Dale T McKinley is a political activist, researcher-writer and lecturer who presently works at the International Labour, Research and Information Group.
At first, I hesitated to put fingers to keyboard on what transpired last week, given the large number of reports, analysis-opinion pieces, statements and general commentary that have populated the media and civil society terrains. Yet, as I read through many of them (and there are several exceptions), two crucial things became clear: the dominant causal narratives are overly simplistic and often unidimensional, and the dominant analytical tropes miss some basic facts.
The combined result is that the picture of what has happened is only partial, thus making a fuller understanding, representation and explanation more difficult. In this respect, and intentionally leaving aside the terrain of addressing “what is to be done?”, there are three foundational points that ground the events of the last week and two factual points that
“Ah, Mr iPad!
“I have nothing to say about this fishing expedition,” was the reply.
Then EFF MP Omphile Maotwe, who had remained silent when called to speak earlier, said, “I’m covered by the CIC [Malema]”.
Maybe the earlier divides on party-political lines, and pledges to follow the facts, evidence and due process were just too much
kumbaya for Malema, whose political party has not infrequently picked up the cudgels for Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
His blunt interjection clearly showed different views among Parliament’s largest-ever committee, with 36 members.
In a more nuanced statement, United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa said, “There is no doubt in order to do a good job we have to apply a non-partisan approach to find a lasting solution.” He went on to request a report on how many cases Mkhwebane’s office had handled, how many went to court and how many had been lost by the Public Protector.
Intelligence in a time of crisis gga.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gga.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
TOM EATON | Did the chicken fly the coup? No, it was Malema hiding behind his Twitter account It has been a week of contradictions, but in trying to make sense of things don’t be gullible and settle on one answer 19 July 2021 - 19:34
Despite the extremely public nature of last week’s shocking crime against SA, eyewitness accounts still seem confusingly contradictory.
I have read, for example, that Cyril Ramaphosa’s government was caught hopelessly flat-footed by last week’s violence, and that he pulled off a brilliant strategic manoeuvre by sacrificing malls and warehouses to save his presidency, deliberately pulling police and troops back to avert a massacre that would have seen him recalled and hand victory to the Radical Economic Transformation bittereinders.
Looting and civil unrest: Damage to SA will be lasting, says Brian Pottinger biznews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from biznews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.