ANC, Guptas and Walus: 10 things you may have missed this week

Need to catch up on what happened this week? From the Guptas to Janusz Walus parole fight, we round up some of the big stories - local and international - that made the news...

1) ANC election manifesto

ANC bigwigs arrived in numbers in Port Elizabeth this week, in a show of force ahead of a hotly contested election. The party's decision to launch its election manifesto in Port Elizabeth is seen as a strategy to revive its popularity in a metro where it got less than 50% of votes in the last general election. The party expects more than 100, 000 members and supporters to fill Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - where it also plans to unveil its new election song.

2) Janusz Parole Fight

The justice minister was on Thursday refused permission to appeal against a court order that he must release Chris Hani’s murderer Janusz Walus on parole. Walus was sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of Hani. But the minister is not giving up the fight having instructed his advocate to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for permission to bring an appeal in that court.

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3) Oakbay Troubles

The Banking Association South Africa (Basa) has said the decisions by the big four banks to stop doing business with companies owned by the Gupta family were well considered. Basa stressed that the decisions were "taken separately and independently by some banks to terminate their business relationships with Oakbay". Just over a week after reports emerged that the controversial Gupta family had left the country for Dubai, their compound in Saxonwold remains under heavy guard and nobody seems to know where they are.

4) Nene Gets A New Job

Former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene is keeping mum over his new appointment in the private sector. Nene told ENCAr that it was not “wise” to talk about future employment before actually being employed as that would “jump the gun”‚ but did quip that his “gardening leave” is coming to an end soon.

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5) New Bok Coach

Allister Coetzee was unveiled as the new Springbok coach on Tuesday to become the 13 national rugby team coach since re-admission.

6) Denel/Gupta Link Scrutinised

State-owned armaments manufacturer Denel says it will continue to engage with the National Treasury to ensure that any misunderstanding between them about the Denel Asia joint venture is resolved amicably. Denel was quoted in reports last week as saying it had established a joint venture with VR Laser Services‚ a company said to be partly owned by the Gupta family

7) Crunch Time in USA Elections

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and rival Bernie Sanders assailed each other on Thursday over their judgment and experience before a rowdy crowd in a high-volume debate five days before a crucial New York nominating contest for the U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile Republican front-runner Donald Trump talked up "New York values" and urged his home state voters to give him a big win next week.

8) Quake hits Japan

At least nine people were killed in Thursday night's 6.5-magnitude quake, which also toppled houses and buckled roads on the southwestern island of Kyushu in Japan. Some of the country's biggest firms including Sony and Toyota shut down operations, fuelling worries about disruption to supply lines and possible effects on the wider economy.

9) Brazil Impeachment

Brazil's Supreme Court on Friday rejected a last-ditch attempt by President Dilma Rousseff to halt the impeachment process against her ahead of a key vote in Congress. If the vote passes on Sunday, the Senate will have the authority to open a trial against Rousseff, who is accused of illegal government accounting tricks. If the Senate finds her guilty with another two-thirds vote, she would be forced from office.

10) ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Local comedian Thenjiwe Moseley recently shared a hilarious video‚ where she claims Beyoncé is her biological daughter and urges her to come back home to KwaMashu in Durban.