Zille no longer the DA's tiller

[Daily Maverick] WEEKEND THING with JOHN STUPART Saturday, 17 June 2017 “I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself” Simone de Beauvoir PICTURE OF THE WEEK BY EPA/Alejandro Garcia A dancer performs during the presentation of the show 'Phosphere' at the Sonar Music Festival in Barcelona, Spain, 14 June 2017. The show opened to the public on 15 June and runs until 17 June. THIS WEEK'S WRAP-UP [Helen Zille gets a demotion]( Taking a break from mulching through the Gupta-Presidency nexus, the country bore witness to Helen Zille's ignominious exit left. Brought in to a media briefing this week, Zille was stripped from all decision-making structures of the DA, including the federal executive, the federal council and the provincial council. She remained premier, but the message was clear: the DA is in Maimane's hands and whether you are a WASP or an exiled ANC refugee, the opposition will not tolerate the defence of colonialism. [London block fire kills at least 30]( Over a score and more people died in a fiery blaze that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a West London 27 storey block of flats. Rescue workers expect more deaths as they comb the charred remains of the building. Worldwide sympathy for the disaster appeared to be outmatched only by British outrage at the state of fire-fighting in London, and the political roots that exacerbated the damage. — [Anti-Trump hater attacks Republican baseball practice]( On Wednesday, Republican Whip Steve Scalise and three others were wounded by a gunman during their baseball practice in Virginia. The attacker, James Hodgkinson, was killed in the ensuing shootout with Scalise's security detail and responding police. A staunch anti-Trump zealot, Hodgkinson's actions were widely condemned by both sides of the American political spectrum. [Taxi protest brings Gauteng to a halt]( Mini-bus taxis of the South African National Taxi Association (Santaco) took to the highways on Thursday. At the heart of the issue: a dispute over negotiations on the price of Toyota Quantum vehicles. The disruption to Gauteng's horrid-at-best traffic was predictably apocalyptic. Those wishing to get to the Gautrain were hampered by taxis also blocking the bus entrances. 18 taxis on the N1 were impounded, but in terms of passenger-rage, no quantification could ever be high enough. — FACT OF THE DAY Mulan has the highest kill count of all Disney characters. EDITOR'S PICKS [The Art of the Apology: Why Zille’s climbdown was a significant political moment]( By RANJENI MUNUSAMY [Ghosts of Rwanda: War crimes, genocide, and terrorism – where to now for Nyamwasa?]( By KRISTEN VAN SCHIE [Golden Wheat: Mine waste used to ‘grow gold’ thanks to SA scientist’s winning research]( By MARELISE VAN DER MERWE [Scorpio and amaBhungane #GuptaLeaks: Bell Pottinger, ANCYL and MK veterans – the early days]( By SCORPIO and AMABHUNGANE. — [Video of the week]( VIDEO OF THE WEEK [Patrick Speaks]( By Channel 4 IN OTHER NEWS The Facebook Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Lab encountered a disturbance in the AI force this week. While designing the scripts for their automated chatbots, they discovered that their newfound machines developed their own language to negotiate with each other. Facebook developers quickly interrupted this disgusting display of sentience, but that just means SKYNET will go into the linguistic darknet. [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2017 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](