Madam president: Sisulu’s desperate last-ditch power play

What’s in the M&G this week [View this email in your browser]( January 21, 2022 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, The battle of statements begins. Lindiwe Sisulu says the presidency’s statement is “unfortunate”. But what is unfortunate is the systemic issues that South Africans face while the ANC’s internecine rumbles continue. More in this week’s M&G, available in print and online. [Subscribe now]( ‘Sisulu needs to secure RET to lead ANC’ Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has launched her campaign for the ANC presidency with an onslaught on the judiciary and the Constitution aimed at positioning herself as the “radical economic transformation” (RET) faction’s number one candidate for the post. But little support in the party’s structures and the presence of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the RET presidential candidate in December 2017, mean that Sisulu will have her work cut out for her if she is to secure the faction’s nomination for president ahead of the December elective conference. ANC 2022: A year of political jostling Provincial manoeuvring has begun in earnest as all ANC roads lead to the December elective conference. Old and new names have been thrown in the ring as the slates emerge to back one faction or another in the party. But some casualties are already looming and could be detrimental to either faction as the provinces plot their way to their elective conferences in the coming months and look towards the showdown at the end of the year. As the hustling continues, Paddy Harper outlines some of the important provincial political players — including those awaiting trial for corruption — who will take centre stage in building support for whoever becomes the next leaders of the ANC. SANDF’s condemned building mess A 40-year-old army accommodation block housing 500 soldiers was “upgraded” using residents’ recreational fund contributions. But it is dangerous: other residential flats in the area have been evacuated because of dolomite corrosion. A gloomy future awaits most of the country’s matriculants Forgotten amid the annual public relations, pomp and celebration of the country’s national senior certificate examination results for the class of 2021 is the harsh reality that a bleak future awaits the majority of South Africa’s latest crop of matriculants. Whistleblower ‘suspicious’ of home invasion The incident at Johann van Loggerenberg’s house comes a week after a similar one at the home of fellow whistleblower and Zondo commission witness Themba Maseko. A female brown locust lays an averLocust fighters in losing battle The current endemic brown locust outbreak, which is razing large tracts of agricultural land, is one of the worst in a decade, and has overwhelmed the country’s locust-fighting teams, from Pofadder to Somerset East. Club Pelican: How the iconic venue nurtured local music A nighttime haunt in the back streets of Orlando West, Soweto, run by a well-known bootlegger should have been a prime zone for nefarious underworld activities. Instead, it nurtured an underground of a different kind. And with that we have reached the end of another week. Please be nice to each other and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday. Until then, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2022 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.