Dear DM168 readers,

Phew! It feels like the world went stir-crazy this week and I just stepped off the mother of all roller coaster rides. No wonder my blood pressure went on red alert.

On Tuesday, 22 August, our Daily Maverick website practically collapsed because of a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack from India. It came after we published a report by Peter Fabricius that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had refused to disembark from his plane at Waterkloof Air Force Base because President Cyril Ramaphosa wasn’t personally there to meet him. Eventually, President Ramaphosa sent Deputy President Paul Mashatile to fetch Modi and massage his giant ego. 

We had to protect our site by preventing access to our website’s visitors in India — a bummer for those who wanted to be informed. Fortunately, DDoS can’t touch old-school printing presses, so DM168 is alive and well, and will be available on retail shelves on Saturday morning.

On Wednesday, former US president Donald Trump came up tops as Republican supporters’ favourite candidate even though he did not participate in the Republican debate with his opponents. Like our very own Jacob Zuma, people can’t help loving fat cat, populist, sexist, ethically questionable geriatric bad boys like Zuma and Trump.  

As we know, Zuma got his get-out-of-jail-free card because our prisons are too full. Trump got the thumbs-up from Republican fanboys and girls even though he faces criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 US election result, his alleged mishandling of classified material after he left the White House, as well as felony charges for falsifying business records.

Also on Wednesday, the world was speculating whether that other old bad boy, Russian President Vladimir Putin (Trump and Zuma’s good friend), had finally got his revenge against his hired gun, Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the failed uprising against the Kremlin two months ago. Prigozhin and his lieutenants were on board his private jet when it mysteriously exploded and fell from the sky near Moscow. Trump and Zuma should be wary; Prigozhin was also once a great mate of Putin’s.

Adding to the insanity, around midweek North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, flexed his military muscle by testing his latest spy satellite rocket, causing Japan to order residents of its southern island of Okinawa to evacuate to safe places.

The supreme leader is probably really mad that he is not as popular as the South Korean K-pop boy band BTS, or indeed all the other bands in that country’s vibrant youth music scene that have conquered the world. Maybe Kim needed to convince himself that, even though he may not have as good a haircut or millions of young girls and boys screaming adoringly at him, it’s might that matters. Not quite — the rocket failed. And K-pop is still flying through the stratosphere.

I concede that you may not have waited with bated breath for the next mad move by a big man politician — and instead chose to make like an ostrich and get on with what matters most to you in your daily life. Taking a break from the social streams of news noise is a definite tick for good mental health. 

That’s where our weekly newspaper DM168 comes in to ensure that your blood pressure remains stable while you are well informed, inspired and entertained. Here are my five favourite stories in this week’s edition, which I suggest you page through, pause and revisit, with your feet up and your beverage of choice in hand.

1. Cyril shines at BRICS

Every South African news site has reported on the daily drama of the much-awaited BRICS Summit in Sandton. President Ramaphosa made a positive mark on the global stage this week, and there were many behind-the-scenes negotiations and outcomes that have a bearing on South Africa’s place in the world of trade and geopolitics. Our journalists on the scene – Queenin Masuabi, Peter Fabricius and Ferial Haffajee – report on the debates, discussions and decisions, and answer the “so what” question about what really took place in Sandton and how that might affect us as South Africans.

2. Prof Thuli Madonsela’s long walk to free students from debt

Those of you who are avid readers of DM168 will know that even when it seems like the apocalypse is on my doorstep, I will always try to find a story to uplift your spirit and remind you that every second of life is sacred. Our two young writers Kristin Engel and Tamsin Metelerkamp have written about an amazing initiative by former public protector Thuli Madonsela. She has embarked on a 300km walk from Stellenbosch to Cape Agulhas to raise funds to pay students’ historic debt so that they can pursue their qualifications and improve their lives.

3. Satirically speaking

Our soothsayer and satirist, Malibongwe Tyilo, is back to tickle your funny bone with his hilarious take on the politicians who give us a pain in the neck. I’m not going to give away the secret of his magical salts. Suffice to say, Mali made my day.

4. Southern African escape

Bridget Hilton-Barber has been regaling us with her weekly descriptions of an epic 40-day, 10,000km road trip from her home in Limpopo all the way to Rwanda and back again. She and her friend Hugh Fraser drove via Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi and Mozambique to connect with people, places and possibilities. This week, she writes about Day 16, when they made it to magical Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania – but only after much jaw-grinding and teeth-gnashing. 

5. Good news for salary earners

Our inimitable personal finance editor, Neesa Moodley, has good news on getting a bit more bang for your buck. She explains how our nominal take-home pay has increased for the second consecutive month owing to inflation falling faster than expected to a two-year low of 4.7% in July, from 5.4% in June. Now that’s a bit of much-needed cheer for those of us fortunate enough to be employed. 

On a side note, thanks to all of our readers who filled in last week’s survey — you have given us many suggestions that we are sifting through to improve our offering to you. I would like to appeal to those of you who buy the  print version of our newspaper at retail outlets to take this one last opportunity to have your say by answering our survey here.

I will announce the lucky reader who won a hamper of books in next week’s newspaper. If you buy the newspaper this weekend and fill in the survey by Monday morning at 9am, you will still be in line to win.

Please write to me at [email protected] with your comments, views, thoughts and reflections, which I will publish on our Letters page.

Until next week, yours in defence of truth,

Heather

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29. DM168 is available for sale at all retail stores from Saturday, 26 August.