HOGARTH

New low for Her Highness

Hogarth had hoped that the circus that has been the “debate” over Lindiwe Sisulu’s diatribe against the Constitution in one of the rags owned by a man who may or may not have been Mandela’s doctor would have died out by now. But we are South Africans and have Olympic gold in milking a meaningless story dry. While Hogarth may not be in a position to say who is lying between McBuffalo and his tourism minister, he thought it a bit of a stretch to say the head of state, our archtypical Mr Niceguy, admonished the minister for her comments on the judiciary.

But for Sisulu to write a statement publicly calling out her boss? Surely that was her letter of resignation. But the McBuffalo is still as quiet as a lamb and Hogarth will not be surprised if the defiant minister still has her job by next Sunday.

With a nice boss like this, who would fear losing their job over misconduct?

Correction No 1

Hogarth wishes to retract the above statement.

Correction No 2

Hogarth wishes to retract the above retraction and reinstate the previous statement.

Oh boy!

The young MPs of the Extreme Flip-Floppers have a tendency to confuse robust debate with plain rudeness. The feisty Naledi Chirwa was a case in point this week, with her foul-mouthed tweet to President Cyril Ramaphosa. Chirwa was responding to Ramaphosa’s newsletter in which he emphasised the need to protect the constitution and judiciary from unwarranted attacks. “You’re such a weak little boy. All your fellow stooges u sent to collapse Lindiwe were collapsed themselves. It won’t be surprising if u do what little boys do when overpowered by women. Throw the tantrum we are expecting it. You’ll forever remain a toothless boy. Mfana ke mfana [a boy will always be a boy],” she tweeted. Is this what EFF leaders are referring to with their mantra of “superior logic”?

The Mother City of all conspiracies

Old Hog almost referred his colleagues to HR for disciplinary action after he heard a story detailing McBuffalo’s plan to move December’s ANC national conference to Cape Town so he could manipulate the outcome of the election of new party leaders. But it turns out the story is based on a single source who whispered to the editor of The Star that the Buffalo Soldier wanted to be closer to his old buddies, the Ruperts, who apparently run the southern republic. Hogarth’s colleagues unearthed an ANC document that suggests the party had appointed a team to recommend a venue, as Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape do not have adequate facilities. No mention of Cape Town. Is it possible the source is the guy who got R3bn from the Public Investment Corp?

The bucks don’t stop here

Members of the ANC Women’s League in North West thought their organisation was in good financial health. The last time they checked their bank account, in 2019, it had a R2.4m balance. But a recent check revealed a paltry R46,000. The provincial executive committee has suspended chair Fetsang Molosiwa, provincial secretary Bridget Tlhomelang and treasurer Manketse Tlhape for theft. Old Hog thinks the trio gave their comrades a taste of their own medicine.

Don’t do it where you eat, Juju

This week Juju played labour department official and walked from one restaurant to another, demanding to see how many foreign nationals were employed. One eatery was Kream, at the Mall of Africa in Midrand. The owner initially refused to entertain Juju and his mob. He later told Radio 702 that Juju was a regular and popular with waiters. “My staff know him. They have photos with him.” C’mon Juju, that’s no way to score a free meal.