Jacob Zuma’s legal team has until August 20 to submit a comprehensive medical report detailing exactly why the former president is unfit to stand trial after his health dramatically declined and he was admitted to a Pretoria hospital.
As the Sunday Times Daily writes in its editorial that something doesn’t sound quite right in the latest twist in the Zuma saga. The publication asks how Zuma was able to stand, cheer and deliver a 38-minute address a little over a month ago at his Nkandla homestead but is now so ill that he cannot sit in a courtroom? We’ll now have to sit through a mini-trial within a trial to determine whether Zuma is fit to attend court.
“In short, we seem set for yet another trial within a trial to establish whether or not Zuma is really sick. This is after another trial within a trial on whether conducting his criminal trial online constitutes a violation of his rights was averted after judge Piet Koen agreed that he must be physically present. All of these precede another trial within a trial involving whether or not his prosecutors, specifically Billy Downer, must recuse himself because of bias.”
Has anyone heard from Schabir Shaik lately? Zuma seems to be making a move straight out of the Shaik playbook.
Switching gears and if it isn’t Zuma that causes grey hairs it’s the news that climate change is moving rapidly, and we’ve pretty much passed the point of no return to reverse the adverse effects of global warming.
This week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) was released. It was the IPCC’s starkest warning yet that major climate change was inevitable and irreversible.
Roland Ngam writes in the Daily Maverick that we have had many warnings over the years that have “gone in the one ear and out the other, with zero impact on policies.” Ngam says many promises have been made but the important thing is to translate them into action now.
Here’s a roundup of the most interesting opinions and analyses:
Dumping Mapisa-Nqakula into the speaker’s chair shows ANC disdain for Parliament – Pieter du Toit, News24 [For subscribers]
Local government elections need to be held ASAP to avoid unrest 2.0 – Mmusi Maimane, News24
How SARS is tightening tax collection on crypto transactions – Joan Chong and Lumen Moolman, Fin24
The foundations of an imperial presidency – Gareth van Onselen, Business Day [For subscribers]
Land policy seeks to boost women in redistribution delivery – Wandile Sihlobo, Business Day
Learn from the riots: Link our formal and informal economies – Kopano Ntsoane, Mail & Guardian
Why is there no money for medallists? – Martin Williams, The Citizen [For subscribers]
