25 July 2024

/ The Wrap /

Hi there 🙋🏽‍♀️

The Paris Olympics are almost here, and we can’t wait to celebrate Team South Africa. Back home, we’re watching games of our own: a tit-for-tat between Julius Malema and Cyril Ramaphosa, a cat-and-mouse game between the taxman and a shady reality TV star and a guessing game over whether a Miss SA contestant is South African enough. Also, the rollout of a new anti-HIV jab is set to even the playing field, while the second coming of Trump might signal the end-game to US foreign policy. 

So, let's dive into your weekly update of empowering and easy-to-understand news, brought to you by Verashni Pillay and the explain.co.za team. 😄

Format:

🔊  Voice note by Verashni

📰 Text: Keep scrolling

OUR TAKE: A Miss SA finalist's nationality is under attack

What makes a person a South African? Is it familial ties, loving the culture, or simply being born here?

A Miss South Africa finalist, 23-year-old Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina, is facing a tsunami of xenophobia. Born and raised in Soweto, Adetshina's father is Nigerian, while her mother is of Mozambican ancestry. Despite growing up in Soweto, her inclusion has upset certain South Africans who want her disqualified. A notorious troll started a petition against Adetshina, claiming she "can't even speak our language, she knows nothing about our culture".

Adetshina, speaking to Sowetan, said she wanted to use her story to unite South Africans, though she admitted the negativity had been tough to handle. She said: "You try so hard to represent your country and wear it with so much pride, but all these people are not in support of you… I don't want to end up saying something and then offend people." 😢

Here's the thing: we rarely see this kind of hatred towards South Africans like comedian Trevor Noah and actor Brighton Ngoma, whose fathers are Swiss, for example. We're dealing with Afrophobia here. 

Our country has been scarred by xenophobic violence. In May 2008, a wave of attacks left 62 dead.

In recent years, movements like Operation Dudula, meaning "to force out" in Zulu, have formalised sporadic xenophobia-fuelled vigilante attacks. This includes raiding businesses belonging to foreign nationals. 

Our politicians across party lines have capitalised on the seething hate of other Africans.

Being South African means embracing our complexity, diversity, and shared humanity. Adetshina embodies this. Instead of focusing on her background, we should address the overrepresentation of Gauteng contestants in the pageant—nine out of the Top 16 finalists are from Gauteng. Down with Gauteng Supremacy!

BIG STORY: Cyril’s next challenge after OPA

Last week Thursday, minutes after we published The Wrap, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his Opening of Parliament Address (OPA). How rude. Kidding! As we promised, here’s what you need to know.

The speech called for unity and signalled that there would be no major policy change. So what’s next for this coalition government?

1. Keeping the U in GNU 
Although the GNU is backed by 70% of the MPs, keeping this coalition together while addressing the country’s major issues will be like herding cats—difficult and potentially chaotic. Already Uncle Gweezy and Auntie Helen aren’t getting along, according to a Sunday Times report, with the ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe scolding the DA party chairperson Helen Zille for acting like a  “parallel president”, saying her behaviour was the biggest risk to the GNU. Zille has rubbished these claims, saying they were “the silliest thing she has ever heard.” 

2. The next ANC successor
As this is Ramaphosa’s second and final term, the ANC will be voting for a new party president in December 2027. His deputy and likely successor Paul Mashatile, will unlikely inspire or be able to keep together the GNU as Ramaphosa has. This is a major puzzle for the ANC to solve. 

3. The opposition
The biggest news out of the OPA and subsequent debates by opposition parties is just how impoverished the opposition is. Instead of fully taking on Ramaphosa’s policies, the EFF leader Julius Malema insinuated that Ramaphosa was an apartheid collaborator, questioning his credentials and claiming the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which Ramaphosa co-founded in the 1980s, was funded by billionaires and then mining bosses, the Oppenheimers. “It now makes sense that despite the apartheid regime being so oppressive against all freedom fighters, you peacefully and uninterruptedly attended university and you were given your first job by the ambassadors of apartheid capitalism and colonialism,” said Malema.

On Monday, 22 July,  Ramaphosa called out Malema for his lack of factual accuracy, urging him to understand the NUM’s well-documented history. 

Ramaphosa came out of this one looking strong. The EFF, on the other hand, known for disrupting, heckling, and even brawling in parliament, will need to start behaving like a real opposition and avoid the clown show.

--
Photo: President Cyril Ramaphosa, ParliamentRSA, X

If there's one thing we can count on in South Africa, it's death, taxes, and a Shauwn Mkhize financial scandal. 

The flamboyant businesswoman, reality TV star, and owner of Royal AM soccer club is now embroiled in an R52-million row with the South African Revenue Service (SARS). 

But who is Shauwn Mkhize, and why is the taxman after her?

Known affectionately as "MaMkhize," Mkhize rose to fame (or infamy) through her construction company, Zikhulise. She secured lucrative government tenders for low-cost housing projects in KwaZulu-Natal, amassing a fortune that bought her a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars, designer clothes, and two mansions. However, she has been dogged by allegations of dodgy dealings and tender irregularities, particularly in the eThekwini municipality, where her company was accused of inflating prices and delivering substandard housing.👀 

An inquiry into Mkhize's tax shenanigans (or lack thereof) took a sinister turn after an assassination attempt on SARS advocate Coreth Naude last Thursday, moments after she left the Inquiry into Mkhize's tax affairs. 😱 Naude was shot three times while driving to her hotel in uMhlanga, Durban. She's stable in the hospital and under a heavy police guard. SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter condemned the shooting, saying that the institution would not be "intimidated by such acts of crime and cowardice".

The City Press also reported that Mkhize's son, "soccer player" Andile Mpisane, had defied a SARS summons to attend the Inquiry. Mkhize herself has yet to comment on the allegations. KayaFM reported that she was allegedly in Paris for the Olympics and in her "Don't Care" era. 😳

Mkhize's foray into reality TV is part of a canny reinvention as a benevolent businesswoman and devoted mother. But the attempted assassination reveals the murky underbelly of her dealings. This show may be entertaining, but accountability is waiting. It's about time.

--

Photo: Shauwn Mkhize, Showmax Stories

In a dramatic turn of events on the world stage, US President Joe Biden finally announced on Sunday that he would not run for re-election in November. The 81-year-old's poor debate performance convinced Democratic party leaders that his chances of beating Donald Trump again were too low. He will continue to serve as president until the end of his term and has given his endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris. The rest of the Democratic party has quickly rallied around her. However, concerns about Trump’s chances persist.

Trump enjoys a lot of support on the African continent, which is surprising, to say the least. Despite calling several African countries “shithole countries” in 2018, a 2020 Pew Research Center report showed 65% of Kenyans and 58% of Nigerians viewed him favourably, along with 42% of South Africans. Trump’s return could undermine the advancement of democracy in Africa, according to Etse Sinkaku, a senior lecturer at Accra’s University of Media, Arts and Communication. Here’s what could be at stake. 

• Reproductive rights 
  Under the Republican “global gag rule”, foreign NGOs that seek US funding must agree to stop providing abortion-related services or advocating for the expansion of abortion access. This puts millions of women who rely on US aid for healthcare at risk.
   

• America First, Everyone else last
  "America First" policy threatens global stability. Trump aims to bring jobs back to America by imposing steep tariffs on imported goods, but this stance backfires on the US economy. Countries that export to the US, especially the developing ones, also suffer under this policy. In addition, the US-China trade war during Trump’s previous term led to increased tariffs, impacting global markets. Developing nations found themselves caught in the crossfire, with shrinking export markets and stalled economic growth. A repeat of this scenario could be disastrous for a world still recovering from the 2020 pandemic.
   

• Global politics
  Republicans want to withdraw funding to a war-torn and under-attack Ukraine. This could leave Ukraine vulnerable and Europe destabilised. Trump has also challenged the US’ commitments and military support to NATO, raising concerns about US reliability in NATO, especially given the alliance's role as a counterbalance to Russia's aggression.

A second Trump presidency, if it happens, will be at a time when we’re witnessing the rise of far-right ideologies globally. Here’s hoping the Democrats can get their house in order to stop Trump and his hyper-conservative buddies.

--

Photo: Donald Trump,  Photo by Gage Skidmore, Flickr

It's not every day a single software update can throw the world into chaos, but that's precisely what happened last Friday. 

The chaos began when CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company based in Austin, Texas, published a flawed update for its Falcon Sensor software on Thursday. Designed to detect and prevent hacking attempts, the update instead caused Windows computers to crash and enter an endless reboot cycle, which caused the dreaded "blue screen of death."

The effects were felt instantly and globally:

• Airlines: Grounded flights from the U.S. to Australia, causing massive delays and cancellations. Five major U.S. airlines, including American and Delta, were affected.
   

• Emergency Services: In the U.S., 911 lines went down in multiple states, hampering emergency response efforts.
   

• Healthcare: Hospitals, including those in the UK’s National Health Service, had to cancel non-critical surgeries.
   

• Logistics: UPS and FedEx experienced significant delays, impacting supply chains and last-mile deliveries.

By Microsoft’s estimate, about 8.5 million devices worldwide were affected. 

CrowdStrike's CEO, George Kurtz, quickly took responsibility, issuing an apology and releasing a fix for the flawed update. However, the fix only stopped new machines from crashing and did not immediately help those already in the reboot loop. 

People found creative ways to work around the outages, with some airlines resorting to good old-fashioned pen and paper. While the world scrambled to reboot, it also rebooted its understanding of the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and the need for a diversified tech ecosystem.

In the end, as we chuckle at the collective tech tantrum, we also take away a valuable lesson: always have a backup plan (and maybe a backup for the backup).

--

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Ramaphosa once again addressed the parliament yesterday to present the Presidency Budget Vote, which outlines the financial details of his plans discussed in last week's opening of parliament address. Efforts towards inclusive growth are progressing, supported by his government of national unity, including a bid for private sector investment for his ambitious infrastructure projects.

The presidency’s structural reform unit Operation Vulindlela’s work continues. It is now focused on reforming the local government system and addressing the persistent apartheid-inherited issue in South Africa - spatial inequality, which is constraining our economic growth.

If all goes well, according to the Bureau of Economic Research, our GDP growth might just hit 3.5% by 2029, up from the current measly 1.2%.

However, opposition parties responding to Tuesday's vote raised an important point: Who will oversee this new super presidency?

It’s clear Ramaphosa didn’t trust the thin pool of talent in cabinet ministers previously, leading to an increasing concentration of key government functions in his office. 

Numerous advisory councils are part of the presidency, and the dissolution of the public enterprises department put companies like Eskom and Transnet under the Presidency’s control.

There is little oversight. Normal government departments have a corresponding portfolio committee in parliament, whose entire job is to track what that department gets up to and has the power to summon ministers to explain themselves. It’s where the core work of parliament is done. But the trouble is there is no such committee for the president, with MK Party, Action SA, UDM, and Rise Mzansi calling for one. 

Even those in the GNU, including the DA’s deputy energy & electricity minister Samantha Graham, criticised the move of some SOEs to the presidency. “This (creation of a single centralised holding company) is merely a different model for the failed department of public enterprise,” Business Day reported. 

For his part, Ramaphosa welcomed ongoing reforms to hold the presidency accountable, saying his office had nothing to hide. With such a centralised presidency, such reforms are crucial.

--

Photo: President Cyril Ramaphosa, ParliamentRSA, X

From tomorrow, around 10,000 god-like athletes and about 10 million mere mortal visitors will descend upon Paris for the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, the first in the city of love for 100 years. These games promise to be unique: 

🔹 Instead of building costly brand-new stadiums, Paris is using its historical and cultural landmarks. 

🔹 New sports, such as 3x3 basketball, skateboarding, BMX freestyle, and breaking, will be featured at the Parc Urbain at Place de La Concorde. 

🔹 Paris aims to host the greenest Games ever, promising to halve the carbon footprint compared to London 2012. Following Tokyo's lead, the city is using eco-friendly measures like cardboard beds in the Olympic Village, which will be recycled post-games. The R100 billion Olympic Village and an aquatics centre won't go to waste either: these will be repurposed into homes, a student residence, and office spaces after the event. 

Meanwhile, these Olympics have already been dubbed the 'Conflict Games' due to ongoing global conflicts and political unrest.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus are allowed to compete only as neutrals, given the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

The French government has deployed 20,000 soldiers and 35,000 police officers, with additional support from international forces, to ensure the safety of all participants and spectators.

The war in Gaza could pose another significant challenge, with athletes from both Palestine and Israel competing.

France itself has just emerged from a fraught election. Strikes and protests are a common feature of French political life, and labour unions or political groups could use the global stage of the Olympics to voice their discontent. 

While political and social tensions exist, the Olympics have always been a stage for more than just sports. These Games might not solve all the world's problems, but they can remind us of our shared humanity and the power of coming together, even amidst conflict.

--

Photo: Springbok Sevens, TeamSA Facebook Page

There is some excellent news in the world of healthcare with big implications for South Africa. In 2022, the pharmaceutical giant ViiV Healthcare announced the release of CAB-LA, a long-acting, injectable antiretroviral (ARV) drug. Now, we’ve had this kind of treatment for HIV/AIDS for decades now, but what’s new about this one is that you don’t have to take it every day, unlike current treatments. It's administered every eight weeks (after the initial two doses given four weeks apart). It’s a massive breakthrough. 

Unfortunately, it is also super expensive for now. However, South Africa will receive 231,000 doses of CAB-LA, which was shown to be effective against HIV infections in clinical trials which were carried out in 13 countries, including South Africa. 

By the end of the year, CAB-LA will be available in 867 government health facilities. Studies show it's popular, especially among young people, and could potentially prevent 52,000 new infections yearly. Up to 8.45 million South Africans live with HIV/AIDS. 

The government is optimistic that cheaper generics will soon become available. There’s precedent here, of course. In spite of the AIDS denialism of the early Mbeki years, which caused untold damage, the ARV distribution program in South Africa is now the largest in the world. 

This donation should be seen as a major victory and a testament to the tireless work of those in the field. A South Africa finally free of HIV/AIDS won’t be a mere dream for much longer!  🙌🏾

--

Photo: Pexels

That’s it from us at The Wrap, a product of explain.co.za – simple news summaries for busy people.

The Wrap is sponsored by explain’s agency division. We specialise in content marketing for purpose-driven organisations, often with a pan-African reach. Mail info@explain.co.za for a quote. 

🇸​🇺​🇧​🇸​🇨​🇷​🇮​🇧​🇪​

Remember to share the love – tell your friends to sign up for the updates at explain.co.za/subscribe. 💫

Till next time, goodbye from the team. ✌️