The man accused of setting Parliament alight in the early hours of January 2, wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign and cancel his February 10 “State of the Nonsense Address”; demands Chris Hani’s murderer, Janus Walusz be released; and wants a R1,500 grant for all unemployed people. These alleged demands are increasingly underscoring claims of an attack on Ramaphosa’s regime, but the question remains from which front. There may be some clues in the affidavit over which the 49-year-old Zandile Mafe was questioned this weekend in court where he appeared on charges of among others terrorism, robbery and arson.
His apparent friendship with former white supremacist and AWB leader Eugène Terre’Blanche and demand for Walusz’s release hold one; Advocate Dali Mpofu, Sc, who is defending him without payment and is best known for defending former president Jacob Zuma, is another. The plot seems like something that “could only have been cooked in the cauldron of hundreds of years of South African politics and history now served as a flambéed dish in the 21st century”, opines the Daily Maverick.
Mafe is alleged to have said it was “the right thing to put the Parliament on fire as at the moment it is not helping the people of South Africa”. He said he accepted he faced serious charges but confirmed he would plead not guilty. He also denied he was mentally disturbed.
Should he be granted bail, he said “if the government can assist me I will just stay at home and watch my DStv” as he has nowhere to hide and won’t run away. We’ll know on February 4 if he will be released on bail.
Whether he is sane or mentally challenged, it’d be foolish to take any allegations with a pinch of salt. Rather it should be treated as the fire that could lead to a blaze!
In the markets, the rand, which was looking to breach R15.70 against the US dollar on Friday, has clawed back some losses tpo last trade at R15.56/$. “We have seen a return of positive risk sentiment in the US markets, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 ending the week deep in the green with both the indices up by 1,65% and 2.43%, respectively. Asian markets have caught wind of the positive sentiment, with the Hang Seng and Nikkei being up by close to 1%. Should the positive sentiment spill into currency markets, we could see the rand slowly starting to fight back to the R15.50-level,” comments TreasuryONE.
On the commodity front, palladium and Brent crude are sustaining momentum, with Brent breaking above $90 a barrel amid growing demand, tightening supply and geopolitical worries over Ukraine and Russia. Brent started the local open at $91.06 a barrel. Palladium was quoted at $2,365/oz, while gold and platinum were under pressure, last trading at $1,787/oz and $1,007/oz respectively.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
Jacob Zuma in final push to avoid Arms Deal charges – Daily Maverick
Here’s how much money South Africans are saving for retirement – BusinessTech
South Africans are turning to side hustles – here’s what the law says – Cape Business News
Global Business
Brexit: UK plan to remove EU law sparks nations’ anger – BBC News
Camera mounted on North Korea missile takes snaps from space – Bloomberg
Oil spill ‘nail in the coffin’ for Covid-hit Thai beach businesses – AFP
Markets
Most Asian markets rise in thinned trade after Wall St rally – AFP
Oil stays near 7-year peaks over supplies and geopolitical tension worries – Investing.com
An army of faceless suits is taking over the $4 trillion hedge fund world – Bloomberg
Opinion/In-depth
Zondo affidavit: Spooks aligned with Zuma enabled State Capture – Daily Maverick
600 years ago a king tried to deny a labour shortage after a pandemic – and it killed hundreds – Business Insider
The other Vrede scandal: Zuma Inc’s cash flows from Free State RDP housing project – Daily Maverick
Video
Education vs Survival: SA’s youth struggle to stay in school – EWN
BILTONG gunning for jerky’s US market share: SA-born Stryve CMO Warren Pala on the R1bn US adventure – Biznews
Ukraine city braces for possible Russian invasion – NYT News
