Newsdeck
While you were sleeping: 31 March 2017
Zuma sacks Gordhan, enacts his own night of the long knives. Rand plummets, and the country begins to react.
TGIF, 31 March 2017
“Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
John Lennon
The Zuma Presidency has ended. The Zuma dictatorship has begun. His surprise not-surprise Cabinet reshuffle, which ousted Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas from the Finance Ministry, has already tanked the
Zuma axes ministers in the dead of night
It came at midnight. A cowardly time to enact major government change, but for President Jacob Zuma, perhaps the perfect time. Minister Pravin Gordhan was sacked, with a replacement
In the end Malusi Gigaba was made Gordhan’s replacement-puppet. Nobody really saw it coming, but the shift also replaced Gordhan’s deputy Mcebisi Jonas with Sfiso Buthelezi. The official reasoning of Zuma’s reshuffle was to “improve efficiency and effectiveness”. If the aim is improve the efficiency by which the state coffers can be looted, jolly good then.
Not all were asleep at such a ridiculous time, however. Reaction to Zuma’s overtures at entrenching his domain was swift, and it was scathing. Save South Africa, among others, were not content to wait until interns woke up in the morning to write a response. They called for South Africans to “act now”. More specifically, a march. Today. At 10am in Pretoria’s Church Square. If you’re around and about, your tea break can wait for once.
The
IN NUMBERS
13.42
The cost of a dollar, as of 6am, SAST.
FACTS OF THE DAY
Today in 1989 the Eiffel Tower was opened.
The measurement “lbs” derives from the latin “libra
FEATURED ARTICLES
Land Reform: The windy road to land ownership for the people of Ncunjane ends in joy
BY YVES VANDERHAEGHEN
OPINIONISTAS
Weather
BFN: min: 16° max: 31°, sunny
CPT: min: 15° max: 21°, PM rain
DBN: min: 21° max: 34°, sunny
EL: min: 22° max: 27°, cloudy
JHB: min: 11° max: 28°, sunny
KIM: min: 20° max: 33°, sunny
NLP: min: 12° max: 32°, sunny
PMB: min: 16° max: 35°, sunny
PE: min: 18° max: 23°, PM rain
PTA: min: 12° max: 29°, sunny
Financial Data
Oil=$52.75
Gold=$1,241.39
Platinum=$947.85
R/$=13.42
R/€=14.34
R/£=16.77
$/€=0.92
JSE All Share=52,261.18
DJIA=20,728.49
FTSE 100=7,369.52