political intervention is not found in the next few weeks. South Africans can…
So former Eskom chairperson Valli Moosa, under whose watch the ANC entered into a dubious deal linked to the building of the Medupi coal power station, has asked for a post-facto national debate on whether political parties should enter into business. Well, the debate has been raging for a while now since this shameful revelation….
The war between Lekota and Shilowa forced the Congress Working Committee emergency meeting last night to cancel the May 29 Cope conference altogether. Speaking at an emergency press briefing at noon today the party’s embattled secretary-general, Charlotte Lobe, said: “We can’t go to conference in this state. These guys must sort themselves before we go…
All journalists who would in future dare criticise the ANCYL and its leaders, must make sure that they do not have skeletons in the cupboard lest they get investigated by the league. Anyone who doubted that we are descending onto a banana republic must have their doubts cleared up by this extraordinary development. With all…
So Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan has done it again. After a shocking indifference across the ANC on the Chancellor House/Eskom scandal, she has stood up again to be counted. For those who missed it, this is where the ANC, with a 25% shareholding in Hitachi, is set to fleece you and I through the…
