Gordhan goes to war, and 5 more highlights from this week's Vrye Weekblad

The great powers in South African politics are taking aim at each other. Minister Pravin Gordhan's court application in which he requests the setting aside of the public protector's findings against him will break new political ground, writes Max du Preez in the latest edition of Afrikaans digital weekly Vrye Weekblad. 

"Someone is going to get hurt badly, and I suspect it won't be Pravin Gordhan," Du Preez writes, comparing the minister's court application to a bag of dynamite thrown at public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. 

"Having all the court documents available to me, and considering everything I have learnt about this matter over the past few years, I find Mhkwebane's recommendations regarding Gordhan absolutely astounding," he writes. 

"There is probably a small outside chance that she knows something she hasn't yet said, but to me this seems like brutal professional suicide – as public protector but perhaps also as a member of the Bar. The powers behind her must be formidable and their reassurances to her very firm. This is a guerrilla war."

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Five other must-read articles in this week's Vrye Weekblad

RIP | James Small was a hardcore player and a man who carried his heart on his sleeve. Clinton van der Berg remembers the sagas and scandals of SA's first rugby rock star.

FREE TO READ: ZIMBABWE LAND GRABS | Journalist Peta Thornycroft went home from SA to Zimbabwe to report about the violence at the time of the infamous farm occupations. She looks back to her experiences during that turbulent period.

RETRO MOVIE EXPERIENCE | Going to the movies is expensive these days, but if you're in the mood for a fun, affordable, retro movie night, there's always the 70-year-old Labia theatre in Cape Town.

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN | A former Ikey, Dr Natasha van Zyl, is leading a medical team in groundbreaking work to help paralysed people – and 13 young patients can now eat and drink by themselves again.

IT GETS BETTER | A wave of pessimism is sweeping SA, with feelings of being powerless, polarised, angry and dispirited to rival those of the stormy late 1980s. Max du Preez is not standing for it, though.