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While you were sleeping: 7 August 2017
D-Day looms for Mbete, North Korea termed a "direct threat", and Venezuelan attacks turn ugly.
Monday, 7 August 2017
“Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.”
Baltasar Gracián
STORY OF THE DAY
Vote of No Confidence: Pressure mounts as clock ticks down to Mbete’s decision
By MARIANNE MERTEN
Outspoken ANC MP Makhosi Khoza on Sunday said “nothing has changed” regarding a vote of conscience in Tuesday’s no confidence motion in President Jacob Zuma, but party colleague Mondli Gungubele declined to comment. The pressure on those favouring conscience above the party line, including ANC MPs like Derek Hanekom, Pravin Gordhan and others, has skyrocketed as the governing party is cracking the whip amid rhetoric likening the motion to regime change. All this comes as National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, who is also ANC national chairperson, is expected to make her decision on a secret or open ballot on Monday.
National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete is taking her sweet time to “apply her mind” as to whether to hold a secret ballot on Tuesday’s vote of no confidence. Scheduled for 3.30pm, Mbete’s decision will be a historical choice between choosing the country or a seat at Zuma’s table. If Mbete does not call a secret ballot, expect a flurry of late afternoon court applications.
Historic meeting between Mozambican leaders takes place
Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi and the Renamo chief Afonso Dhlakama have met for the first time since 2015. Meeting in the Gorongosa mountains on Sunday, the pair debated the next steps in a fragile, ongoing peace process. There is a general hope of concluding negotiations by the end of the year, paving the way for constructive, non-violent elections by 2019.
Trump over the North Korean Moon
President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In agreed on Sunday that North Korea posed a “direct threat”. Speaking from his 46th day on the golf course since being in power, Trump had held a phone call swiftly after new sanctions were imposed on the North by Security Council. The rhetoric may be strong, but for Dear Leader in North Korea very little of it makes one iota of a difference.
Venezuela base attack kills two
Two attackers were killed and eight captured in an apparent armed assault on a Venezuelan military base. Dictator-in-training President Nicolas Maduro stated that the 10 attackers included a military officer. With several captured, including the aforementioned officer, questions of whether there are more rising up and hitting back at state facilities will certainly emerge.
PICTURE OF THE DAY
By EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL
Gold medalist Luvo Manyonga, left, of South Africa and his silver medal winning compatriot Ruswahl Samaai react after the men’s Long Jump final at the London 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, Britain, 5 August 2017.
IN NUMBERS
8,000
The number of calories in a “Fool’s Gold Loaf”: a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with peanut butter,”jelly”, and half a kilogram of bacon. As eaten by Elvis.
FACTS OF THE DAY
Today in 1942 the Battle of Guadalcanal begins.
Martin Luther King Jr plagiarised his college dissertation on systematic theology.
FEATURED ARTICLES
ANC Leadership Race: In the fight against Zuma, principle shouldn’t be the loser
BY CARIEN DU PLESSIS
OPINIONISTAS
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Without the SACP, will the ANC once again be only for black South Africans?
A column by PAUL TREWHELA
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