The office of the public protector recently determined that bumbling advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane is not eligible for the R10m gratuity she says she is entitled to. Off to the courts she has gone, demanding the money. Although she is now a high-ranking EFF MP earning about R1.2m a year, she told the court she can “hardly make ends meet”. Old Hog would be happy to have her problem.
Double trouble?
If Hogarth’s sources in the newsroom are right, the former public protector’s household may soon double the income it receives from parliament. The political scribes who know these things tell Hogarth that Mkhwebane’s partner, one Mazolman Skosana, is ranked high on the list of candidates seeking to enter parliament as representatives of Jacob Zuma’s MK party. Having a couple working as MPs in the house would not be a first. But having them representing different parties? Hogarth hopes, for the couple’s own sake, that the Zuma-Juju tea party pact lasts.
‘Crosstitution’ may be the oldest profession
In the early 2020s, a new term entered our political lexicon. It was “crosstitute”, coined to refer to an MP defecting to a rival party without losing their seat. Hogarth could not help but recall this on Friday when it emerged that ActionSA has resolved to terminate the membership of its Limpopo chair and premier candidate, Letsiri Phaahla. Why? He had apparently been “offered considerable financial inducement” to join the MK party. This is the same guy who was only appointed ActionSA Limpopo provincial chair and premier candidate in December. Indeed, money talks in our politics.
Mashaba the draft dodger
Still on ActionSA, its president Herman Mashaba sure knows how to dodge a question. Speaking on an EWN podcast, Mashaba avoided questions on the Gaza war. When pushed, he said he was different to other politicians who comment on everything in the news. “If you want to succeed in life, don’t do what everybody else does. [The reason] the majority of people fail, is because they are prepared to just follow. I am a focused person, and I am focused on the nation ... Right now, we are facing the most important election ever. My focus, 100%, unapologetically, is to make sure that we save the future of this country.” In other words, Mashaba is afraid of offending any local supporters of the two sides to the conflict lest he loses votes or funding.
#Education must fall?
Back to the MK party. The new kid on the block has this self-appointed leader, a party-hopper of note who has in the past worn ANC, EFF and Patriotic Alliance colours. His name is Bonginkosi Khanyile and he was anointed youth leader of the MK party after a tea session in Nkandla. Since his arrival he has been wreaking havoc in the ranks — demanding the expulsion of student leaders and calling others spies. It seems he has now turned his anger towards a new category of enemies: “What I’ve learnt is that the more you go to school the more your brain becomes small,” he told an audience recently. “It becomes worse when you are a born-again Christian. It becomes worse when you are degreed, you are a professional and you are a born again,” he ranted. All of this from a former leader of the much-revered university student movement, #Feesmustfall.
Kaunda is just as zilly bananas as Zille
Mxolisi Kaunda should have been Mampara this week. He was only saved by the fact that the other candidate was even more outrageous. The eThekwini mayor, who is no stranger to the slot, really put his foot in it when he made remarks that would make even Helen Zille — she of Eastern Cape “refugees” fame — blush. Trying to explain why the once beautiful Banana City has gone to the dogs on his watch, Kaunda suggested that the city was overburdened by Eastern Cape migrants — as if Eastern Cape people were “foreigners”. What’s next, Kaunda? You gonna Tweet that colonialism has some positive attributes, as your apparent idol once did?
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