Power outage!

The area I live in currently has no phone, routers or broadband. And mains electricity power was off for 48 hours. An Amazon van recently crashed and  demolished local power-lines and phone lines. Apologies for the very late posting because of this. Router and broadband facilities and landlines are not likely to be replaced untill early December at the earliest, we are informed, although mains electricity was eventually restored after two days. Blogs etc will be posted when I am in Edinburgh. This is by no means straightforward to schedule, due to train strikes and other disruptions due to engineering works. 

Poisoned land

Recent news includes that Our Poisoned Land, a book of investigative journalism concerning corruption in South African public life by Jacques Pauw, has ruffled feathers in the EFF camp and those of Julius Malema in particular. Attempts to have it removed from the shelves are apparently in progress. The book itself continues the analysis in Pauw’s previous book, The President‘s Keepers. It is concerned with what has been described as the ‘dodgy dealings‘ of Jacob Zuma and his associates. The reason? It includes that Malema and EFF colleagues were given cash payments and various accompaniments by a prominent – and criminal – Zuma associate. On one level this isn’t news, it is just one more example of the interface between politics and the criminal overworld. On another, it reveals the complicity of Malema, who is no alternative figure but a wheeler and dealer akin to Zuma. The book launch was planned to take place on 17 November. Will the attempt to have it censored prevail? Watch this space.

Last updated: 25 November 2022