Hogarth: 01 January 2012

31 December 2011 - 02:19 By Hogarth
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Hogarth does not suffer fools lightly and is compulsive reading for the millions of South Africans who share this intolerance.

A politician who earned his stripes in a jungle of clichés

HOGARTH will miss his good old friend Amichand Rajbansi, who sadly passed away this week. The Bengal Tiger, once described by his wife, Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi, as the proverbial "cat with nine lives", often featured in this column over the years with his penchant for mind-blowing statements.

Who can ever forget his reaction when he was asked if he would step down after a commission of inquiry found him unfit to hold office?

"Well," he said, "I will double-cross that bridge when I get there."

But Hogarth's all-time favourite Rajbansi quote must be when he said, "A tiger never changes its spots".

Plenty for everyone

RAJBANSI'S sense of humour was boundless. After hearing that his ex-wife, Asha Devi, had joined the Inkatha Freedom Party shortly after his Minority Front had formed a coalition with the IFP's archrivals, the ANC, the Bengal Tiger told reporters: "Now the IFP and the ANC each has a Rajbansi and they don't need to fight."

Jake and Jeff's juggling act

ONE of the incidents of 2011 that President Jacob Zuma would want to forget quickly must be the roasting he got from the Supreme Court of Appeal for failing to properly apply his mind when appointing Menzi Simelane as chief prosecutor.

But if you thought the dancing president had learned anything from the SCA ruling, you would be wrong.

Guesswork continues to be the order of the day when it comes to presidential appointments, especially in the justice cluster.

Just a week ago, Zuma deemed Justice Minister Jeff Radebe's choice of an acting head of the Special Investigating Unit, Nomgcobo Jiba, too controversial to take over from former judge Willem Heath.

Days later, the president seemed to have changed his mind about Jiba - rewarding her with an even more senior post as Simelane's temporary replacement.

A show with no survivor

ZUMA should seriously consider renaming his justice and security cluster after Hollywood, given the number of key positions that are now held by acting individuals.

With national intelligence, the police and justice forced to appoint acting heads of key departments and institutions, the cluster is fast resembling one long and messy soap opera.

Invisible blue line

HOGARTH believes that Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele's heart is in the right place and that his crusade to clamp down on reckless driving deserves plenty of praise.

But Ndebele risks not being taken seriously by anyone if he continues, as one participant put it during a radio talk show, to formulate new policy proposals at the scene of every major road accident.

Ndebele hogged the headlines this week with his suggestion that those caught contravening traffic laws should have their licences suspended.

It all sounded groundbreaking, but what the minister really needs to tell us is what his department is doing to ensure that traffic officers are more visible - and not just around city centres.

Bugs in the system

FOLLOWING Cosatu leader Zwelinzima Vavi's complaint about "corrupt blue flies and mosquitoes" who are threatening to take over the ANC, one of Hogarth's colleagues pointed out that the Chinese have an interesting saying to the effect that if you open your windows to get fresh air, you also invite flies in.

So, before he takes out his Doom and chases out the mosquitoes and flies, Vavi will do well to remember that he himself was among those who invited them in when they were campaigning for Zuma to be president.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now