The ghosts of Zuma’s past, Ace and Berning Ntlemeza joining forces

[View in browser]( [Mail & Guardian]( M&G Mornings | Thu 31 Aug   [Ron Derby] At the height of the craziness of Jacob Zuma’s final years as state president, there were a few characters that were all over our television screens, radio bulletins and on our front pages. Characters such as former SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng, social development minister Bathabile Dlamini and anyone of the so-called “premier league” of provincial leaders – including Ace Magashule – all came to represent what was a very uncertain, dark chapter of Zuma’s corruption-tainted administration. It was quite a time, and quite often embarrassing, with Hlaudi’s version of management and “intellectualism” on full display. For the most part, these names have fallen off the radar, thankfully. But with life as “cold as it outside the ANC,” some were bound to claw their way back into our political arena. Ace Magashule’s decision to start a new party is no surprise. Still facing criminal court proceedings, the best defence for any politician is to have a political home, any home. Hubris aside, former US President Donald Trump’s drive to get back into the White House is also about escaping justice. Yesterday, another ghost from Zuma’s past came back to haunt me with the appearance of the former Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza at the launch of Magashule’s party. Remember him? The man controversially headed the “elite” crime fighting agency between 2014 and 2017. He was forced into retirement after a court ruling found he had been appointed to head the agency unlawfully. His was, by all accounts, a reign of terror and factionalism. Seeing him at the launch of yet another coalition of the wounded was a surprise, but also not. Because our best and brightest choose to rather stay on the sidelines and chase wealth in the private sector than pursue a life in the public sphere, there’s a space for men such as Ntlemeza and Magashule to continue to look to settle old scores and recycle old ideas. These men pose a risk to our democracy because they keep the political arena unappealing for a younger crop of politicians. Ron Derby | Editor-in-Chief [@Ronderby]( [Ace Magashule]( [Ace’s new party is a home for ‘the betrayed’]( The governing party's former secretary general said Cyril Ramaphosa was endorsed by the DA and 'neoliberal handlers' [// Read more]( [Senzo Meyiwa's alleged killers back at Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court]( [Meyiwa trial: Ballistics expert says gun found at accused’s home matches bullet at crime scene]( Lieutenant Colonel Christian Mangena’s reconstruction of the scene showed that two shots were fired in the house where the football player was killed [// Read more]( [Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane was Free State MEC for agriculture when the Estina dairy farm and Gupta wedding deal went down.]( [Estina trial date set for August next year]( As in the Nulane case, the prosecution alleges that the now fugitive Gupta brothers conspired with the accused to fleece the Free State [// Read more]( Recommended Reads [Niger’s complex crisis: Interplay of power, interests and uncertainties]( The riddle of Western priorities in Niger is becoming increasingly difficult to solve [// Read more]( [Man linked to police killing in Cape Town gets life in jail]( Luyanda Fuzile was sentenced for the shooting of Sergeant Nametso Ignatius Molema in 2021 [// Read more]( [Just another Bric in an increasingly undemocratic wall?]( Partnering with questionable regimes appears to run against the grain of our political and economic interests [// Read more]( Premium [EXPLAINER: Even as inflation falls, homebuyers hold off]( Interest rates will probably remain much higher than their pre-pandemic average, as the Reserve Bank guards against ongoing inflation risks [// Read more]( [Ramaphosa’s silence on Brics serial human rights violators is shameful]( It is a dishonest evasion to excuse the horrors of the Iranian regime on the grounds that some of its Western accusers have a tainted human rights record [// Read more]( Pic of the day [Hurricane Idalia Slams Into Florida's Gulf Coast] A store owner uses a sump pump to try to keep water out of his store after Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia hit the Big Bend area on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 3 storm. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa