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You are probably asking: What was that all about? Here are a few of the things that went down on Thursday October 27 2016:
1. A video was released showing a senior official of the SA Revenue Service, Vlok Symington, being held "hostage" in a boardroom in the building. He had been confronted by economic crime investigators from the Hawks and the bodyguards of his boss, SARS commissioner Tom Moyane. They physically removed from him printouts of emails that they had sent to him by mistake which showed that SARS lawyers thought the charges against Pravin Gordhan were basically bullshit. Apparently it hasn't occurred to the Hawks that the 'e' in 'e-mail' stands for electronic and that their documents live on in a place called 'the worldwide web'. The matter is now the subject of an investigation by the police complaints directorate, which is headed by Robert McBride. McBride returned to work this week after a court ordered his suspension invalid.
2. A meeting of the Johannesburg Metro Council descended into chaos after the ANC commented that the EFF had "married" the DA. The EFF lost it and the meeting had to be adjourned to prevent it spiralling out of control. The ANC councillor who accused the DA and EFF of "vat 'n sit" - a reference to an out-of-wedlock dalliance and "marriage", one Solomon Mogase, was ordered to leave the chamber by the speaker, Vasco da Gama.
3. At a meeting of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, a violent brawl, punctuated by gunshots, brought proceedings to an untimely halt. The cause of the violence was the fact that the new DA administration was appointing a new city manager. Apparently, this was going too far. It's one thing to win an election and another to have the temerity to actually try and govern! DA councillor Rano Kayser was hospitalised, while ANC councillor Rosie Daaminds collapsed with blood on her face. The weapons of choice were fists, ballpoint pens (stabbed into the back), smashed water jugs (face slashing) and guns, fired into the air in the time-honoured tradition of the spaghetti western, to sober everyone up.
4. The Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, found it necessary to publicly chastise corrupt government officials in a speech to commemorate ANC legend O R Tambo. "Please stop this insatiable hunger for money and position. It will draw you to kill and we won’t hesitate to lock you up," he said. That's right, the Chief Justice just warned us that murder is the next step in South Africa's political decline. Mogoeng's remarks follow growing controversy over "state capture", including an effort by President Jacob Zuma to stop the publication of a report by the former public protector, Thuli Madonsela, on the subject.
5. Still on state capture, Jacob Zuma decided that the "urgent" interdict he was seeking was not that urgent after all and petitioned the court to further delay its hearing into his request to block the state capture report. It has apparently dawned on him that he will lose the case so he has decided on the old stalling tactic instead. Because a 180 degree about turn is normal in politics.
6. One-hundred-and-one ANC leaders signed a petition denouncing the political hounding of Pravin Gordhan and vowing to attend the court hearing against him early next month in solidarity. "We believe that the overwhelming majority of ANC members who are committed to the real values of the ANC will understand this and give their support to any initiative that helps strengthen the movement, government, the role of Parliament and the institutions of the state to ensure the necessary corrections take place, before it is too late." Is that the sound of splitting?
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