--- title: "While you were sleeping: 2 December 2016" description: "Trump appoints Mattis as Secretary of Defence, Bolivia suspends air crash charter company, and Australia insists reef \"not dying\"." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "Newsdeck" author: "John Stupart" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/johnstupart/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-12-02-while-you-were-sleeping-2-december-2016/" published: "2016-12-02T06:08:51" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 784 --- # While you were sleeping: 2 December 2016 > Trump appoints Mattis as Secretary of Defence, Bolivia suspends air crash charter company, and Australia insists reef "not dying". By John Stupart · Published 2 December 2016, 08:08 SAST ## Content **TGIF, 2nd December** *"Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, roads, the fresh water system, and public health… what have the Romans ever done for us?"* **Graham Chapman** ![Elections aftermath: Why did the ANC ignore its own research?](//i1.createsend1.com/ei/d/6B/0D3/38B/csimport/849x493q70Ranjeni-ANC_Veterans1.050938.jpg) STORY OF THE DAY [Demobilising the veterans: Can the ANC contain the anti-Zuma sentiment?](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-u/) By RANJENI MUNUSAMY After two intense meetings with veterans and a heated three-day national executive committee (NEC) meeting that debated the call for President Jacob Zuma to step down, the ANC does not appear to have a clear way forward to deal with its internal turmoil. The issue has been left to the top six officials (who include the person central to the problem) to figure it out. The NEC acceded to a call from the veterans to hold a consultative conference, but decided it would be an extension of the mid-year national policy conference. In that format, it is possible that the Zuma defence squad will treat the veterans as the villains and Zuma as the hero. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [Trump names Mattis defence secretary](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-n/) Donald Trump has announced that General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis will be his defence secretary. A seasoned combat commander who is a well respected individual across party lines, Mattis has a reputation for blunt talking, but also for possessing a shrewd intelligence. Mattis may also be the first entirely lucid, non-right wing cabinet choice made by the Orange Menace so far. [Bolivia suspends air crash carrier](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-p/) Bolivia has shut down the LAMIA air charter service in the wake of this week's devastating crash. Authorities are now investigating LAMIA's operations, and have revoked its permit entirely. Air crash investigators are examining pilot records and air traffic control logs, which they suspect all may have contributed to the disaster. [Hollande won't run again](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-x/) French President François Hollande will not run for a second term. Hollande made the announcement late yesterday, his action throwing open the doors for the socialists to field a new candidate in April. It is expected that Hollande's deputy, Manuel Valls, will attempt to run instead. With the lowest approval ratings since WWII for a French president, Hollande's departure is probably for the best. [Australia insists reef 'not dying'](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-m/) Australian officials have insisted that the Great Barrier Reef is not dying. The country is now required to submit its 'Reef 2050' rescue plan to UNESCO in order to avoid having the site listed as endangered. With widespread bleaching affecting two-thirds of its inshore northern section, "not dying" seems to be a Zuma-esque stretch of the imagination. — IN NUMBERS 3,749 The number of people who streamed 'It's the End of the World As We Know It' on the day of the Brexit vote results. FACT OF THE DAY Today in 1804 **Napoleon** crowned himself Emperor of the French. **Reporting a pothole in Boston** will get you a photo of the filled cavity, along with the team who performed the work. FEATURED ARTICLES ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Ranjeni-ANC_Veterans.jpg) [Demobilising the veterans: Can the ANC contain the anti-Zuma sentiment?](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-s/) BY RANJENI MUNUSAMY ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Greg-Hermans-Joburg-turns-100.jpg) [Mashaba’s Johannesburg turns 100 days old, and politics begin](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-w/) BY GREG NICOLSON ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Bheki-EFFSowetoFidel.jpg) [In Soweto, EFF celebrates Castro, likens Zuma to Batista](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-yh/) BY BHEKI C. SIMELANE ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Brooks-Mayors-First-100-Days-Speech.jpg) [Analysis: The Politics of the First 100 days](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-yu/) BY J BROOKS SPECTOR ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70ant-WPRU.jpg) [Rugby: Western Province Rugby Union accused of ‘widespread misconduct’ and using a legal loophole to obtain liquidation](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-jr/) BY ANTOINETTE MULLER ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Simon-Allison-ICC-new-year.jpg) [After a bruising year, the ICC plots a road to redemption](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-jj/) BY SIMON ALLISON ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70ISS-Africa-nukes.jpg) [ISS Today: Africa pushes for a 2017 ban on nuclear weapons](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-ji/) BY ISS TODAY ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Hopkins-Anthony-Hinton-death-row-MAIN-STORY.jpg) [Capital punishment: A thin line between life and death](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-jh/) BY RUTH HOPKINS ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70GroundUp-San-hearings.jpg) [GroundUp: Hearings on Khoi San Bill held with no translation into Khoi and San languages](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-ju/) BY GROUNDUP ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Njeri-Jubilee-primary.jpg) [Kenya: Taxpayers tapped to fund ruling party primaries](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-tr/) BY NJERI KIMANI ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70Ant-Onside-off-side-commonwealth-games.jpg) [Onside/Offside: Fancy Bears strike again, best PSL goal celebration ever and more](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-tj/) BY ANTOINETTE MULLER ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/849x493q70StreetTalk-main-image\(2\).jpg) [Video: Street Talk – Let’s talk about Sex](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-ti/) BY STREET TALK OPINIONISTAS ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/190x170q70marianne-thamm.jpg) [Dear Minister Dlamini, how do you sleep at night?](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-th/) A column by MARIANNE THAMM ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/190x170q70stuart-wilson-new.jpg) [Slumlords? Lawyers? No, Mayor Mashaba, your complaint is against the rule of law itself](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-tu/) A column by STUART WILSON ![Image](//images.www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/resized_images/190x170q70richard-raber.jpg) [We are talking at rather than to each other](http://email.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-ddkydrk-l-ir/) A column by RICHARD RABER — **Weather** BFN: min: 16° max: 31°, sunny CPT: min: 14° max: 27°, cloudy DBN: min: 20° max: 24°, cloudy EL: min: 17° max: 24°, cloudy JHB: min: 15° max: 31°, cloudy KIM: min: 19° max: 31°, sunny NLP: min: 18° max: 26°, cloudy PMB: min: 15° max: 21°, cloudy PKN: min: 18° max: 28°, cloudy PE: min: 16° max: 24°, cloudy PTA: min: 16° max: 32°, cloudy **Financial Data** Oil=$50.47 Gold=$1,165.56 Platinum=$908.48 R/$=14.13 R/€=15.02 R/£=17.77 $/€=1.06 JSE All Share=49,927.00 DJIA=19,194.59 FTSE 100=6,752.93