Weekend Thing: Moyane's legal smoke rings, World Cup drama

[Click here for the web version of this email]( [Daily Maverick] Saturday, 7 July 2018 SARSplaining “I received no favour from Tom Moyane… But you can' t punish him." - EFF pit boss Julius Malema, being former SARS pit boss Tom Moyane's only friend. In sum The Nugent Commission's findings have reverberated into this week, with crucial evidence provided on the tobacco industry and its links to SARS, Moyane, and the whole rotten lot. Gold Leaf it alone Testimony was dry and difficult to keep awake through, but crucial. Tax expert [Cecil Morden explained]( essential details on SARS' revenue collection, why the R1 trillion mark trumpeted by Moyane was irrelevant, and, most important, why tobacco is an integral part of it all. In a nutshell, big tobacco is making a fortune not paying excise tax, under-declaring output, and generally being nefarious characters. A concerted campaign by larger industry players to pinion Golf Leaf to the illicit tobacco post also emerged. All in all, it appeared as though tobacco's unhealthy practices under Tom Moyane's iron rule flourished. Why should you care? The lost revenue is a damning illustration of the rot induced by SARS under Moyane during state capture. The decay remains, and you can expect the big tobacco players to resist having to pay their taxes lawfully. This, in turn, is a crucial example of substantive legal matter against Moyane himself, a sharp [counterpoint to his own counsel's rhetoric-heavy defence.]( [Exclusive Books Top Ten.]( [This weekend we're watching]( A touching look at one man's last storm chasing adventure while battling terminal lung cancer. Land ahoy 30% The estimated amount of land in KwaZulu-Natal controlled by the Ingonyama Trust. Good to be King King Goodwill Zwelithini and IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi [hosted a land imbizo]( on Wednesday this week, rallying constituents against amending section 25 of the Constitution, or allow for land expropriation without compensation in other words. Not standing on custom At the heart of it, Zwelithini and Buthelezi are attempting to muddy the land expropriation waters in an attempt to retain their lucrative grip on the traditional land, and the profits for administering it. As it stands, those on the affected-land must pay their tithes into the Trust. Just why this need carry one when the right to traditional land - and not an administrative body - is well-entrenched already. The Ingonyama Trust has been a [rich vein of profit]( for those in the family, as it were. As such, scare-mongering by the King and Buthelezi serves their purposes of retaining the Trust, lest government bogeymen take away small-holders land. After all, without the protection of your friendly fiefdom mafioso, who will ensure you don't lose your land? Battle Royal Except, that's all a load of bull. Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize has already dismissed the notion of appropriating traditional land as it was already black-owned and administered. Instead, this is all a clear play by those profiting from the Trust to ensure its royal subjects don't think too critically on just why it should be there in the first place. Instead, this is all a clear play by those profiting from the Trust to ensure its royal subjects don't think too critically on just why it should be there in the first place, and don't have control over what happens to their own patches of land. — [Exclusive Books Top Ten.]( [Peace through superior firepower]( Lasers used to be strictly the remit of warehouses in Newtown, where the angsty and the inebriated could shuffle to repetitive electronic noises. China, however, has other ideas. A local company has developed the ZKZM-500 laser rifle. Capable of igniting clothing and 'carbonising' flesh at an 800m-1km range, the future of warfare might have arrived. Chinese police units have termed the weapon 'non-lethal'. — Key Reading [Groote Schuur trauma ward: ‘We are overloaded with violence’]( By Leila Dougan and Shaun Swingler Warning: The following story contains images that some may find disturbing. Ca-Nine The average dog can count to five. In dog terms that's more like 35. Hung, Drawn and Quarter-final'd Today will see the other half of the World Cup's quarter-finals take place. England will be taking on a defiant Sweden, while Russia faces Croatia. Make sure to familiarise yourself with [Kane vs Sweden here]( , and to take a look at [Russia's chances against Croatia here.]( Devil is in the details With many of the big names knocked out of the tournament, all eyes will be on what those remaining teams, and stars, can produce. The World Cup has produced a wealth of entertaining football, marred perhaps only by excessive Neymar-based pitch-flopping. Our money's on Harry Kane to take England through to the finals at any rate. Weekend reading [Seeking a safe space: ‘It’s not nice to see your mother beg’]( [Seeking a safe space: ‘It’s not nice to see your mother beg’]( BY Hlumela Dyantyi & Suné Payne [How your health issues are manipulated to serve the interests of big medical business]( [How your health issues are manipulated to serve the interests of big medical business]( BY Greg Nicolson [‘Glitches’ in Sassa’s new IT system leave 700,000 grant recipients in nationwide limbo]( [‘Glitches’ in Sassa’s new IT system leave 700,000 grant recipients in nationwide limbo]( BY Marianne Merten [Exclusive Books Top Ten.]( [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2018 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick Afternoon Thing subscriber list. 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