When the Digital Vibes scandal surfaced, I was among the sceptics. Health minister Zweli Mkhize had a good name in my home province of KZN. Both he and wife Dr May had served the community as GPs for decades. So for many, his statement issued after the initial bombshell was rational and easy to believe. Except that now it appears to have been a crass attempt to disguise a crude plunder of national resources.
After reading the 87 page affidavit of the Special Investigations Unit, embedded in the latest BizNews story, on Mkhize one can draw one of two conclusions. Either the former health minister and wannabe president is crooked and actively participated in stealing at least R80m from taxpayers; or, perhaps worse, he was played like a cheap guitar by two female confidants and his deeply implicated son. Paul O’Sullivan (below) helped unpack it for us, concluding that the SIU has a watertight case and people will end up in jail.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Magnus Heystek (above) quipped yesterday that he had returned home to Johannesburg after a two hour flight from another country – the Western Cape. He was only half joking. People in the southern-most province of SA live different lives to those up north, especially during riot-infested July. Having been exposed to the chaos in KZN and Zulu-dominated areas in Gauteng, many are seriously agitating for their province to become a separate country. Heystek says discussion at dinner parties during his 10 days in the Cape focused on little else. Notwithstanding the many hoops secessionists would need to jump through, whether Pretoria would ever bend to the apparent will of these people is a very open question.
In that context, although Africa’s boundaries were mapped out in European libraries, the continent’s modern day rulers retain a deep affection with these arbitrarily-created borders. South Sudan’s independence was only won after a 21 year war. A similar movie running is in Ethiopia right now where the government is engaged in a bloody conflict with ethnic Tigrayans, a minority who account for 5% of the population. Tigray, the mountainous northern most region, has accounted itself rather well in the fighting. But the victories of the rebels over government troops hasn’t worked out well for ethnic Tigrayans elsewhere in Ethiopia, hundreds of whom have been arrested in recent weeks.
With international travel starting to open up again (fully vaccinated South Africans can now visit France without having to quarantine), airline executives are anticipating a long-delayed recovery. They’ll also be hoping for an injection of sanity. Research by our partners at The Wall Street Journal shows that ticket prices are the same levels of a quarter century ago – and down by half after adjusting for inflation.
I’m in the Drakensberg today helping to finalise arrangements for the Spring BizNews Investment Conference, so there won’t be a Rational Perspective newsletter tomorrow. The next edition will hit your inbox on Monday.
NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS…
As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal’s credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner’s website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you’ll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our help desk can assist – [email protected].
