South African 'pantless dancer' Zodwa Wabantu, 33, shares loved-up photos with her 24-year-old fiance

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South African 'pantless dancer' Zodwa Wabantu, 33, shares loved-up photos with her 24-year-old fiance

 

South African socialite and dancer, Zodwa Wabantu, 33 and her 24-year-old fiance, Ntobeko took to Instagram to share these loved-up photos.

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SA Former President, Jacob Zuma Bad Behaviour Damaged His Image, ANC

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SA Former President, Jacob Zuma Bad Behaviour Damaged His Image, ANC

Former South African President Jacob Zuma's bad behaviour damaged his image and that of the ANC.

© AFP FILE: Former President Jacob Zuma dances at the ANC's party rally at the Dan Qeqe stadium in Port Elizabeth on 23 July 2016 ahead of the municipal elections.

Opinion polls in South Africa have clearly shown the sharp decline in citizens’ approval of Jacob Zuma’s performance as president over the past three years. What has been less clear is the impact on the governing African National Congress (ANC). He was also the president of the ANC, until his term ended in December and he was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa.

For many years, Zuma was considered a 'Teflon' president. He seemed to maintain public support even in the face of controversial decisions and scandals because of his personal appeal as an affable populist. Several surveys placed his approval ratings in the 60% to 70% range throughout his first term in office. Once that image was finally pierced, one might have logically expected his downfall to be equally personal, and not take the party down with him.

But new results from the December 2017 South African Citizen Survey demonstrate just the opposite. Asking a widely used measure of party support called partisan identification, a strong predictor of both voter turnout and vote choice, only 32% of those surveyed said they “felt close” to the ANC. This is the worst result recorded in the past 17 years, and statistically tied as the lowest level since 1994.

Zuma, it seems, pulled the ANC down with him. But this question is not asked very frequently by South African polling organisations. Fortunately, it’s possible to turn to an alternative indicator to get a more fine-grained take on recent trends in ANC support.

The South African Citizen Survey also asks respondents to rate how much they “like or dislike” each major political party on a scale of 0 to 10. In mid-2015, 61% of South Africans held a positive view of the ANC. Two and a half years later, only 43% feel this way. More importantly, the proportion who give the ANC a higher score than any other party has shrunk from over one half of the electorate in mid-2015 (55%), to just over one third (37%) in the most recent survey as shown below.

PRESIDING OVER ELECTORAL DECLINE

To be sure, it was already clear from the ANC’s loss of seats in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures in the 2009 and 2014 national elections that Zuma was presiding over an electoral decline, however small. This should have become even clearer in 2016, when large numbers of ANC members lost their seats as municipal councillors, positions in executive councils, and mayorships of major metropolitan councils.

Yet many of these losses could have been pinned to the poor performance of the post-2008 economy. Indeed, ever since 1994, the degree of economic optimism (as measured by the proportion of South Africans who expect the economy to improve in the next year) has been a strong predictor of popular support for the ANC.

But the evidence suggests that over the past year, voter support for the ANC became tied to their views of Jacob Zuma, rather than the economy. While Zuma’s popularity has fallen steadily since at least the end of 2015, the biggest single drop took place in April 2017 when his support levels plummeted by 12 percentage points on the heels of the public firestorm that followed the March Cabinet reshuffle and sacking of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

Yet, even with the resultant damage to the currency and the markets, South Africans began to sense an economic turnaround. By year’s end, 48% expected the economy to get better in the next 12 months, and 59% expected their household living conditions to improve. But peoples’ evaluations of Zuma’s job performance continued to plummet (to just 22%), and the public image of the ANC remained at historically low levels.

Thus, voters finally turned on Zuma, but only after a long string of personal scandals, bad political decisions, and public outrage over the use of public money on his private homestead Nkandla, the “capture” of key state institutions by Gupta-friendly ministers and directors, and cabinet reshuffles.

Yet the ANC continued to shield him from the courts, the Public Protector, and from successive votes of no confidence in parliament. Indeed, the party came very close to electing his hand-chosen successor, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as its new leader and presumptive national president.

But at some point in the past few months, a sufficient number of party members finally seemed to grasp the fact that Zuma’s continued presence threatened the electoral interests of the party as well as their own political futures, particularly those who appeared downwind on the party list. But it took them a very long time to reach this conclusion, and the party has paid dearly in terms of its connection with the electorate.

Zuma dragged the ANC down with him. Yet many might justifiably argue that it has been a mutual waltz to the bottom: while his behaviour and decisions damaged his own image, the ANC’s tolerance of his sins of governance has tarnished theirs.

President Cyril Ramaphosa therefore faces a double challenge. Not only must he reestablish a positive connection between the residency and the people, but he must also transform the battered image of the ANC.

The South African Citizens Survey is based on face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,300 respondents a month. Results are reported quarterly on a total of 3,900 respondents, which produces results with a margin of error margin of error of ±1.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Sampling sites are chosen at random across all provinces, and metro, urban and rural areas, with probability proportionate to population size, based on the latest StatsSA estimates of the population aged 18 and older. Interviews are conducted in English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sesotho, Sepedi, and Setswana. Weights are applied to ensure the sample represents the most recent national population with respect to province, race, gender, age and area type.

Robert Mattes is a professor in the Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town.

Jacob Zuma in pictures and scandals (Supplied by International Business Times)

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SA Ngcobo Killings: Sixth Suspect Arrested

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SA Ngcobo Killings: Sixth Suspect Arrested 

© Gallo / Michael Pinyana On Wednesday, a group of armed men stormed the police station in the Eastern Cape and killed five police officers and a retired soldier.

JOHANNESBURG – Police have confirmed the arrest of another suspect in connection with the killing of five police officers and a retired soldier in eNgcobo in the Eastern Cape.

This brings to six the number of suspects set to go on trial after a brazen robbery at the local police station.

On Tuesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele urged officials to fight fire with fire.

He was speaking at the memorial service of the slain officers.

The men in blue will be buried next week.

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AfriForum's Domestic Abuse Case Designed To Embarrass Me: Alexis Bizos

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AfriForum's Domestic Abuse Case Designed To Embarrass Me: Alexis Bizos

© www.afriforum.co.za AfriForum prosecutor Gerrie Nel, flanked by Alexis Bizos’ wife Monique van Oosterhout announced that AfriForum would be pursuing Bizos for domestic abuse on Tuesday 27 February 2018 in Centurion.

PRETORIA - Alexis Bizos, the son of renowned human rights advocate George Bizos, says that the private prosecution announced by AfriForum is designed to embarrass him.

Advocate Gerrie Nel announced on Tuesday that his unit has taken up a case of assault and domestic abuse on behalf of Bizos’s wife, Monique van Oosterhout.

Bizos allegedly assaulted Van Oosterhout in March 2015 but the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declined to prosecute.

He denies AfriForum’s claim that he was not prosecuted because of his family name, saying that Van Oosterhout was pursuing this matter to gain an advantage in divorce proceedings.

"Well I think it's unfortunate and I do carry the surname Bizos, which is well known in the country, and as my attorney said, it's for their own vested interests to pursue this."

Bizos confirmed the incident in March 2015 but says it was his wife who was the aggressor, which led to him obtaining a protection order against her.

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Cabinet Reshuffle: The Tip That May Put SA Into Chaos

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Cabinet Reshuffle: The Tip That May Put SA Into Chaos

© Leila Dougan

Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not represent the views of MSN or Microsoft.

Three South African provinces are currently experiencing extreme drought, and most major metropolitan areas are facing water restrictions. Water may not be as sexy as land, but it is going to become one of the hot-button issues of the next few years countrywide. As Parliament heard on Tuesday, however, the national Department of Water and Sanitation is in frightening disarray its condition compared by MPs to the worst-run State-owned Enterprises. New Minister Gugile Nkwinti is inheriting a mess which the country cannot afford to let slide further. By REBECCA DAVIS and SUNÉ PAYNE.

"The truth is, we don't have a department."

That's how Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) chair Themba Godi summed up the state of the Department of Water & Sanitation following a disastrous appearance by water officials on Tuesday.

It was the third time that the department had been called before Scopa to account for its financial mismanagement, and on this occasion the committee had had enough. Scopa, Godi announced subsequently, will be opening a criminal case against the department.

The criminal proceedings relate to a R2.9-billion overdraft which the department may have illegally obtained from the Reserve Bank, but this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the department's financial quagmire.

Officials came to Parliament with a 77-page double-sided document detailing irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure over the 2016/2017 period alone.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is already investigating tender irregularities involving Limpopo's Giyani Emergency Project, which has seen a budget of R502-million explode to over R3-billion due to dodgy contracts.

The R26-billion Lesotho Highlands Water Project, meanwhile, is the subject of a separate investigation by the SIU and the public protector, following reports that former Water Minister Nomvula Mokonyane had delayed the project to benefit a particular contractor.

Scopa members wanted answers on "a whole range of matters related to irregular expenditure", Godi told Tuesday's meeting – and failed to receive them.

So inadequate were the responses from officials – including acting director-general Sifiso Mkhize and deputy director-general for infrastructure Zandile Mathe – that at one stage the meeting broke down altogether, with officials whispering to each other.

"It can't be that [officials] choose to sulk and then MPs must sit in a corner," complained ANC MP Vincent Smith.

In the face of officials' claims not to have any detail on hand regarding the budget escalation of the Giyani project, IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa even offered to connect their laptops to wi-fi to enable them to locate the necessary documents.

"It's so embarrassing," sighed ANC MP Ezekiel Kekana.

The department was summarised by MPs as being "on its knees", with its condition comparable to the crisis at some state-owned enterprises. The ability of the department to continue to function without being placed under administration was also called into question.

Godi described the department's previous appearances before Parliament as consisting of "shameful lies", and pointed out that the effects of the financial mismanagement would be felt countrywide.

Related: Chief Justice Mogoeng warns ministers

"The reality is the people on the ground will be hit hard," he said. "Access to water should be escalated to national risk."

Casting a long shadow over proceedings even in her absence was outgoing minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

In reference to the fact that Mokonyane had on Monday night received a new Cabinet deployment to the Department of Communications, Godi said: "What came out of here today is a slap in the face of last night."

In a subsequent statement, Scopa said: "In reality, Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has left a department that has completely collapsed. It is worrying that she is now a Minister of Communications at a time when the South African Broadcasting Corporation is recovering."

During her tenure, Mokonyane refused to take responsibility for the crisis at the water ministry. She has blamed, variously: municipalities' inability to implement water projects and pay for them; overly bureaucratic legislation regarding emergency funding; under-performing directors-general, and political problems from Lesotho's side regarding the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

Parliament has repeatedly expressed scepticism at these excuses, and also suggested that a revolving door policy operated at the department which led to the exile of those who fell out of Mokonyane's favour.

On Tuesday, Scopa members did not hide the fact that they have little faith in remaining officials. Godi suggested that it was imperative that new minister Gugile Nkwinti meet with the committee first thing, before Nkwinti could be "misled" by department officials.

Tuesday's meeting made it clear, however, that what the department urgently requires is an exceptionally high-performing, energetic minister to turn it around: the likes of a Pravin Gordhan, in fact, if Gordhan were not needed elsewhere (or everywhere).

Is Gugile Nkwinti the man for the job? On the basis of current evidence, some cynicism is allowed.

Nkwinti's lengthy ministerial tenure at Land Reform produced remarkably little of substance, beyond exacerbating political tensions around the issue to the point where the ANC's newly adopted policy of land expropriation without compensation seemed a foregone conclusion. Nkwinti here must be extended some leeway, given that he was presumably hamstrung by orders from above on such a politically sensitive matter.

But it would be hoped that the minister responsible for cleaning house in a dirty department would be squeaky clean, and Nkwinti may not be that. In 2017, it was reported that he had allegedly pocketed R2-million as part of a government land deal benefiting his business partner. Nkwinti acknowledged introducing the businessman to government officials, but denied anything untoward beyond this. Nonetheless, it's an unhelpful association for a man entering a department seemingly rife with suspicious contracts.

Beyond this, 69-year-old Nkwinti has the air of a man who is – to put it flatly – tired. Righting the ship at the Department of Water will require tremendous reserves of energy, drive, a pugnacious attitude and an openness to fresh ideas.

The water scarcity South Africa is experiencing is being shared globally to differing degrees, and the new minister will need to demonstrate an appetite for international ideas and solutions to a problem which has the ability to threaten every aspect of South African life.

Nkwinti is not known as a Cabinet superstar – and yet the condition of the Department of Water demands one. His appointment to the water portfolio, in fact, suggests that the extent of the crisis is not yet fully grasped. If Nkwinti does not act fast, the effects will become ever more difficult to ignore. DM 

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