She laughed when asked if we are going to send help to the #ZamaZamas: “You want us to send help to criminals? We are not sending help to criminals; we are going to smoke them out”. That was the minister of the Presidency talking about 4000 illegal miners trapped underground in a #Stilfontein mine in the North West. Her words carried across the world as a horrific scene unfolded of men trapped in a hole, trying to earn a coin from some megalomaniac and kingpin that we will not name, let alone touch. Smoke them out. I wish you’d do it to the rotten head of that fish and not to the maggots feeding on its flesh. Too harsh? Tell me it’s not true. There is an end game for the #Zamas, that gold ends up somewhere, and it’s not at Cash Converters. I can promise you that.
Think for a minute … It’s like smoking out the bees and forgetting there is honey. Look I get it, the #Zamas are terrors, they are hardcore. They will kill for their nuggets but killing 4000 people is not going to stop the kingpins, is it? There’ll be another 4000 waiting in the wings to replace those chocking in the smoke within a week. That’s a certainty. What will we do then? This story turns my stomach. There are apparently dead bodies rotting under there. People are starving and dying of dehydration, and one would have sympathy until I tell you that they are armed to the teeth and that they are not necessarily trapped: they are refusing to come out because they will be arrested and deported. Many (if not all) of them are illegal miners. The cops won’t enter the so called “disused shaft” because of they will literally be stepping into Armageddon. It’s a horror story. Are we are not using smoke as a screen by using human rights abuses to get these crooks up to the surface. It hits my moral compass like a magnetic pole when I watch helpless wives pleading for their only support system to be saved. Children waiting for their fathers that are unlikely to return. I get it, they are participants in a violent and illegal act. These are dangerous men willing to trade their souls for a handful of gold. But #SmokeThemOut, that’s a bit much for me. And when the smoke clears, will we treat paedophiles and femicide monsters with the same gusto? #SmokeThemOut.
We learnt a new word, #Organophosphate. It has been found in cooking oil and flour and it’s deadly. The antidote is Atropine (another new word). These words are meant to explain away a food poisoning pandemic that caused the deaths of our children. In an interview with Aaron #Motsoaledi, the interviewer asked that the country be given direction. Aaron said that the country would indeed be given direction, and when the interviewer asked “When?”, Aaron frothed at her. He said: “Oh my God” and chucked his whole body back into the chair. This was followed by an abrupt “no” and he tried to steer the interview back to big words and chemicals instead of dead children. It didn’t work. A few minutes later, #ActionSA’s #HermanMashaba came on the telly with a t-shirt that said #SpazaShops4SA. No, I’m not kidding; 4 SA. How did this become xenophobic? When did dead children become fodder for xenophobic politics? There is something so off here my South Africa. We are destroying the #TownshipEconomy, the backbone of our country, with t-shirts and no real cures. I’m surprised no one said #SmokeThemOut.
I’m sorry that I’ve nothing to cheer you up because this car crash of a report is about to get even darker. Water. #DayZero has finally arrived. They’re going to say it has not, but check your rationing schedule, check your throttling schedule, check your #watershedding schedule. This is not a drill. Water supply was cut off in #Lenasia, apparently the water connection was illegal. I don’t even understand that. Isn’t it a human right? Are we allowed to cut off water indefinitely to a populated part of the country? Despite the questions without answers, the area became a battlefield in seconds. Turns out you don’t need smoke at all, just water, or lack thereof, to bring out criminals.
#PemmyMojadine came out to say that there wasn’t a water shortage, instead she said that there were “localized deficits”. You’ll remember our Minister of Water and Sanitation, she is the woman dressed like a carnival who couldn’t pronounce “conscientiously” properly. And here she is with her “localized deficits”. Big words don’t fool us Pemmy, try to execute your duties conscientiously.
During all this horror, one would have thought you’d hear from the president. Four thousand people deadlocked in an underground gold heist, children dying mysteriously every week and a water crises. And where is he? On Wednesday, he said he is going to address the nation. And now … dololo. #SmokeHimOut. We want him to talk! This guy? He’s really an absent President, isn’t he?
The #SenzoTrial kept our attention. We heard #KellyKhumalo named, finally, and we learned that two of the accused have been in solitary confinement. One of them for four years. But he hasn’t been found guilty yet, surely that’s an infringement of human rights? Ah, whatever man, #SmokeEmOut.
There’s lots of other news: 2024 is the year of more. Just when you think you have a handle on the calamities, your head is beneath the surface yet again. Serial rapist #Sibindi vanished from his cell, and with that a whole network of drug peddling and racketeering was exposed. What ever happened to #FFPlus’ #Groenewald. He started as head of correctional services with such gusto, and now that has all faded away behind a wall of smoke and mirrors. The #MKParty named Floyd #Shivambu the new SG. We are still side eyeing #Ndlozi to see if he leaves Juju too. There is yet another delay in #Makate’s case with Vodacom and #pleaseCallMe. It’s a joke right? Smoke them out! #ChrisBrown is still coming although tickets are being resold quite quickly. We see you! Talking of stars, #Tyla won three #MTV awards – see there was good news after all.
To wrap up SA, our employment rate is better. Well, we came off such a low base that a 1,5% improvement is something to crow about. A bit like sneezing into a tyre. #DannyJordaan was a headline grabber as he made bail at R20k. And then what happened between #Enhle and #BlackCoffee? Someone balance me please. Pastor #Mboro was back in court and the judge stopped him from delivering his public sermons from the dock. He was somewhat mortified. #SmokeEmOut.
A skip across borders and we see the carnage playing out in #Mozambique. It could have been us South Africa. Regardless of the politrix, our democracy is less violent than our neighbours’.
In #Amsterdam, Israeli football hooligans entered the stadium chanting: “Why is school out? There are no children left there”. This was a reference to the #GazaGenocide. These degenerates were given the hiding of a lifetime by the locals. Joe Biden, in a public address, said that he was Joe Biden’s husband. And when asked about Israel, he asked if the journalist would like to get hit in the head with a camera. I don’t make this up. Trump and his #FirstBuddy, Elon have kicked off as Bitcoin surges. Now do you understand? I certainly do. We had all the world leaders blowing smoke up their behinds about #COP29 while millions face death in #Sudan. Russia continued its attacks on Kyiv this week and of lesser importance, unless you are the media, Tyson is due to hammer #JakePaul. I can’t deal with that story. Mike is old, but he won’t break a hip. He’s going to crack a skull, we know that. And then we had this flippant comment making its rounds: “Your body, my choice.” This was in reference to Trump’s abortion averse politics. Hectic right? #SmokeThemOut.
That’s that. We are hurtling towards the end of the year with just under four working weeks left of 2024. It’s a full moon and I’m taking my goose to see an elephant or six. I’m so blessed to live in one of the most beautiful parts of our country, surrounded by bush and sea. I’ve had a cracker of a week, even though this report would have you believe otherwise. I’m Tonya Khoury and thank you for scratching the surface with me and Acumen Media.
