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Archive for the tag “Citizens”
Opinion: Degraded yet again, Zuma ordered to pay legal fees!
Former South African President Jacob Zuma has today lost in Court as he battles the State Capture case and bountiful of other charges, as his time in the limelight and being the Executive is ceased indefinitely.
Zuma has gone from being the king-maker, the almighty dealer and corrupt state official, the high-ranking official who secured his fellow family and cronies jobs, tenders and work with the State Owned Enterprises. Now, he is battling in Court to defend his actions. Clearly, as the time goes by, that it is not going well. He is not sipping tea in Saxonworld anymore; he is lingering between trials and awaiting further judgment.
The judges have even ordered that the three previous occasions, when the courts has allowed it to be covered by the state, have been revised. Meaning, the old legal fees and the ones that has been paid by the state has to be recovered from the previous President. That is a costly affair, as he is paying back legal fees into early 2005 or so. We are in the midst of 2018 and there are more to come.
That the previous President has come into this bargain is all on his own. It is his own intention and miscalculation, as of one point, it didn’t seem to ever backfire. The planned corruption and the grand corruption done while in office. While now, as times goes by and the skeletons are out of the closet. The reality is dawning.
The reality is actually damning. He is pinched, his friends has abandoned him and left him alone. The previous ally and now President Cyril Ramaphosa, didn’t even try to counter sue or try to test the case put forward by Economic Freedom Fighters and Democratic Alliance. As the EFF and DA got a final revenge after the hardships for justice in this case.
Malema must be jolly, as he was stabbed in the back for supporting the previous President as the Youth League and Wonder-Boy, who was cast astray as he challenged him after the anointing. Therefore, this is a payback for the time; he was got banned from the African National Congress (ANC). This here is at last a little vindication for Julius.
Certainly, Zuma has gone from vast fortune and power, into the unsure oblivion and misfortune. Where his allies has vanished, where his cronies has fled and the ones thriving man are now struggling. Now, he has to cough up money and surely empty deposits, maybe even sell real estate too. Also, not marry another wife for a while to bear the costs of legal jeopardy he is in at the moment. Since the state will not cover the expenses anymore.
Zuma is fallen, now it is just to find out how hard and what that counts they will charge him with and how deep the state will go, since he wasn’t in it alone. Zuma was doing with the ANC and the more that is out. The more people are implicated, not only in the Gupta Family, but also within the leadership of the ANC. That is the reality and time will tell, because Zuma was the big-man, but not big-man alone on his quest. There was A Tribe Called Quest following him and doing as his asked. He was Q-Tip and the others followed the pursuit to happiness. Peace.
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While indicted, Zuma still get’s paid in full!
There are something seriously wrong, as the State Capture Commission is on the works and the African National Congress (ANC) are slowing the process, as the Gupta businesses, the direct state corruption and all the back-logs of cases against the former South African President continues. This case has prolonged and pushed back, as the indictment of the previous President took so many years.
That is why Jacob G. Zuma are now in trouble, but the state is not clearing the shop. They are not going hard on the evidence or anything seemingly, as Zuma didn’t do this business and transactions alone. Zuma did it with the help of ANC as well. To enrich himself and his family, use the foreign investors family and state owned enterprises as vaults of funds to spend.
Zuma and his works for years are in the Courts combined with certain corruption scandals, but not all of them. We can wonder who will be implicated and whose family members that will be touched. As the Republic of South Africa and ANC should want to move-on, but they still need clarity of the crimes and the stolen funds. As the long time misuse of government funds is known, the amounts of scandals and possible embezzlement should clearly cost for the former President.
However, just as the Commission is doing its work, they are giving the bonafide thief a pension of 3 millions a year. We can just wonder what kind of spell Zuma has done to the ANC. As they accepted his business and his toying around with government funds. That was accepted, the ANC Executive Committee and others didn’t stop it. They didn’t silence it, Zuma and his associates was allowed to do so. Even as the ‘No Confidence’ votes came to the National Assembly, but the ANC stayed loyal for so long.
Therefore, the latest movement of giving him a pension is an insult, as the investigations, as the State Capture and the Corruption Cases are unfolding. The Previous President should be prosecuted and answer for what he did, together with his associates, even if that hit the core of ANC. That is if the ANC cares about justice and rule of law. They can answer as, we know Zuma wasn’t alone and they shielded him, because they all earned on these transactions. The Gupta, The Nkandla and the Arms Trade are all in same fashion. Zuma is the head, but the ANC accepted it and used the Ministries to vouch for him.
They are now even paying him fortunes for his retirement, as Zuma are now answering for his crimes. He has to be sentenced and in bracelets. For now he is free, but hopefully Zuma will pay for his actions. As he stole from the state coffers and made himself a village. That is a crime and the ANC should also take responsibility. It is the time to do so, Zuma is the head, but the party was behind him. They kept him and accepted his actions.
Zuma is a corrupt politician and was known for being so, still the ANC promoted his leadership and his actions. That shall be remembered. He deserves a trial and answer for what he did, but not alone, the rest of his associates should do to. Peace.
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Soon, the Final Blow for Jacob Zuma, as he is indicted!
Maan, this was a slow train coming, so slow, it was close to glacier slow. This was insanely long ride around and around, where the Executive and Long-Con of Jacob G. Zuma could get away with insane amounts of alleged crimes. I cannot remember anyone else having such levels of corrupt behavior and walking around like it didn’t matter. That is because he could and he lived lavish this way. What is sad is how he ate of the state, used State Enterprises and made illegal tenders to companies that paid him off. That is what he did and now does the ghosts of the past haunt him.
People can wonder why it took so long, why the past crimes are hunting him now, but the system comes your way, when your not needed or not even salvaging it. If he could directly indict and allege crimes on others in the near space of power. They would have been careful taking down the former President. But they seem not to care. That today he was indicted for fraud, money laundering, racketeering and false statements on tax returns. Clearly, this is going back to the ‘arms deal’, that was the ending of the Mbeki Presidency. This is so the current African National Congress is directly hurt.
This is political, but also about time. There are many cases and many business deals that could have been indicted for, there are many questionable activity that Zuma could face. This is just the first, as he has stifled the state with the bill of 15 million rand for stopping the investigations and the trials of cases going to court.
What is special about the indictment sheet in the scenario, is that the state was waiting for 11 years to serve it. Especially the ones released to the public. That means the state was saving this from 2007 and serving the criminal in 2018. This shows the intent and the hard-work of Zuma to not be put in court. As he as the head of state, couldn’t become a criminal for his economic activity.
The, then President, used his methods and expertise, he used his political power and his associates to fix deals, secure kickbacks, to earn wealth on the state bidding. That is why the state has the rights to indict him for the ‘arms deal’, which was the ending of Mbeki, is now the one that might be the final nail in the coffin of Zuma’s legacy. If should have been anything, it should be his house in Dubai, his Nkandla Village Project and the whole Gupta based economy project, that made the Republic in junk status.
Well, that would hurt the ANC of today, this indictment doesn’t hurt political operatives right now. Unless, Zuma has something up his sleeve, he is a man for the long-con, but the final state of affairs is getting closer and he hasn’t the powers or rich-friends to bail him out. There is no direct get-out jail free-card. That is if he doesn’t have skeletons in the closet, that he is willing to use to destroy the party and the ones in power right now. Than he is really ruthless and revenging, the ones who brought him down. Peace.
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Roadblocks ahead for South Africa’s Ramaphosa after Moody’s win (28.03.2018)
Ramaphosa has promised to speed up the transfer of land to black people, but has stressed the need to preserve food security.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 28, 2018 – South Africa’s new president Cyril Ramaphosa will need to call on all his dealmaking skills to overhaul ailing state-owned firms and tackle land reform if he wants to capitalise on Moody’s decision not to downgrade the country’s debt to junk.
Moody’s said its decision to keep South Africa’s rating at investment grade reflected its view the country’s institutions would regain strength under more transparent and predictable policies – though the new government had to stay on track.
Since replacing Jacob Zuma in February, Ramaphosa has reappointed the finance minister his predecessor fired in 2015, sacked some ministers allied to Zuma, put another respected former finance minister in charge of struggling state-owned firms and suspended the head of the revenue service.
“It’s a big deal,” political analyst Ralph Mathekga said about Moody’s decision. “What he has been able to achieve in two months is to reverse some of Zuma’s influence in key sectors. The message he sent is: ‘I can do more’.”
After his whirlwind start, Ramaphosa’s challenges now include keeping the unions on side as the government overhauls cash-strapped national carrier South African Airways (SAA) and heavily indebted state power utility Eskom.
Perhaps his stiffest test will be to push through land expropriation, as promised, to address racial disparities in ownership – while keeping the left wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on board and not scaring off investors.
Parliament passed a motion last month seeking to change the constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation. Ramaphosa has promised to speed up the transfer of land to black people, but has stressed the need to preserve food security.
“A big deliverable is to initiate the land debate under his leadership to control the narrative and discourse. Should he fail to do this, he runs the risk of undoing the good work already done,” said Daniel Silke, director of Political Futures Consultancy.
Ramaphosa’s negotiating skills have been respected for decades, ever since Nelson Mandela turned to the former trade union boss to lead the successful negotiations to end white minority rule.
More recently, Ramaphosa had to strike a fine balance between applying pressure on Zuma to go, while still affording him a dignified exit. Now, same analysts say land reform is Ramaphosa’s litmus test.
“Are we over-estimating Ramaphosa’s ability to deal with this land issue? It is undoubtedly one of his biggest challenges. Investors are worried about this and watching him very closely,” said independent political analyst Nic Borain.
‘GOOD NEGOTIATOR’
When it comes to South Africa’s struggling state-run companies, Ramaphosa will need to perform a similar balancing act and he has already named respected former finance minister Pravin Gordhan as minister of public enterprises.
Eskom and SAA are both weighed down by massive wage bills but the country’s powerful unions are likely to dig in their heels at any attempt to cut jobs, especially with elections looming in 2019.
Influential labour leaders, sections of the ANC and the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters are also likely to balk at any moves to partially privatise the companies, which is one strategy backed by the Treasury.
South African Airways runs one of Africa’s biggest fleets but years of operational losses have left it on the brink of bankruptcy. It needed a bailout in July to repay debt and 20 billion rand ($2 billion) in state guarantees to keep it afloat.
Eskom received a 5-billion rand loan in February from the state’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which holds a large amount of government bonds and ranks as Africa’s biggest investment fund, or it would have defaulted on its debts.
“There is going to be some tension when these job cuts are announced. It is a delicate balance because it could impact the support base of the party ahead of next year’s elections,” said Borain.
Still, Ramaphosa has already taken the politically risky step of raising value-added tax (VAT) for the first time since apartheid to try to reduce the budget deficit and analysts say he is unlikely to back down on reforms.
“He did not give in to populism on the VAT; this was a good example of him having to do something unpopular but necessary,” Borain said. “He is known to be a good negotiator.”
Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene expressed hope on Monday that S&P Global Ratings and Fitch might also look favourably on South Africa during upcoming reviews, saying investors he had met at a roadshow in London before Moody’s decision were upbeat.
S&P downgraded South African local currency debt to “junk” in November citing a deterioration in the economic outlook and public finances. Fitch cut its rating in April to sub-investment grade after Zuma fired Gordhan as finance minister. S&P will publish its review on May 25. Fitch has not given a date.
“I want to call this a honeymoon phase – and it is for that reason that we cannot be complacent about it,” Nene told Talk Radio 702.
