The weather is trying to kill us. What is happening South Africa, climate changed much? Storms thunder across the Western Cape bringing rolling waves of discontent and displacement to many. Gautengers are wearing their entire wardrobe when they set foot outside the house. Some social media users said that going outside is disrespectful. I get that. Lucky for us here in KZN, the weather is in the high twenties and the skies are clear. Sodwana’s reality is always a little magical. A stark contrast to the #Level8 warnings across SA. Freezing temperatures (Bloem had its lowest temp on record, -10 degrees), warnings of torrential storms and snow in the strangest of places. Sounds like a good time to get on a boat in the Wild Coast? What you reckon. #SardineRunLoading.
Our top story this week was not the weather, no, my friends, the top story this week was the #Springboks’ win over Ireland. I don’t pretend to know anything about sport, however, as a citizen of SA I will always be a sports fan every time the #bokke get on the field. Over a million engagements created a wave of social media that carried the term #Springboks. #Rassie Erasmus, the coach, is so vocal and the audience laps it up. Signs of #Rassie’s face saying, “He’s in your head” or big banners with the comment: “Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie” covered the stadium. It was thunderous, in a good way. A good weekend for many, if you weren’t Irish.
Talking of fans of sport: #GaytonMacKenzie, ex con, and new minister of sport has stopped all superfan subsidies. Gayton said the money is better spent on other needs, small stuff, you know, like paying Team South Africa participants reasonable money. #MamaJoy, the only superfan I can name, was seething. South Africa was gleaming. #NewBroomSweepsClean. Gayton has had another full week. The nations most cringeworthy painter, #Rasta, etched a canvas of our G Man. It was, as you’d expect, dreadful. #SomebodyStopHim.
A shock for the #EFF and other greedy, grubby, sticky fingers was the announcement that #SongezoZibi is heading up SCOPA. I voted for him as the leader of #RiseMzansi and I’m delighted that he’s been placed to watchdog our cash. #SCOPA is the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and they do exactly that. Please Mr Zibi, please prove me right. #NewLeadersSweepClean. #DeanMacpherson, newly appointed minister of public works, uncovered R300 million of #CyberFraud in his first week in office. #NewBroomAlert #CleanDean.
More good news was shared as #Matodzi, the chairman of #VBSLooters (#EFFs great bank robbery), was found guilty on 33 charges which resulted in a sentence of 495 years. I’ve always been so proud of our judiciary and if a case makes it to closing, we are brilliant. I say that and then… this: impeached, and stripped of his title of Judge, Dr Hlope addressed us a couple of weeks back. He explained that he was a hobnob in the MK Party now and even though he’d been stripped of the title of judge, he is still a doctor. Remember that? Guess what, he’s JUDGE Hlope again and he’s not only a sitting judge he’s also on the #JSCInterviewPanel. You know that silly setup that decides who are our judges in SA are. What the … How did that happen? Come on guys #YouDisrespectingUs #HandsOffOurJudiciary.
A dreadful accident left twelve of our kids dead along with the driver in a collision in #Carltonville. They say the taxi was roadworthy, it wasn’t. A SANDF Major was killed in the DRC. Why are we there? The #Ethekweni mayor got his ketang, a fancy shiny ketang, no wonder #Phalatse was so eager to get her hands on it. What happened to her anyway? We’ve had 100 days of electricity under #Ramakopa and we are celebrating because something we pay for actually works. Side note: A request was put into NERSA for a 44% increase in electricity tariffs by our good man at #Eskom. You still smiling? #EskomATM. Eskom says the municipalities owe them R75 billion. Everyone of us has a query on our Eskom bill, so let’s say this is an exaggerated number. Let’s say it’s a tenth of that, over seven billion rand that is realistically outstanding from the municipalities. Marra why? Where’s that broom?
Talking about lots of money, the #DurbanJuly was a great success. Juju turned up with skatools (shoes) worth R27k. Another crook, Mapisa #Nqakula’s case of corruption has been moved to the high court, that means more expensive lawyers to you and me. #SweepStakes. A Spanish tourist was trampled by a group of elephants in the #Pilansberg. He left his car and tried to take pictures of the baby elephants. People will do anything for a photo, including #Makhadzi, #BETWinner. She has been getting funding from the Sports, Arts and Culture Department for fourteen months. That’s over a year of freebies. Gayton, lookey here. Talking about #BET winners, SA musicians triumphed this week. We also picked #TeamSA for the #ParisParalympics. There are some super talented people making their way to Paris. #SweepItUpSA.
And then the story that never left my mind: #LifeEsidimeni took the spotlight as #Mahlangu and #Manamela were found “likely” guilty of causing the death of “some” of the 144 patients in one of this country’s greatest tragedies. It appears they will be found guilty of manslaughter and will get a suspended sentence. That’s it. They don’t go to jail; they aren’t booted out of their professions; a slap on the wrist? Not even that! And as for the minister of health at the time, Aaron Motsoaledi, well he’s back in his seat, in the same job except with blood-stained hands. #OutDamnSpot #NoCleanBroom.
You’re bound to remember #Modisa, the guy who ran marathons in his sandals. He passed away this week at the tender age of 37. I am running out of words, but keep your eye on #MobJustice: another 43-year-old was killed by his circle after he murdered a seven year old boy. And hijacking and kidnapping is a political toy as we read that the deputy director of water and sanitation was hijacked and kidnapped for ransom. Oi! Minister of Police! Come with a broom or we will sweep for you.
And across the pond, Joe won’t go. He’s adamant he’s staying in the race. American politics infuriates me. I watched #MatthewMiller, the White House spokesman, the chop, smirking as a journalist asked him about the latest report that 128 thousand Palestinians are dead in Gaza. The journo called him out and his smirk grew as he turned to another journalist. Who are these people? Then Vlad met Modi (the Indian Prime Minister) and drove him around in his golf cart (Vladmobile) to show him around his estate. I don’t even want to know. #Putin blew up a school in #Ukraine the same week. The world was horrified. There are no more schools in #Gaza. Not even one. These are next level gangsters. The whole lot are vrot! #SweepAwayPlease.
I’m Tonya Khoury, I’m going running on water in the #GreatestShoalOnEarth, the #SardineRun. I’ve packed for days and I’m acutely aware of the great privilege I have as I join a group of adventure makers to witness the most breath-taking oceanic spectacle on earth. Hoping to be #SweptAway! Thanks for scratching the surface with Acumen Media. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks!
