SANDF, SAPS and JMPD officers who were present when Collins Khosa was allegedly tortured and killed in Alexandra in April 2020 must be suspended and authorities must complete their investigations into his alleged killing by 4 June 2020, the North Gauteng High Court ruled on Friday.
The ruling, handed down by Judge Hans Fabricius, was critical not only of the incident that allegedly resulted in Khosa’s death but the authorities’ enforcement of lockdown regulations and the failure to ensure SAPS and SANDF members respected the rights of citizens.
Once upon a time we had bolshie bob who was the most destructive minister in zuma's cabinet. He was a rotten commie who was determined to make us as strong as Mother Russia - even though we've never really been like that. I can't write enough about that useless idiot. Or maybe I can - we have a new moron on the block, Ebie "Slaptjips" Patel. He's living up to his predecessor's name. He is cut from the same cloth - but only the cloth of clothing that he has deemed acceptable.
It's not like me to post DA ramblings on this blog - they are in my opinion the best of a really bad bunch. They will benefit from this lockdown lunacy whilst the others will suffer. Who the hell is going to vote for the anc when they were the ones who told you you couldn't work, couldn't buy cigarettes and stole your food parcels which were designed to feed you. The DA will simply get more votes than the others because more people won't vote at all. According to the DA, Slaptjips (uppercase for now because he's so useless I have to give him something) is now the minister of fashion
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is stunned by the bizarre and extraordinary clothing list that has been gazetted by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel which seems to have been plucked from Alice in Wonderland.
These new clothing regulations are frankly mad and seem more at place during the 1980’s under the Soviet Union than they do in a democracy like South Africa.
There is simply no justification for the Minister to be determining what clothes people can buy and worse, how they should wear them.
According to the regulations:
You can buy shirts so long as they are promoted “to be worn under jacket coats and/or knitwear” which is ridiculous and insulting to South Africans’ intelligence;
You may only buy crop bottom pants so long as they worn with boots and leggings which is just ridiculous;
And finally, you can only buy “closed toe” shoes which is just laughable.
I'm almost longing for malossie to come back. He had some fashion sense
More seriously - you have to read Bruce Whitfield's article about Slaptjips and has banning of e-commerce because it's unfair on bricks and mortar retailers
Trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel has sparked understandable fury since famously disallowing “unfettered e-commerce”, arguing that it risked the spread of Covid-19 and would be unfair to those in physical retail that aren’t allowed to trade.
Patel doesn’t want the hassle of dealing with the many complaints he would receive from spaza owners and physical store owners who would demand the same rights. So instead, he imposed a wholesale ban.
And that is unfair. It’s unfair on you and me, now forced to go to increasingly busy shops to buy things that could easily be delivered safely to our homes. It’s unfair to the delivery drivers who could be gainfully employed. It’s unfair to the dispatchers, order takers, manufacturers and suppliers of raw materials who might get some income.
Bruce is wrong on one count, ou Slappie isn't the minister of trade and industry - he's the minister of trade and industry and competition. Like bolshie before him he knows nothing about this and knows less about competition.
Slaptjips is something else and will probably our something else for a long time to come - because Cyril ain't got none
There are half a million signatures in the anti-tobacco ban petition. That's 500,000 (yes five hundred thousand South Africans) who oppose this ban. BAT had a problem too with the ban and threatened to go to court, but now they have dropped their case (for now they say). Kieswetter has told parliament how much shit we are in and business is now starting to tell Cyril to look at the stark realities.
Ramaphosa said while the government had announced a lift on the cigarette ban, it had consulted the public and decided to change its mind. "We are a listening government. As much as we may have decided on an issue, when our people raise concerns, we listen and re-examine our position and that is precisely what happened. It was done on a very controversial issue and we accept that. "There is nothing wrong whatsoever with any one of us changing our minds."
Why would BAT suspend their legal activity? It certainly isn't for the reasons offered in this statement
Batsa said on Wednesday that it was no longer taking its fight to court after receiving a response from the government to its formal letter seeking answers on April 30.
The Daily Maverick article really gets to the nub of the tobacco ban. The illicit economy is thriving. To the extent that it may be difficult for the formal tobacco economy to get back on its feet. This has massive repercussions for the industry and the government. Don't think merely about the tax revenue implications – we know that Shorty Fedora and PalofMazotti don't' give a shit about that, think about the potential legal battles that the government will face if it's found (and it will) that their lockdowns were illegal, irrational and have caused immense patrimonial loss to the liquor and tobacco industries. And that is what the government doesn't need. Ralph Mathekga explains this succinctly
President Ramaphosa's administration is not in a position to face off with angry groups in court. Government started well and enjoyed credibility in the first couple of weeks of the lockdown. However, government has committed some mistakes that have undermined its credibility in managing the lockdown. Among mistakes that have been committed are the use of excessive force in some instances, violation and disregard of lockdown rules by some members of Cabinet who have become undesirable characters. Government criteria regarding what amounts to essential goods that can be attained in the lockdown is also questionable.
There are some decisions that have been adopted and do not make sense as to which purpose they serve.
All this has pushed government to the corner, and the best option for government is to stop fighting hard and consider engaging with stakeholders and groups.
There are different groups that seek to challenge different aspects of the lockdown regulations ranging from religious leaders; the tobacco lobby; alcohol lobby; the grilled chicken lobby; etc.
Further, a group of lawyers have asked president Ramaphosa to explain the constitutional basis of the coronavirus command council, particularly where the council fits in in the broader chain of accountability in a constitutional democracy.
The last thing government wants to do is to unite the tobacco and alcohol lobby with the human rights groups against the lockdown regime
On that latter point, the Collins Khosa case is going to destroy all credibility that the police and military wished they had (and mistakenly thought they had). And I do agree with Pierre de Vos about the revulsion we should be feeling when it comes to Collins Khosa and the cops and military.
No – a deal has been struck. Ramaphosa's government can no longer treat us as children. The Khosa case (which will not doubt, very unwisely) be appealed. But the credibility is gone. BAT would not just forego their income because they now understand why the tobacco ban has been extended. They are not being paid out by Treasury not to trade because there's no money for that. I expect that Cyril will open tobacco and alcohol in the near future. He will also need to make sure that Shorty Fedora and that minister of defence – whose name is so irrelevant to me are brought into line. This deal is dependent on government delivering their side of the bargain - hence the suspension of the BAT court case. Government must know that they are simply fucked if it gets to court - as Mathekga says, it will open up the flood gates and then we're all fucked.
Government has to trust the people. It will go a long way to trying to rebuild the economy so that everyone benefits. Cyril is the only one that can do this. Knife-edge Cyril - and you are on it, history has already judged your rogue ministers, it still rather likes you.
Long have I lamented about how corporate South Africa kowtowing to the ridiculousness that is the anc. It took zoomer's removal of Nene for it to get its voice. And even then it was controlled and measured. And state-endorsed corruption continued unabated. Without a suitable voice the balance of the economy is left to fend for itself. In fact not only does large corporation South Africa kowtow – it actively breaks down small businesses by foisting on unreasonable demands on small and medium sized businesses to meet the so-called transformation targets thrust upon a pliant economy.
Perhaps this has now changed. British American Tobacco have threatened Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma with a law suit if she does not rescind her very arbitrary ban on the sale of tobacco products, describing it as bizarre and highly irregular, principally because she did not give the tobacco industry, retailers, tobacco consumers and others supporting the lifting of the ban, the opportunity to comment on the proposed reinstatement of the ban. This was grossly unfair and unlawful
That they are correct in their assessment is not brought into question. The minister, who looks like she'd be more comfortable crocheting clothing for her grandchildren than talking to a public that no does not respect her, told us that 2 000 individual submissions received as a reason for this action. This was 2000 out of the 70 000 submissions she received before she made her decision. Reminds me of bolshie bob who told us that there was overwhelming support for his BEE codes.
Of course the chief vibratorist, Jackson Mthembu has defended the decision, stating that Cyril agreed to this. In fact, the Sunday Times reported this morning that
Minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu has ruled out any possibility of talks with the cigarette industry, saying the cabinet will not back down on its decision to ban the sale of cigarettes. The government is taking a hard line and will not refer the matter to mediation - an option introduced in the lockdown regulations to try to avoid costly court action by aggrieved parties. Mthembu said the tobacco issue was not one that could be resolved through mediation because there was nothing to negotiate. "We are not going to change our approach," he said. "There is no possibility of a midway agreement that accommodates them and us. We believe that it is the right thing to do. I don't see any of us agreeing on the measures the other party has taken.
"We will make our case in court. We believe we have very good reasons."
How could he say anything else? He's a politician, and an anc one as well. They never admit to any wrong. There does seem to be a bit of bravado here, perhaps he is anticipating that it will actually go to court. And the only way that this is going to go court is through the will to litigate by BAT. Perhaps the reader has seen the agenda here. Tito wants this to go to court, Cyril probably also wants it to go to court. If he is not aware that his popularity is plummeting on a minutely basis then he lives under a rock. A court decision absolves him of having to reign in the rogue incompetents in his cabinet. The court does it for him. This is an age old anc tactic. We'll make bad decisions and if they aren't attacked in the courts then they must be the right decisions.
This is a massive step by the private sector. They are loathe to litigate, always worried that they may lose government business or their licenses to operate. BAT have too much to lose (and so does the government - pity that hotfood slaptjips hasn't realised this) and they need to go through with this. At the time of this writing the anti-tobacco ban petition had 485k signatures to lift the ban. How does that measure up to the 2000 NDZ got in a week?
Meanwhile – the investigative press are going back to an article published in the Sunday Times in 2017 about NDZ's cosy relationship with people like Adriano Mazzotti. We know that illicit booze and cigarettes are doing a roaring trade in the country at the moment. Watch this space – there will be much more to come on this relationship.
It's up to you BAT – we have your back.
As a disclaimer – I don't smoke. I have never smoked. I do like a drink though, cigarettes have just never worked for me. I don't like governments behaving like the Nats did in the pe-1995 period.
I suppose Jan van Riebeeck is also responsible for COVID.