SONA's grande melee

[Daily Maverick] WEEKEND THING with JOHN STUPART Saturday, 11th February 2017 “There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” Douglas Adams PICTURE OF THE WEEK BY EPA/KIM LUDBROOK Mourners respect the late Springbok rugby player, Joost van der Westhuizen during the memorial for the rugby player who died after a long struggle with Motor Neuron Disease, Pretoria, South Africa, 10 February 2017. The ex Springbok captain made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and participated in three Rugby World Cups, most notably in the 1995 tournament which was won by South Africa. THIS WEEK'S WRAP-UP [Sonorific SONA's descent into sadness]( The State of the Nation Address started poorly and ended even worse. Accusations of militarisation by the opposition and promises of rallies by the ANC characterised much of the build up to Thursday. So much so, that the initial stages of the SONA address resembled the Gucci-clad equivalent of political bezerkers whipping themselves into a frenzy. The EFF's careful orchestration of the day ultimately saw them engage in outright mortal combat with the white shirt parliamentary Gestapo. That was their plan, after all, but it was alarming to witness regardless. Zuma chuckled, the ANC hurled epithets at the DA, and ultimately the thing that mattered the least, President Zuma's speech, came out with as much force as the gentle snores of his party's backbenchers. [SANDF becomes the stepchild of politics]( The week also saw much of the pre-SONA frenzy focused on the president's statement authorising 441 SANDF troops to assist SAPS in maintaining "law and order". The statement caused an uproar amongst opposition parties and media alike. In practice, SANDF deployments were nothing new, but the timing of the political authorisation was certainly a recent, strategic manoeuvring. [Country bids Joost farewell]( The death of Joost van der Westhuizen resulted in a worldwide outpouring of sympathy. President Zuma announced that Joost would be honoured with a Provincial Official funeral late in the week. On Friday, Loftus Versfeld saw the stands awash in green and gold, while the legendary Springbok's 1995 World Cup team watched on the side. PJ Powers sang the World in Union, Amor Vittone gave a heartfelt, tear-jerking tribute, and the country paused to remember a rugby great. [Big week for sports worldwide]( Monday morning saw the New England Patrios victorious in what has been hailed as one of, if not the single most incredible football comebacks of all time. Facing a mammoth score against them by a seemingly invincible Atlanta Falcons, Tom Brady and his team went on to reverse said score in the first ever Super Bowl overtime in history. In cricket, the Proteas defeated Sri Lanka in successive ODI matches to secure a complete whitewash tour. Winning on Friday night by 88 runs, the Proteas are now ranked Number 1 in the ICC ODI rankings. Unless you are from Atlanta or Sri Lanka, a jolly good sports week has been had. — FACT OF THE DAY Flames conduct electricity. It might be a while before fire-powered cables become a thing, though. EDITOR'S PICKS [TRAINSPOTTER: #SONA2017 – Democracy ends with a flash-bang, not a whimper]( By RICHARD POPLAK [Life Esidimeni 94: Solidarity brings class action lawsuit, to surprise of many]( By GREG NICOLSON [Alt-Mining Indaba: Extraction’s dark side on display]( By REBECCA DAVIS [US: Donald Trump’s Judgment Daze]( By J BROOKS SPECTOR — [Video of the week]( VIDEO OF THE WEEK ["The Looking Planet"]( By Eric Law Anderson IN OTHER NEWS We may have a typo now and then, and sometimes an error, but nothing quite on the scale of The Daily Mail. The long-sensationalist organisation has been blacklisted by Wikipedia and forbidden to be used as a use for any entries. Wikipedia argued this week that the Mail and Mail Online were generally unreliable and had little to no fact-checking. There are certainly a number of South African 'news' organisations that could be added to that list. [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2016 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick First Thing subscriber list. Keep up to date on all DM activities by [clicking here](. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](