TRAINSPOTTER
STFU: How the Russian/SA modern love affair explains a media blackout
This week, without explanation, Daily Maverick’s press accreditation for the Russia-Africa summit was revoked. It’s the latest in a long list of institutions and organisations that have elected to shut down media engagement. This way lies the road to autocracy.
What do you do if you’re one of the many people who believes that both the “West” and the “East” – insofar as there are such things – suck big hairy eggs?
What if you happen to understand that the ANC is an unsalvageable sleazefest, but that opposition parties in South Africa – who should have the very easiest job on the planet – are also a bunch of high-grade losers?
What if you have proven time and again the public sector in South Africa is beyond saving, but the private sector cannot save us on its own, either?
What if you understand that Big Pharma has gone so deep that it needs to be stripped down to its underpants and waterboarded until it stops acting like a deranged sociopath, but you also know that vaccines are saving billions of lives while not implanted with 5G technology?
What if you think both Barbie AND Oppenheimer are reactionary corporate mind-wipes signalling the impossibility of creating art in the 21st century?
Holding two thoughts in one head may not be very au courant, but the world is a complicated place.
In the South African discourse, any criticism of Russia – which has illegally invaded a neighbour and is currently bombing port infrastructure that facilitate grain exports to many a hungry nation in the world – is trolled into being a de facto endorsement of American hegemony. Indeed, take issue at all with this white supremacist ethno-nationalist backwater, and you’re accused of … racism?
Read more in Daily Maverick: SA’s relations with Russia
In most moral universes, employing some circumspection regarding Russia’s motivations for invading Ukraine should be an acceptable pastime. Not here. And to be sure, this publication has been, and will remain, resolutely critical of the invasion. Again, that shouldn’t be confused with an endorsement for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, or a plea for the continued subjugation of Palestinian rights, or an attempt to bury the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. It’s just that invading countries and killing civilians is a shitty thing to do, and there should be a censure for that sort of thing.
South Africa, of course, maintains a “non-aligned policy” regarding the Ukraine invasion. So it was a strange day when Daily Maverick was denied accreditation for the Russia/Africa summit taking place soon (depending on when you read this) in St Petersburg. On the face of things, the summit is a mechanism for African countries to increase their business relationship with a very minor international trading partner – South Africa conducts about 2% of its trade activity with Russia.
There are the mechanics of the invasion to discuss, along with the very real issue of increased global food prices now that Russia has pulled out of the Ukraine grain export deal and is trying to wipe out Odesa. There is the continued issue of energy stability, along with the spectre of sanctions, which has decoupled Russia’s economy from the formal global system.
Communication shutdown
In other words, although Russian trade is barely a rounding error on the annual balance sheet, this summit takes place during a major geopolitical moment, and considering the fact that South Africa remains a democracy, it should be covered by a free press.
But nope.
This forms part of a larger trend under way in this country, where political parties, government agencies and corporations are increasingly declining to speak to the press. Since the VBS bank scandal revelations dropped in Daily Maverick in 2019, the Economic Freedom Fighters, led by prolix flip-flopper Julius Malema, has “banned” the publication from covering its events, and refuses requests for comment. No one likes to be busted stealing money from starving grandmothers – we understand that. But the EFF ban is nothing more than punishment for good journalism. And they keep screwing it up: their current 10th anniversary celebrations have been marred by the planned presence of the vastly homophobic Kenyan academic Patrick Lumumba, who gave a keynote address on, of all things, “pan-Africanism”.
VBS Theft, Money Laundering & Life’s Little Luxuries: Julius Malema’s time of spending dangerously
The South African Football Association (Safa), another organisation currently suffering under investigative journalist Pauli van Wyk’s scrutiny, has also effectively banned this publication. Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, once so talkative, has clammed up, despite his insistence that it’s vital to hold an open line of communication with the press.
And it’s not just government or opposition parties. Send a list of questions to Sony Music Entertainment? Not a peep. Send an interview request to Barrick Gold Corporation? The run-around. What do these huge multinationals have to fear? Do they believe that their silence will kill our stories? Do they think that this is the journalistic equivalent of cancelling/unfollowing, and we’ll be shamed into silence?
Existential concern
No publication is perfect, and we all make mistakes. But for an outfit like Daily Maverick, even a throwaway line in an article can have severe consequences. We are subject to the censure of the press ombudsman and the very well-resourced targets of our investigations have access to the best legal minds on this or any other continent. When we get it wrong – which we sometimes do – we are punished financially. Worse, we lose the trust of our readers, we lose the support of our Insiders, and we face the prospect of withering and dying.
For any publication, but especially for independent media, getting the facts right is an existential concern.
But keep this in mind: The EFF has never sued. Safa has never sued. Gwede Mantashe has never sued. The Russian Embassy, a country that jails and murders journalists and opposition leaders and closes media organisations that are not operated by the state or by friendly oligarchs, has dragged Daily Maverick to the press ombudsman. (Because it costs them nothing.)
That’s a right that no one enjoys in Russia. But here, they are free to enjoy it themselves. You’re welcome, comrades.
The favour, clearly, has not been returned. Think about it: A media house that the Russian state has the right to harass in South Africa is forbidden from reporting on the activities of our own government in Russia.
The con men who run the biggest country on Earth are so terrified of media houses witnessing – well, what exactly? Will there be a display of brown envelopes? Will there be a bootlicking contest? Will there be a ritual release of kompromat on the ANC officials in attendance?
Lest one day we forget: With Putin’s Russia, South Africa is committing a historic mistake
Despite the ANC’s historical ties with the Soviet Union – to which Ukraine famously belonged – the Ramaphosa government’s addiction to the Russians has never made much logical sense. He forged his reputation crafting the progressive constitution that governs this land – he literally helped write the damned thing. In South Africa, political opposition, minority rights, gay rights, religious freedom and the freedom of speech (within bounds) are enshrined in law. Most of these things are not just illegal in Russia, they can lead to sudden flying-out-of-window syndrome.
The ANC clearly sees something else in Putin’s Russia – something aspirational. Ramaphosa owes his presidency, in no small part, to the relentless reportage visited upon his corrupt predecessor. In other words, freedom of speech is an essential component of political freedom. And the exercise of political freedom is likely to drop the ANC below majority party status in 2024.
Autocracies’ beacon on the hill
Russia is the beacon on the hill, a shining autocracy that lights the way to eternal governance. The constitutional values that Ramaphosa helped craft are not the values of his desiccated, dying party. Instead, the ANC is drawn to Putin and his FSB men, who skulk about in the palaces exchanging recipes for poison while their “special military operation” burns through young Russian men at a rate of 700 a day.
The official reaction of Ramaphosa’s spokesperson will one day be studied as a perfect passive aggressive move and is worth quoting here:
In response to a request from Daily Maverick for comment about the revoking of Fabricius’s accreditation, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the Russia-Africa Summit is “not a South African government event, and all we did was to share the link that was provided to us. By doing so, we were not assuming any responsibility for the accreditation of South African journalists.”
Nothing to see here comrades, move along. The fact that the SA government did not see any problems with its own citizens being treated as collateral damage in Russia’s info wars and with the gross violation of every tenet that the SA constitution was built on, is too disturbing from way too many angles. Not that the ANC comrades will lose any sleep over another constitutional amnesia.
And so as Ramaphosa and his African counterparts are feted in St Petersburg, they will do so with less scrutiny, under a cover of mendacity. Ban one media outlet, and eventually you ban them all.
The tactic is to shut us out.
It won’t work. It just makes us more resolutely curious, more circumspect, and more certain that these entities have something to hide.
South African media isn’t perfect. But it’s a vibrant, noisy component of this democracy, and it isn’t going anywhere. They can run to St Petersburg, but they can’t hide.
We’ll find them, no matter how far they scurry. DM
Daily Maverick foreign policy specialist Peter Fabricius’ accreditation for the Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg this week was rescinded by the Roscongress Foundation, the Russian government body which is organising the forum.
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An excellent article in general, But isn’t the hagiographic description of Ramaphosa’s contribution to the Constitution a little overdone ?
I suspect that the document was accepted by the ANC to allay white fears and smooth the path of the ANC to power.
There is more than enough evidence accumulated ove the past 30m years that the ANC will circumvent the Constitution when it suits them
Brilliant piece and so true! Keep up the great work in exposing the crass hypocrisy, lies and sinister/dark reality of those who worship the evil Putin devil and hanker after his model ruling (stealing) a country.
Lovely article – beautifully damning.
Keep it up DM, bring those furtive critters into the light, a little vitamin D is good for us all.
It’s just a pity that less than 5% of South Africans get to see what is revealed by this “Light” that is shone by DM.
the critters do for darn sure 😀
Good for you. This country would be worse off – is that even possible? – if it weren’t for a hand-full of noisy journos. Ramaphosa is clearly not the person he likes to project he is. When last has he allowed an interview? Never, as far as I know. That has to be significant.
Because he knows that even with his oratory skills, when the interviewers put him on the spot, all and sundry will be listening to his response. And if they are straightforward questions requiring honest answers, he will not be able to duck or dive without consequences. So it’s obvious that he better not put himself in a compromising situation.
The “Embassy of Russia in South Africa” Telegram propaganda mouthpiece says it all, they are surely our fairy godmother, lily white and misunderstood, seeking only to correct our minds to the truth and their innocence in this debacle brought about by the collective West (sic).
Why do people keep calling it St. Petersburg … surely by now it should be known as St. Putinsburg ?!
Just keep going Daily Maverick, the truth will be out!
Great article from a legitimate and reliable media source.
Keep “defending the truth”… SA needs good, well-researched journalism.
Thank you!
Keep on shining the bright light into the dark corners DM… Wagner is shifting its focus to Africa, ostensibly their wings have been clipped by Putin (??), don’t believe a word of it!
Indeed, where are the opposition parties?
If it weren’t for the DA, Putin would be visiting us here, triggering an exit out of AGOA and possible sanctions with it.
In case you are not au fait with current affairs, you should be aware that they have just forced the SA government to back down on their intention to allow Putin to come to SA.
Go to the Western Cape and check the difference, Western Cape vers The Other Eight.
Just because Poplak makes it sound smart does not mean there is no opposition in SA. Think.
There is nothing quite like the deliberately ignorant.
Keep up the pressure. You all do a great job.
Superbly written, as ever, and as damning an insight into the increasingly desperate and, frankly, evil doings of the ANC as you’ll find. I do have an issue with one phrase you used, Richard: ‘eternal governance’. Every definition of ‘governance’ that I can find refers at some level to accountability, which is the polar opposite of what Putin and his ANC puppets are striving for.
The ANC are frankly serial liars, on almost every topic, (just this week we’ve had DP Mashatile revealed as a liar for claiming he was nowhere near the highway assault; Supreme Buffoon Mbalula backtracking on his comments on Gordhan; the ritual lies about the NHI and the list goes on) and get away with it because they’ve never been held truly accountable – even when they lose a court case and have to shell out, it’s invariably the taxpayer doing the paying, not the miscreant in the ivory tower.
In 2021 (latest year available), Russia accounted for a miserable 0.4% of sub-Saharan Africa’s global exports, and yet here we are genuflecting in front of Putin like he’s the Second Coming. He could well be, I suppose, but more in the diabolical sense of Yeats’ poem than any religious celebration.
Brilliantly said!
Thank you DM for continuing to publish articles that underscore the hypocrisy of Cyril R and the corrupt ANC. While it’s all to easy to despair about our country journalists at the DM show that it’s still possible to emerge into the country envisioned in 1994.
Spot on!
The underlying fury in this is probably felt by all your readers as well. Great article and well said. If only……….
We absolutely HAVE to get rid of this ANC riff-raff, posing as a government.
Thank you for all you shine a light on, and strength to your pens (er, fingers)
So we may collectively never know what is discussed at St. Petersburg, or what goods were moved in and out on the Lady R?
Truly an Orwellian 1984 World ….. frightening…..
Viva DM, Viva!
So well written. It is time Ramaphosa starting reading about what he has done to South Africa
It is sad to see how the ANC prostitutes itself to this Russian tyrant. What is even more sad, is the fact that South Africans are accepting this lying down. See how the Israelis are fighting a regime that is trying to change their judicial system.
Thanks Richard for this article.
What a spineless response to barring DM. Don’t let up DM. The citizens of this country have been dragged into a Faustian pact. We just don’t know how bad it is.
What is spineless about this response? Spineless are those who restrict their opposition to government with reader’s comment only.
Hermann, I don’t think Helen was referring to your comment. I think she was commenting on the ANC response to the banning.
Israelis are fighting Israelis, who do you sugest will fight ANC on this topic? White minorities?
There are a helluva lot of people of colour, if I may put it diplomatically, who do not support the ANC, particularly the educated individuals, both young and old. So I think the ANC have realized that it not just the white people who want a change of government. They can see that they could be in for a hammering in 2024.
Not really … they would have used the fully armed forces against the protesters, which they routinely use against Palestinians … if it was the case ! It is a cynical ploy to polish their image as a ‘democracy’ … just like the vaunted claim to be the only democracy in the middle east !
I hope that one day I’ll be able to tell someone/something to ‘bring it on’ as saucily as DM. Keep up the good work.
Very important article! Critical to cover this stuff, and many points are so well made. But a word of advice – it took me several paragraphs of not being clear about what you were saying before I felt like some coherence settled and you started to make sense. The first sentence started my confusion – “suck big hairy eggs”? – I wasn’t really sure what that meant. And what proportion of South African’s would immediately understand that? Maybe you could have done better.
OMG – ” …. white supremacist ethnic backwater … take issue and be accused of racism… ” !!
DM / Amab. are my heroes, and the article is generally excellent and very thought provoking, but can’t you help yourself ? What about black supremacism/nationalism – they run the country on that principle.
The progeny of the dreadful Apartheid regime ( about 40% of the “white” population, supported ironically by millions of ” blacks” – by Nationalist ” Population Registration Act” definition – I know – I saw it at Bara in 1976) are subject to systematic discrimination 28yrs later ! They weren’t even born !
Read historys failures of these vengeful tactics- and try to slowly get that twoddle out of your head . It is 2023 .
As usual an excellent piece, telling it like it is, thank you.
Look on the bright side, they already have it in for the DM, Peter Fabricius may have dodged a bullet ref. Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich’s detention.
As Putin does his best to inflict a food crisis on the most vulnerable (read Africa), these idiots flock to St. Petersburg to pay homage to the grand kleptocrat. Given the trade numbers coupled with the state of Russia’s economy, one has to ask what possible benefit is there to this parody?
I suppose being Putin’s gimps must come with some form of reward for these thieves who masquerade as our govt.
Food crises in Africa, whilst European countries are receiving a lot of Ukraian wheat , which by the way is produced with pesticides not allowed to use in EU.
The right to free speech has been well and truly silenced. Who would have thought Russia would be the one to do it in this country! There is no freedom of the press in either China or Russia – the two countries where the citizens are not free and are governed by Dictators. One sincerely hopes this is not the direction in which we are heading…although having a VP (President in training?) who has his own security force that acts without restraint, it seems sinisterly like Putin and His Wagner Group! Talk about the tail wagging the dog!
Do these people really believe that by shutting out the honest media that their dirty laundry wont be revealed? One would think that these are smart people but their actions lead one to think that they are idiots. The truth always comes out. I salute the journalists that contribute to the Daily Maverick publications for their devotion to uncovering the truth.
Dear DM, thank you for sticking to your guns to promote frees speech as key to democracy and the right of people to participate and hold leaders accountable!
(I have to give a disclaimer here that I do not support EFF, ANC, Russia or Gwede in any way). Sigh
DM is one of few genuine publications still left and I decided to financially support you to contribute to the people and DM surviving but this article is about YOU and not journalism. Of these organizations and people, EFF, Gwede Mantashe, Russian Embassy, Sony Music Entertainment and Barrick Gold Corporation, the common denominator is DM. You cannot write one critical article after another and expect to be allowed in still. Not in this society of ‘picking sides’ that we live in.
The article starts off advocating for a world that doesn’t need to have an either or mentality but then goes on to hammer on on one side of the coin. Apart from the Russian war (should be condemned in whatever angle), how far has DM gone to give us, the readers, the other side of the coin in relation to these people and organizations so we can decide for ourselves? You say you are punished financially when you get it wrong but how far do you go in clarifying where you go wrong apart from a footnote and leaving the seed you have planted to grow? In the context of this article, I don’t believe you can have your cake and eat it.
Lastly, imagine this, the SA government sees something in Russia that we don’t, fair. Russia then says to SA, “You are invited to the summit provided DM do not come with you”, how much sway do you think DM has that the SA government would have ‘fought’ for you?
If the SA gov sees something good in Russia that we don’t, why not say so? Then DM could report on it. Fact is, few countries outside of BRICS see any good in Russia, so one can easily assume in the absence of our government saying what is good that there is nothing good. And I agree – corporates don’t have an obligation to speak to the press, because they are not beholden to any agency outside of the framework of the law and shareholders’ interest for what they do or say. But publicly elected officials – now that’s a different story. You should be mildly embarrassed to have said that the SA government had no need to fight for DM – they had and have an obligation to stand up for freedom of the press wherever and whenever it is challenged. It is the SA government that should be embarrassed here.
Agreed
I did not say there was no need for the SA government to fight for DM, the point I was making was let’s be realistic in that expectation. This government has already gone the wrong way and a very long way, how can we honestly expect any integrity from them at this point?
Mr Nkomo – I have one question for you. In your opinion does the ANC no longer believe in the truth and honesty, justice, morals and ethics?
If it and the people that belong to the ANC do, then please explain how the truth has to be silenced because it is just too much of the truth! If DM we’re to become like Independent Newspapers who give us the other side of the coin and are merely a mouthpiece for the ANC, how in gods name will that improve the lives of millions of South Africans who have been robbed and cheated out of the promises made by Nelson Mandela. The truth shall set you free my man – give it a try!
It’s weird to be called Mr. Nkomo, that’s my father not me. Lol.
“In your opinion does the ANC no longer believe in the truth and honesty, justice, morals and ethics?” My answer is a very confident YES! They abandoned honesty and integrity completely when T Mbeki left in 2008. Since then, we have been on a downward spiral, the Bell Pottinger revelations are one of the most obvious examples of the ANC’s attempt to lie even more to the country. My point was in two parts, first, DM knows it’s journalists and readers (which I am proud to be) will never support the lies and secrecy of this government and also how far they have strayed. It doesn’t make sense to cry foul, there is no eventuality of the ban being removed. Secondly, the ANC will never be the answer to any of SA issues. With this alignment with Russia, they are proving yet again that they are will always be the problem, what else should they do for us to no longer be shocked by thier actions?
This is a great article. But how do we get this to and understood by the Populist voter base that vote for the ANC and the likes of EFF. If we can get this right we might have a chance to Save SA.
The manana in the bush will again vote for whom she is told to vote. She has no choice. Because, you see, we are not a democracy. Have not ever been a democracy, despite what they tell us.
A very angry article. Love it!
Half this article is brilliant. The other half is a load of poplik
Agree and love the Poplik half too as I can also be sarcastic when not managed properly by my wife.
I’m fascinated that Richard wants to waterboard Big Pharma for being sociopaths, yet he believes what they tell him about vaccinations? Did they suddenly swallow an honesty pill just for that short moment in time?
Ramaphosa and his mob are cast in the same mould as Putin and his oligarchs. They have only two objectives in life, money and power. If it has to be maintained at the expense of the citizens, well stiff. It’s a case of mind over matter. “We don’t mind and you don’t matter”. The latest exposure of Paul Mashatile as a liar and a conniving servant of rich crooks shows South Africa is in real trouble with the top two men in the presidency being highly suspect in the dishonest way they conduct themselves. They will continue to kiss Putin’s backside because they, like the rest of the ANC comrades in government, are moral cowards and corrupt to the core. My ad nauseam reference to Ayn Rand’s quote stand firm:
“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed.
Ayn Rand
We must take the Carte Blanche revelations on the Russian owned manganese mine in Kuruman very seriously. The grant to run the mine on the contract that the locals will benefit was a lie as they have not seen job creation, a drop of water or anything to aid the community chest, and they are worse after 20 years while the Russian owner and his BEE partner rake in billions. THAT is the true story of what will happen as Russia sneaks in slowly and takes over all our mineral resources – then the rest. Ask how many other enterprises they may already have under their belts, with BEE partners as a foil? Their fan club adores them – may the ANC rejoice as a new colonialism invades. They won’t need to have skills to run a contry, they can pretend an just keep eating.
So true.
So obvious.
Well said Shannon.
All other SA press organisations should boycott this event too.
Pretend it didn’t happen.
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
If the SA government was truly committed to the free press of the country that it governs it would in response to this restriction on press freedom withdraw from this Russia-Africa summit.
I agree with you Richard, but I would say, do we actually care? The very fact that they banned Peter shows what a bunch of hypocrites the Russkies are and they should be treated as such. But obviously still keep reminding them of this – like all you have to do is remind people of Juju and the VBS debacle to shut the idiot up – and then move on to more useful stuff. As well of course as reminding them of how Msholozi and Mubuza couldn’t see fit to use SA doctors to fix them but had to fly all the way to Moscow. Anyway, maybe Peter should heave a sigh of relief that he was banned from that godawful place?!
THIS!
DM posting a speech by a “convicted criminal” (Navalny) as published by a “banned media publication” (Meduza) was probably not something Russia liked.
Yet another indication that this Government has the backbone of a jelly fish and is moving more and more into a defensive mode similar to what happened under Mugabe and now Mnangagwa in Zimbabwe. Next we will see opposition parties disqualified from running in the elections because of some trumped up excuse. A ruling party under pressure almost always uses devious tactics to stay in power. Expect more as we get closer to the elections.
Well, they would, wouldn’t they? I doubt Peter Fabricius realistically expected to land up in St Petersburg armed with an invitation to go where he liked, interview whom he liked and write exactly what he liked. Of course the Russians wouldn’t want him, or anybody from DM there. The last vestiges of a free media do survive, heroically and amazingly, in corners of Russia, but why would they allow hostile outsiders to come in and freely comment? Journalists openly opposed to Russia’s war in Ukraine and to everything else about Putin’s weird regime? Including, as so eloquently outlined in DM today, brave attempts to explain the pathology of our government’s own sick obsession with Russia. It makes no sense and while ANC rules, we will never know what’s behind it (we can guess). Only a change of government can bring this strange and destructive fugue to an end.
“… they can lead to sudden flying-out-of-window syndrome.”
Ah Richard, you missed the opportunity to use one of my favorite words here: “defenestration” 🤣
The most hopeful thing in our country at present is freedom of speech, especially press freedom.
Wanna know why the anc just loves russia? Follow the money. Since the arse-licking started the anc has been in a position to pay their employees. (Wonder if they have paid arrears UIF, PAYE and pension/provident fund contributions)
You make a good point Gerrie! Would be interested to know the answer to your questions!
Yes well said Gerrie and Jane, perhaps DM can enquire and let us have the FACTS. If yes then where did the funds come from – the Taxpayers or donors???
Brilliant article. Keep going DM.
Excellent article Richard. Please keep writing as you are now, and DM thanks for publishing his no bullshi& outlook and home truths.
Great article, just goes to show that politicians are scared of the press and will do all in their power to show that the press is bias towards them. As for Julius Malema, why is he still spouting off his mouth when he is so deeply implicated in the VBS theft and has not yet been charged, makes one wonder who is protecting him. As for Putin he is a has been trying to sell nuclear power stations to our corrupt government,
Well said Richard Poplak, and thank you DM for shining the light into the gathering Dark! Living in a society where we still have freedom of speech, free people have a moral duty to speak out against creeping Orwellianism in South Africa, and against its increasingly desperate and draconian implementation in Russia by such murderous parodies as KGB Kyrill (the Patriarch of Death), lying Lavrov and pouting Peskov (the wraiths of the Dark Lord), and all their ridiculous panoply of oligarchs and other flunky functionaries. Does Putin have kompromat on the ANC? Ramaphosa’s fawning subservience to the Dark Lord is nauseating and can be explained in no other way, in my opinion. Russia is not welcome in South Africa, except by despots and desperadoes. Let us hope that South Africa votes the ANC out in 2024, and that Ukraine is victorious in its struggle for freedom from the Darkness of Russian predation.
Excellent article very well written
The anc is sure as fate in my opinion receiving brown envelopes from the Russian Government
Frogeyes had a hand in the banning of DM