--- title: "While you were sleeping: 9th February 2017" description: "SONA high noon approaches, Mining Indaba wraps up, and the USA kills 11 Al Qaeda terrorists in Syria." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "South Africa" author: "John Stupart" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/johnstupart/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-02-09-while-you-were-sleeping-9th-february-2017/" published: "2017-02-09T06:00:12" updated: "2017-02-09T06:00:13" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 778 --- # While you were sleeping: 9th February 2017 > SONA high noon approaches, Mining Indaba wraps up, and the USA kills 11 Al Qaeda terrorists in Syria. By John Stupart · Published 9 February 2017, 08:00 SAST · Updated 9 February 2017, 08:00 SAST ## Content **Thursday, 9th February 2017** *"Why don't you come after me you fascist, loofa-faced s\*\*\*-gibbon!!"* **Senator Daylin Leach, to Donald Trump** ![Image](https://i1.createsend1.com/ei/d/64/DF8/770/csimport/849x493q70EFF-sona1.051108.jpg) STORY OF THE DAY [TRAINSPOTTER—SONA2017: The EFF offers no quarter, and vows to hold ‘the executive accountable’](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjmwl-l-h/) By RICHARD POPLAK South Africa by the numbers: Four hundred and forty-one soldiers protecting Parliament for Zuma's big speech. Ninety-four dead mental health patients protected by no one. We’re being governed into an abyss, while being securitised into oblivion. And given that there is one (previously) large red reason for all of the guns in Cape Town, we thought it would be pertinent to ask what the EFF are going to do about it. Will they disrupt SONA2017? Will they hit Zuma’s newfangled outdoor "People’s Assembly"? Will they instead hold a pick-up soccer match on Signal Hill? WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING [High noon for SONA](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjmwl-l-k/) Cape Town's CBD will be a flurry of uniforms, shiny medals, fancy dresses, and a State of the Nation Address. With President Zuma poised to give his address, all speculation is focused on everything but the speech itself. Protests are expected, and teargas seems a grim inevitability with 6,000 police barricaded throughout Cape Town. [Mining Indaba wraps up](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjmwl-l-u/) One final day of overpriced Cape Town hotel rates, and one final day for the Mining Indaba's be-suited masses to fling business cards at one another. Tensions between a highly regulated government and mining companies have dominated the Indaba this year, with investors having a gloomy outlook despite promises of a commodity boom. The Indaba ends at noon, giving the VIPs just enough time to get out of the city before the SONA Gestapo descend. — ![Image](https://i2.createsend1.com/ei/d/64/DF8/770/csimport/170209dm.050515.jpg) [Zapiro: State of the Nation.](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjmwl-l-b/) [US strike kills major al-Qaeda leader](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjmwl-l-n/) The United States has announced that a bombing raid has killed 11 al-Qaeda members in Syria, including Abu Hani al-Masri, a long-time veteran of the terrorist group. The bombing occurred in the group's stronghold in Idlib a week ago but was only announced late on Wednesday. Stay tuned for the inevitable Trump tweet taking credit for the flight, target, and accuracy. [Boris Johnson renounces citizenship](http://subscriptions.touchbasepro.com/t/d-l-hjmwl-l-p/) The United States Treasury has announced that Boris Johnson, the white-haired eccentric British politician/former mayor, has renounced his American citizenship. Possibly seen as a Trump snub, the reality is that Johnson began the process several years back and probably did it to avoid the taxes every American must pay, even if living abroad. — IN NUMBERS 132 of 185 The number of battles won by France in the past 800 years. This is the best record among all European countries. FACTS OF THE DAY Today is the**State of the Nation** Address. Pretty much anything is expected to happen tonight. The ancient Greeks believed**trousers to be "ridiculous"**. The Romans shunned them on account of only barbarians wearing the garment. 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