Writer, journalist, producer and musician CHRIS DU PLESSIS lost his home and everything in it during the recent fires that raged through Knysna. Here he attempts to dissect the schizoid frenzy that comes with the experience.

Scorpio has previously exposed how the Guptas and their British PR firm Bell Pottinger make use of fake social media profiles to disseminate a counter-narrative of “white monopoly capital” in order to defend their operations in South Africa. For those yet to be convinced, there is direct evidence from the #GuptaLeaks emails of one of the family’s lieutenants composing tweets for broadcast by fabricated Twitter accounts. By AMABHUNGANE and SCORPIO.

Thursday, 22 June, 2017: A spectacular moment in time that brought together the three arms of the South African government in a triumph of constitutionalism and a sham of political accountability. While the Constitutional Court again shone as the nation’s true north, President Jacob Zuma used the platform of Parliament to display his invincibility. “Sit in peace,” Zuma told the opposition on the same day the Chief Justice eloquently spelt out the constitutional obligations on the president, the Speaker and MPs. The ANC’s reaction to the judgment is indicative of why Zuma remains indomitable. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

With the costly, UK-based PR spin doctors Bell Pottinger paid-up and shipped out, South Africa’s First Family, the Guptas, scrambled to find a replacement spin machine after damning revelations of their involvement in the capture of ministers and government officials, gleaned from #GuptaLeaks, began to be made public last month. Soon afterwards, several websites and Twitter accounts relating to “White Monopoly Capital” were launched and used to attack some of the Guptas' biggest opponents. Scorpio has identified one man associated with this fake news – former Gupta-owned Sahara Computers employee Saurabh Aggarwal. By MARIANNE THAMM & JEAN LE ROUX.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) seems to be paralysed by systemic corruption. A recent investigation by National Treasury found that only 13 out of 216 contracts awarded between 2012 and 2015, all with a value exceeding R10-million, were above board. Sfiso Buthelezi, the former Prasa board chair and recently appointed deputy minister of finance, must be criminally charged for turning a blind eye to the state entity being fleeced, his own department had found. And now it turns out one of those who benefited from a corrupt tender is the spy boss Arthur Fraser. By PAULI VAN WYK.

You have to hand it to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane – she took her time before dipping her toe in the firepool but certainly made a big splash when she jumped in. Her recommendation that the Constitution be amended to change the mandate and role of the South African Reserve Bank caused widespread shock and wreaked havoc on the markets. So what is the agenda behind this manoeuvre and are other people involved? Former Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni rang the alarm bells, imploring that the “Dogs of War” not be unleashed on the country. But how else will the state capture project be protected if not through abusing the state machinery? By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

Population growth, lagging food production and climate change threaten food stability. By Alex Porter and Stellah Kwazi for ISS TODAY.

If you live in a democracy, have any access to independent media and are over the age of about 12, you probably know by now that politicians habitually stretch the truth, spin, and lie. But in recent times this has become even more devious, our Republic of nations being one of the world’s epicentres of this. Our current political age is marked by brutal and extreme language, with varying degrees of loose association with reality, or sanity. Some people, more equal than others through the virtue of their membership of a particular faction, can do whatever they want. Others still cannot. In this age, it is hard for journalists to deal with liars – those who bend the truth until it finally breaks. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Malawi’s population, just four million at independence in 1964, will increase from 18-million today to 26-million by 2030, increasing the pressure on already scarce resources. The answer: Increase diversification to create jobs, improve the enabling environment for business to invest, and increase access to markets. But how? Two answers stand out. By OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, DICKIE DAVIS and GREG MILLS.

President Jacob Zuma effectively gave Speaker Baleka Mbete her marching orders against a secret ballot in the pending motion of no confidence. Pointing out during his Thursday Q&A in the House that the Constitutional Court earlier ruled the decision on a secret ballot was the Speaker’s, Zuma said he didn’t think the next no confidence motion in him should be dealt with any differently to previous ones, held by open vote. And Zuma argued he could not step down as the ANC has not asked him to do so. Finish and klaar. By MARIANNE MERTEN.

On Monday the Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, released the findings of her investigation into what is called the “CIEX Report”. It has, like so many things in our country, a long and complicated history. But she found that Absa should pay R1.15-billion to the fiscus. And then, strangely, she also found that the mandate of the Reserve Bank should change, from targeting inflation as it does now, to promoting economic growth. A finding the person who lodged the original complaint did not ask for. Your view of this is likely to rest on the answer to this question: Do you believe Mkhwebane is acting independently? And, how does this not look like a new front in the battle between the Guptas, their friends in government, and the banks who have refused to provide them with certain services? By STEPHEN GROOTES.

After narrowly averting a national disaster when the Constitutional Court had to step in in the CPS/NET1 “Sassagate” saga in March this year, Sassa, Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, CPS and others – like delinquent teenagers – have found themselves under constant scrutiny in Parliament, in court, through the watchful gaze of civil society and through having to report to a 10-person panel of experts appointed by the AG on instruction of the ConCourt. On Wednesday Parliament's portfolio committee on social development learnt that the panel will cost Sassa an extra R2-million. By MARIANNE THAMM.

The ANC has issued a draft foreign policy discussion document in preparation for its National Policy Conference later this month. There are some gaps. J. BROOKS SPECTOR takes a look.

Anthony Carroll, a Washington lawyer, trade expert and businessman who has had a long association with South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa more broadly, is being strongly tipped to become the next US ambassador to Pretoria. By PETER FABRICIUS.

Drug users are harmed more by the actions of law enforcement personnel, the criminal justice system, health practices and stigma than the harms caused by the use of the drug itself. Assessing what constitutes appropriate regulating respect to alcohol and other drugs will be something that South Africa and other societies need to consider very carefully. By ZANE DANGOR.

Protesters have been accused of attacking a school bus By Joseph Chirume for GROUNDUP.

Opposition parties celebrated on Thursday after Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng ruled that Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete could conduct a no confidence motion vote in President Jacob Zuma through secret ballot. The court noted conditions the Speaker must consider in making her decision, but for now it’s still up to the ANC leader. By GREG NICOLSON.

The mayor explains the lessons learnt. By Melanie Gosling for GROUNDUP.

Young unemployed South Africans spend hundreds of rand a month looking for work and because of these high costs, looking for a job could exacerbate poverty. By ZOHEB KHAN, LEILANIE WILLIAMS and LAUREN GRAHAM.

This potentially effective unit is being hamstrung by politics and concerns about using force in peace operations. By Peter Fabricius for ISS TODAY.

Police conducted a raid at 03:00, arrested 12 and confiscated petrol bombs and tyres. By Joseph Chirume for GROUNDUP.

Mabola is a strategic water source that feeds three of South Africa’s major rivers, but the government has approved a licence to mine coal there. By Oscar Nkala for OXPECKERS.

“Lifers” – people sentenced to life imprisonment — who are eligible to be considered for parole say that they are being ignored by the authorities. By Ashleigh Furlong for GROUNDUP.

The 2015-16 local government audit outcomes saw limited improvements, said the Auditor General (AG) on Wednesday. Irregular expenditure exploded while there was a reduction in fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Unauthorised expenditure remained steady. The AG said transgressors should face further consequences. By GREG NICOLSON.

Parliament’s public enterprises committee is proceeding with a wide-ranging inquiry not only into the controversial return of Brian Molefe to head Eskom, but also the state capture fracas arising from the #GuptaLeaks. On Wednesday MPs across the political spectrum agreed to obtain Eskom board minutes and various investigation reports into maladministration at the power utility, and to summons Molefe, former board chairperson Ben Ngubane, other high-profile officials and ministers. This committee’s handling of state capture claims stands in stark contrast to the approach of the other three committees officially tasked to investigate these claims. By MARIANNE MERTEN.

Julius Malema walks into the South African Property Owners Association. It sounds like the beginning of a joke – or the opposite, a story that doesn’t end well. But the Commander-in-Chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters has in recent times demonstrated an ability to package his radical message in a way that convinces even rich white people that they might just be able to get on board. Which is another way of saying that the Honourable Julius Malema has truly come of age as a politician. By REBECCA DAVIS.

A no-show in Addis Ababa won’t help South Africa prove its commitment to continental integration. By Liesl Louw-Vaudran for ISS TODAY.

The announcement this week by National Assembly House chairperson, Cedric Frolick, that four separate portfolio committees will be tasked with instituting “investigations” into state capture is both disturbing and bizarre. Frolick has seemingly tasked the Home Affairs, Public Enterprises, Mineral Resources and Transport portfolio committees of the National Assembly with engaging with the relevant ministers “to ensure Parliament gets to bottom of the allegations”. This announcement is nothing more than a cynical ploy by the ANC to undermine the opposition call for the creation of a single ad hoc committee to probe the scourge of state capture. By JOHN STEENHUISEN.

Four parliamentary committees are officially directed to “urgently probe the (state capture) allegations and report back to the National Assembly”. But if Tuesday’s home affairs committee is anything to go by, this approach may result in the fragmentation of a parliamentary response to state capture claims. MPs agreed it was important to deal with former home affairs minister, now Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba’s role in how Gupta family members acquired citizenship, but so was the need to authenticate the ministerial letter, while questions were raised over what the committee was empowered to do. On Wednesday the public enterprises committee, which since late May has prepared for a broader ad hoc inquiry, must decide its next step. By MARIANNE MERTEN.

South Africa begin their World Cup campaign in England this weekend. The tournament is a culmination of three years of hard work, investment from both Cricket South Africa and Momentum and the belief that they are trailblazing for the next generation. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

Radical economic transformation is not a break with existing policy. It does not represent a new, uncertain path. Radical economic transformation indicates a new phase of accelerated implementation of the long-standing economic policy positions of the ANC and government. By CYRIL RAMAPHOSA.

There are many “missed opportunities” in the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV and TB, said Fareed Abdullah at the closing of the South African Aids Conference on Thursday. But he maintains that it's not too late to improve it. By Ashleigh Furlong for GROUNDUP.

Fury over American prisoner death, UN steps into border dispute, and another van attack in Paris.

Responses to a man ramming a vehicle into Muslim worshippers at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, killing one person, reflect a concerning embedded psychological construct of societies that can no longer be ignored. By JASMINE OPPERMAN.

Cricket South Africa’s T20 Global League is promising a lot, and while details are still being ironed out, it has grand plans for changing South Africa’s cricketing landscape. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

In South Africa today, everyone has the constitutional right to assemble, peacefully and unarmed, and protest about any issue of concern. But no matter how peaceful your protest is, a mere failure to notify the authorities is enough for the police to round you up and throw you in jail. By NTUTHUZO NDZOMO.

Need a quick breakdown of what the brouhaha surrounding the T20 Global League is all about? ANTOINETTE MULLER breaks it down for you.

Protecting refugees is a common human responsibility, and yet developing countries shoulder the burden. By Tsion Tadesse Abebe, ISS TODAY.

Tuesday 20 June is World Refugee Day. The war in South Sudan has sparked the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis. Most of them land up in Uganda. The country has come up with some innovative strategies to cope. By UNICEF.

Cape Town – The rand tanked on Monday after the Public Protector recommended changes to the Constitution that would see the removal of a clause to protect the currency.

People describe their desperation for a place to call home. By Barbara Maregele for GROUNDUP.

Why has China invested so generously in tiny Djibouti, and why are Western governments worried? By Berouk Mesfin for ISS TODAY.

Three weeks after the Guptas’ private email correspondence began cascading into the public domain, revealing the depth of the capture of the South African state, we are yet to see outrage and a fightback from the ANC. The party elected to govern by South African people, but now essentially cuckolded by the Guptas, has shown it is powerless against the family. The Guptas appear to be still pushing buttons behind the scenes and their main focus is to ensure that they stack the deck at the ANC’s 54th national conference, mostly to secure their new Number One. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

The Trump Administration has signalled its impatience to replace the AGOA preferential trade deal with Africa with normal two-way free trade agreements. By PETER FABRICIUS.

Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has claimed that the third Mining Charter will promote transformation, the economy and jobs. But the mining industry has bled jobs in recent years – and the charter might accelerate the decline. By GREG NICOLSON.

One of the most important things about South African mining is that it provides good jobs to thousands of people, many of them unskilled or semi-skilled people who would struggle to find similar salaries in any other sector. That is why the latest version of the mining Charter, version three, attacks the heart of the value of South African mining. By JAMES LORIMER.

Being Ivo’s not-so-famous and far-less-eloquent younger brother, I am perhaps not qualified to offer a rebuttal, but as a Christian I have been asked by several people for my reaction. His column demands a response. By ONNE VEGTER.

As the death toll from the Life Esidimeni tragedy rises to the 110 mark, patients’ families say the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been “dangerously slow” to act. HEALTH-E NEWS’ Amy Green reports.

From murder in Lesotho to a massive prison break in the DRC, the suspension of opposition MPs in Zambia and a rumpus in Mozambique over costly cars for lawmakers – KRISTEN VAN SCHIE brings you a weekly round-up of regional news.