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World

Weekly wrap up: 9 April

Aftermath of the Con Court ruling and Panama Papers
Andrea Teagle
By Andrea Teagle
9 Apr
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How often do we tell our own life story? How often do we adjust, embellish, make sly cuts? And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. 

? Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

Down the rabbit hole 
The Panama Papers – 2.6 terabytes of leaked information – has given us a glimpse of how the world’s wealthiest hide their money in tax havens. Out of murky, offshore waters have already surfaced high profile names, from our own Clive Khulubuse Zuma to Iceland’s Prime Minister (who has now temporarily stepped aside), to Vladamir Putin to Fifa management, and on, and on. The historic data dump shine a single beam of light on the shady financial flows thatdisproportionately drain African economies. 

Ripples of the ConCourt ruling
Heavyweights like Ahmed Kathrada,Trevor Manual and religious leaders have joined the chorus of voices demanding that President Jacob Zuma step down. UDM leader Bantu Holomisa added a proposal for a disciplinary enquiry for good measure. And Internally, some ANC branches are also calling - though not officially - for a recall. All of which Zuma likely views as a fine opportunity to fine-tune his selective hearing. 
Back away slowly 
The Guptas and Zuma's son Duduzane Zuma announced their resignations from Oakbay Investments and Oakbay Resources and Energy on Friday. This comes after a financial rush to cut ties with the Gupta family instigated by KPMG last week.

Hilary gets personal
After a stinging Wisconsin defeat at the hands of Ted Cruz, Donald Trump apparently figured that some cryptic utterances on healthcare policy might help him get back on track. Meanwhile, things took a messy turn on the Democratic front. With Hillary Clinton’s lead eroding, and Bernie Sanders facing unfavourable New York prospects, the two have started clawing at each other’s credentials.

Video of the Week

A Reasonable Request 
By Andrew Laurich

Fact of the Week

Drying your hands with air dryers somewhat defeats the point of washing them. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection confirm that hand dryers are a bacterial refuge: the air around jet-air dryers contains 27x more bacteria than the air around paper towel dispensers.  

Sporting Weekend

Soccer
Saturday : Maritzburg Utd v Tuks, 6pm; Orlando Pirates v Free State Stars, 8.15pm
Sunday: SS Utd v Chippa Utd, 3pm; Bloemfontein Celtic v Golden Arrows, 3pm. 
Super rugby
Saturday:  Stormers v Sunwolves, 7pm.
Sunday: Reds v Highlanders, 11.45am; Sharks v Lions, 5.05pm; Kings v Bulls, 7.15pm. 

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