Pick of the week's articles

[Daily Maverick] Sunday, 15 October 2017 STORY OF THE WEEK [ANC Leadership Race: Zweli Mkhize is Zuma’s chosen one, Dlamini Zuma just a decoy, says Holomisa]( By MARIANNE MERTEN In the Byzantine manoeuvrings and sleight of hand of the ANC presidential succession race, anything is possible. And for United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa it is that former African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma is the decoy to distract as the real game plan is lined up. And so the third way of ANC Treasurer Zweli Mkhize was “nonsense”. [Editorial: Minister Mbalula’s laughable attempt at defending the indefensible]( While Minister Fikile Mbalula clearly understands that stealing money directly from the fiscus is a no-no, he doesn’t seem to grasp the finer points of conflict of interest. [ANC Leadership Race: With Mpumalanga’s massive growth, it’s now David Mabuza, the decider. Be very afraid.]( When trying to put together the complicated puzzle that is the ANC’s leadership election equation, it is important to assign values to your pieces. You need to know which way someone will go, and how much power they will have. The release on Friday night of the numbers of delegates each ANC province will be sending to the national conference now gives us much more information. While it is still far from clear what exactly will happen, we now know that the biggest piece, the player with the most weight, is probably going to be David Dabede Mabuza, the Premier of Mpumalanga and the ANC Chairman of that province. For those hoping for a wholesale cleanup and an end to corruption within the ANC and South Africa, this is probably bad news. By STEPHEN GROOTES. [Scorpio & amaBhungane: The McKinsey Dossier, Part 4 – Bending over backwards for Trillian]( Eskom paid Trillian R595-million without a valid contract while lying to the public about doing so. This is well established by now. But how the Gupta-linked company was sneaked onto Eskom’s payment system – a system designed to prevent fraud – has always been a mystery. A series of interviews and leaked documents show that suspended chief financial officer Anoj Singh and his management team stand accused of bending over backwards to get Trillian their payday, sometimes bullying mid-level officials into fabricating documents. By Pauli van Wyk for SCORPIO and Susan Comrie for AMABHUNGANE. [Analysis: Cape Town’s water plans murky as crisis deepens]( Capetonians – at least those who can afford it – need to get used to stockpiling bottled water. This is part of the “new normal” announced by the City of Cape Town this week as it implements Phase One of its water crisis plans. But while there’s now no doubt as to the severity of Cape Town’s water problem, there is still considerable vagueness from the City as to how and when its plans are being applied. By REBECCA DAVIS. — [Zuma Spy Tapes Judgment Day cometh: Will Shaun Abrahams finally honour his oath of office?]( Shaun Abrahams, head of the country’s beleaguered National Prosecution Authority will find himself in the spotlight on Friday when the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein hands down judgment in President Jacob Zuma and the NPA’s appeal against a High Court order for the reinstatement of 783 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against the President. It is clear from September representations made to the SCA that Abrahams is a worried man. Will he finally find his spine and honour his oath of office and the rule of law? By MARIANNE THAMM. [Op-Ed: KPMG – rearranging the deckchairs or stage-managing the facts? An insider’s perspective.]( The South African public is gatvol with corruption. When it comes to KPMG, nothing short of a review process is required to uncover all the wrongdoing, with actual consequences for the wrongdoers. This includes fines and time spent in correctional services. By MOOKETSI ‘POP’ MOTSISI. [Declassified: Apartheid Profits – American Guns]( Welcome to the 11th article in the series, Declassified: Apartheid Profits. While researching the recently published book Apartheid Guns and Money: A Tale of Profit, Open Secrets collected approximately 40,000 archival documents from 25 archives in seven countries. This treasure trove contains damning details of the individuals and corporations that propped up apartheid and profited in return. Many of these documents were kept secret until now. Most remain hidden despite South Africa’s transition to democracy. OPEN SECRETS believes that it is vital to allow the public to scrutinise the primary evidence. This week we take a look at the shadowy world of illegal arms dealing between the US and apartheid South Africa, and the CIA links behind them. [Cricket: CSA postpones T20 League just days after saying it definitely would go ahead]( Cricket South Africa confirmed on Tuesday that the T20 Global League has been postponed. Despite media being assured just last week that the tournament would go ahead as scheduled, the governing body now says the decision to postpone it was “not taken lightly”. By ANTOINETTE MULLER. — [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. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](