“Did the president take us into his confidence about the relationship between [him] and the Gupta family? I’m not sure if that is necessary,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told a media briefing on Monday. So, no then. The last time the ANC decided not to ask questions of its presidential deployee, and allowed him not to account to the party for his actions, it ended up recalling him from office. The ANC seems not to learn from its past mistakes; quite the opposite: it keeps repeating them – even when it contravenes its own resolutions. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

On Tuesday, the state announced that it would be dropping all charges against Jonathan Davids, one of the two Bredasdorp men accused of raping and killing Anene Booysen. The NPA said it simply didn’t have enough evidence to secure a conviction. We at the Daily Maverick are trying hard to keep faith in our already strained justice system, because the alternative is too dark to contemplate. When it comes to the release of a man Anene Booysen allegedly managed to name two or three times from her deathbed, we’re hoping desperately it’s motivated by sound principles. By REBECCA DAVIS.

As media continue to shine a light on the wealth and influence of the Gupta family (and its link to President Jacob Zuma), those caught in the crossfire are scurrying to clear their names. None of it implicates anyone else of course. GREG NICOLSON’s not buying it.

A round-up of the day's news from South Africa.

Just when you thought the e-tolling argument was over, another new major player has entered the ring. It's big, it wears robes, and it's got God on its side. Ladies and gentlemen, the Catholic Church has fixed its dog collar, removed the clerical glasses, put aside the incense burner, and told government exactly where to get off. In short, it's said toll roads are wrong, possibly corrupt, and certainly not transparent. SANRAL, of course, has a response. It's not as strong as it could be. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

President Jacob Zuma doesn’t need to explain who his friends are. South Africans have a bias against facts and the Waterkloof scandal, or Guptnkandla, has united the ANC. So said the party’s Secretary General Gwede Mantashe on Monday. Ahead of the 2014 elections, he tried to shield the president from criticism and cast doubt on divisions within the party, but it won’t be easy to conceal the Gupta in the room. By GREG NICOLSON.

Since January 2013 when the Eastern Cape Department of Health decided to move the Lusikisiki Clinic to new premises without proper planning, patients and health care workers have been seriously compromised by the new, make-shift facility. The ‘clinic’ is so bad that it violates workers and patient’s basic rights and is a health hazard. But despite promises of change from EC health MEC, Sicelo Gqobana, the appalling conditions remain. By MANDY DE WAAL.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

The worst-kept secret in South Africa has now been confirmed by government: the Guptas drop President Jacob Zuma’s name to wrangle special privileges in the state. So where is the statement from the presidency expressing Zuma’s outrage (apparently he did not know this up to now) and distancing him from all the acts the Guptas committed in his name? In future, name-dropping in government will be considered to be gross misconduct (good luck policing that). The sound you are hearing is the Guptas laughing as they walk away unscathed, ready to continue with their marauding ways. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

Early in May, the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster promised an investigation into the scandal around the Gupta wedding guests arriving in a private plane at Waterkloof Air Force Base. The cluster delivered in time and indicated that prosecutions would result. According to the justice minister, there’s a problem with “name-dropping”, a rogue worker at the Indian High Commission and middle-level government officials. The Guptas, president, and ministers, however, seem to have been cleared of wrongdoing. Anyone surprised? Anyone? By GREG NICOLSON.

When Cyril Karabus left South Africa in August 2012, he was a well-respected paediatric oncologist. By the time he returned in May 2013, Karabus had become a household name: a 78- year-old poster-boy for the risks medics face when working in the Emirates. His arrival at Cape Town International on Friday, 17 May after nine months of detention in Abu Dhabi marked a happy ending to a distressing case. REBECCA DAVIS reflects on some of the lessons learned.

As lawyers consolidate the biggest silicosis class action suit Africa has seen, pioneering work by women’s rights activists investigates how to change policy and law for caregivers of sick or dying miners. Historically the wives and daughters of miners affected by silicosis have had no recourse in terms of compensation for the care and support work they do, but rights workers want to change this. By MANDY DE WAAL.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

The South African Army can only cope with so many demands with the resources it currently has. Obvious as it sounds, this comment from the chief of the army is a sharp reminder to government, which is poised to deploy soldiers to the DRC, of the challenges facing the South African National Defence Force. Our soldiers can no longer do more with less. By GREG NICOLSON.

After its first reported losses, the world’s biggest producer of platinum, Anglo American Platinum, wants to close shafts and retrench, so as to spare shareholders more pain. After months of negotiations between the Department of Mineral Resources and unions, 6,000 jobs are still on the line. In response, Amplats workers declared they would down tools unless the mining giant put people before profits. By MANDY DE WAAL.

South Africa is rapidly urbanising, and in many cases infrastructure and municipal services are struggling to keep up. In the Western Cape, a private group of urban designers and developers think they have a solution. They want to build a new city 25km north of Cape Town’s city centre called Wescape, and so far they have the land, the plan, and seemingly the City of Cape Town’s blessing. But not everyone is convinced that the development is a very good idea. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Ahead of the tripartite alliance summit in June and October, the South African Communist Party has commented at length on the National Development Plan. It’s a well thought-out critique that rejects the ‘yes/no’ paradigm sought by NUMSA, while honing in on the plan’s weaknesses, like the inconsistencies and ‘broad consensus’ on which the document is supposedly built. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

More than 20 boys died at Mpumalanga initiation schools in the last week. This follows the death of almost 50 young men in only three weeks at the schools last July. There are examples of the practice improving and becoming more regulated. But with oversight shunted to provinces, local government and traditional authorities, there are schools operating with little accountability under a confused mixture of different authorities. By GREG NICOLSON.

The Northern Cape Afrikaner enclave of Orania is a topic much beloved by documentary-makers and journalists. This is for one good reason: however much you might deplore the principle of cultural self-determination, Orania is fascinating. The volkstaat has its own currency – the Ora – and the streets appear to be lined with North Korea-style billboards urging self-sufficiency. But a recent documentary, “Orania”, neither satirises nor explicitly judges the Orania community. Primarily, it reveals what appears to be a suffocating sense of boredom hanging over the town. By REBECCA DAVIS.

This week, Gauteng Commissioner of Police Mzwandile Petros announced that 560 protests had taken place in Gauteng between 1 April and 10 May this year. Petros warned that his charges did not have the resources to adequately police these protests. State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele has also been talking about the issue in Parliament – he’s vowed to stamp out the incidence of violent protest. By KHADIJA PATEL.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

In the process of completion of De Wet Potgieter’s expose, Daily Maverick afforded the right of response to Junaid and Farhad Dockrat as well as other individuals mentioned in the story. Within two-day period, we have received only a short statement from the African Continental Development, a company that owns Tsitsikamma Coastal Golf Estate. A further 48 hours later, Farhad Dockrat issued the following press statement, which we publish in its entirety.

Helen Zille’s latest DA Today newsletter puts the blame for SA’s parlous education system squarely at the feet of teachers, based on a report released just over a week ago. But education activists continue to insist that the conditions under which teachers work are equally important. The latest organization to try to lend a hand to setting educational standards in the country is the SA Human Rights Commission, whose Charter of Children’s Basic Education Rights aims to flesh out what we mean when we talk about someone having the “right” to education. By REBECCA DAVIS.

The Limpopo textbook scandal came to our attention courtesy of public interest law group Section27. The organisation has been criticised by the state and drawn controversy from its inception. GREG NICOLSON meets the team and finds that not only are they committed to ensuring the rights of South Africans are met, but they’re a group of committed “crazy people”.

The much-anticipated report on the government investigation into the irregular landing of a private plane carrying Gupta family wedding guests at Waterkloof Air Force Base is to be discussed on Wednesday by ministers in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster. It may or may not be complete, may or may not be made public, and may or may not contain recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such a national security breach. But whatever the report contains, the heart of the problem is the ANC’s inability to stop the corrupting influence of business people, and their money, on its leaders. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

On Tuesday, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) released its 2013 mid-year population estimates. This release is normally uncontroversial, but this year’s numbers clash quite glaringly with the 2011 census results. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

As the Marikana commission of inquiry continues, so does the bloodshed on the ground. The body count is rising as a climate of fear spreads through the platinum belt. And the violence looks unlikely to abate soon. By GREG MARINOVICH & THAPELO LEKGOWA.