Pick of the week's articles

[Daily Maverick] Sunday, 12 March 2017 STORY OF THE WEEK [Analysis: Is Zuma/ANC starting a battle for the soul of SA judiciary?]( By STEPHEN GROOTES There can be no doubt that judges and the judiciary in general are not President Zuma’s close and intimate friends. So, when there is movement in the arena around judges and the way they are appointed, it is important to sit up and take notice. On Friday, Zuma said he was nominating Constitutional Court Judge Raymond Zondo to take over as Deputy Chief Justice. The night before, he had removed three of his representatives on the Judicial Service Commission. And on Sunday came news that the ANC wanted to ensure that only “progressive” judges ended up on the Bench. Some will fear that Zuma is trying to bend the Bench to his will. If that indeed is the case, and while he might be too late for this specific party, it is certainly important not to let the moves be obscured by the current plethora of SA political fights. [Social Grants: Chief Justice takes control, wants dates and names of officials responsible]( Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini and senior Sassa officials have managed to string along parliament's oversight committee for at least six months about the agency's readiness to act as paymaster for social grants after March 31, but they will now have to face the music in the Constitutional Court. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has directed Sassa to provide the names of officials responsible for any decisions, the dates those decisions were made, reasons why the court was not informed, when it was that Sassa realised it would be unable to act as paymaster on April 1 and when exactly Dlamini was alerted to it all. The fat lady is about to sing. By MARIANNE THAMM [The ANC vs The Stalwarts: The Great Betrayal & The Fight Back]( If you thought that the ANC could not stoop any lower, think again. After a series of meetings with their stalwarts and military veterans, the ANC has now spat in their faces. In a spectacular volte-face, some ANC leaders are denying they had agreed to a national consultative conference to confront the crisis in the party. Initially stunned by the betrayal, the stalwarts have now decided to fight back for the soul of the ANC. Those at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid are now remobilising to take on their own organisation. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY. [TRAINSPOTTER: Jacob Zuma, and how the state breaks when you’re otherwise occupied]( Last week, President Jacob Zuma decided not to suspend National Prosecuting Director Shaun Abrahams, stepped up his Oprah-ish Free Land For Everyone campaign, and watched from the wings as Sassa did everything it could to bungle the delivery of social grants flowing to increasingly desperate millions of South Africans. Under cover of this busy news week, and as Bathabile Dlamini continued to reinvent the meaning of Satan, Zuma helped undermine the state in two critical ways. Neither story got much play, but together they form a vital part of his strategy – chip away at the viability of our governing institutions until the foundation gives way. Which is when Zuma and his henchmen stroll into the Treasury, carrying oversized duffel bags. By RICHARD POPLAK. [Timbavati risks tourist backlash to hunt a super tusker]( Synecdoce is an interesting but seldom used word of Greek origin which means a part of some object or action which represents the whole. An example is the application by the Timbavati reserve to hunt a super tusker and its approval by Kruger National Park. There are only about 25 to 30 such elephants left in the world. That single request, in a long list of other animals to be hunted, embodies a much bigger story. By DON PINNOCK. [Exploiting the poorest of the poor: Allan Gray is feeling the NET1 heat]( The private company at the heart of the Sassa social grant disaster has attracted controversy for a number of reasons. Among them: its practice of using the Sassa database to sell products to grant recipients, and to automatically deduct money for these products off their grant payments. As pressure mounts against Net1 and its largest single shareholder, Allan Gray, the point to debate is this: even if this practice is legal, is it ethical? By REBECCA DAVIS. [Top SA jurists make the case for the ICC, as South Africa withdraws its original notice of withdrawal]( In an attempt to cut through the fog of misunderstanding and misinformation that surrounds South Africa’s membership of the International Criminal Court, a heavyweight panel of brilliant legal minds – including six former Constitutional Court justices – has briefed Parliament on what exactly is at stake. By SIMON ALLISON. [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](