Cape Town – In the event that you missed it, here are some of the best read and most popular stories from City Press on Sunday, February 18.
Cyril sparks Cabinet panic
President Cyril Ramaphosa will have to show his mettle in the face of a tug-of-war over who will get the call-up and who will be benched as he compiles his first Cabinet.
Ramaphosa put current Cabinet ministers on notice during his state of the nation address (Sona) on Friday night, saying: “Growth, development and transformation depend on a strong and capable state.
Even if the number of departments is not reduced immediately, it is still expected that Ramaphosa will effect a small-scale reshuffle to refresh and boot out non-performers.
Duduzane Zuma to be charged by NPA
The central players in the state capture project – the Gupta brothers and Duduzane Zuma – are out of the country.
Travel records obtained by City Press’ sister newspaper, Rapport, show Duduzane left the country on January 18 on an Emirates flight to Dubai, where he owns a R17 million flat the Guptas bought for him, according to the #GuptaLeaks.
Duduzane Zuma left just days before the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) sent him a letter asking him to supply them with reasons as to why he should not be prosecuted for culpable homicide.
The charge relates to the death of Phumzile Dube on the M1 highway in Sandton, Johannesburg, in February 2014.
'Isolated' Zuma fought until the last minute
It took hours of persuasion from lawyers, family members and senior ANC leaders on Wednesday to convince then-president Jacob Zuma that his time was up and that he had to vacate office, City Press has learnt.
For the most part of Wednesday, all indications were that Zuma was prepared to go to the brink on the matter.
“He was consulting lawyers and they told him that he must just let it go because he could not win,” insiders said.
His family members gave their input and all of them were “appealing to him to let it go”.
SEE HOW ZUMA DESPERATELY TRIED TO CLING TO POWER
OPINION: Mondli Makhanya: Hamba kabi, Nxamalala
Seasoned columnist Mondli Makhanya draws stark comparisons between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma’s respective administrations during their time as president of the Republic of South Africa.
Ministers and bureaucrats who served in the Thabo Mbeki administration quiver when they talk about his attention to detail and how he would often use his grasp of issues to wield fear…
In the run up to budget day it was customary for Treasury to send the president the speech and the bulky budget review so that the big man was fully in the picture. Much to the frustration of officials, the documents would come back from Mbeki with lots of sticky notes asking for clarity and making suggestions. This meant more work for everybody but a better product in the end.
In Jacob Zuma’s first year as president Treasury officials continued this practice. They duly sent the documents to the presidency and waited patiently for the input of Number One – sticky notes and all. But when the package came back the documents were in pristine condition. Not even the odd sign that a page had been touched, nevermind turned. The man just could not be bothered about all these big numbers, expenditure items, revenue flows and complex matrices. He was fine as long as there was money in the kitty and the opportunity to steal it and share it with friends and family.
Side Entry: Being Rassie in SA Rugby must be nice
Sports columnist Simnikiwe Xabanisa takes a critical look at Rassie Erasmus’ appointment within SA Rugby.
Forget Eddie Jones and co in the Six Nations, John Mitchell et al in Super Rugby or Deon Davids and the boys in the PRO14, the busiest coach (or is that director of rugby?) in the game this minute is, apparently, Rassie Erasmus.
According to reports, Erasmus has been hard at work doing the Springboks’ planning for the year, going on fact-finding missions to Europe and having conversations with Bok players based there about returning to South Africa or the way forward.
That he hasn’t officially been appointed or formally announced as Allister Coetzee’s replacement as Bok head coach - we were told that would only be done at the end of the month - doesn’t seem to matter.
