Who is Mojo Motau, plus five highlights from ‘Vrye Weekblad’

Here’s what’s hot in the latest edition of the Afrikaans digital weekly

21 May 2021 - 07:02 By TimesLIVE
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Maomela Moreti 'Mojo' Motau
Maomela Moreti 'Mojo' Motau
Image: SUPPLIED

What dark secrets are wrapped up in the past of an ex-chief of military intelligence's history in Umkhonto we Sizwe?

Mojo Motau, an avowed Zuma supporter and an active participant in the faction fights within the ruling party, insists that apartheid spies in the ANC should be exposed. But Motau himself is now emerging to be an extremely dark horse and the council of the MK veterans is asking some hard questions.

Such as where exactly he did his MK training and what his nom de guerre was during the struggle. And was he actually ever even a member of MK? 

So who is this man?  


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The former head of the SANDF, Siphiwe Nyanda acknowledges that Motau was a “nonentity in the struggle”.

“Nobody had heard of Motau before integration,” says Maj-Gen (ret.) Keith Mokoape, who was head of MK's military intelligence until 1990 and was Ronnie Kasrils' deputy before that.

Last year, Motau and his grouping of “ANC cadres” launched a crusade to get rid of the current ANC top structure.

He claimed to have several former generals in his circles, which ignited fears of a coup. 

Motau did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more about this saga, and more news and analysis this week in Vrye Weekblad.


Must-read articles in this week’s Vrye Weekblad

NEE MAN! | Afrikaners' scepticism about the Covid-19 vaccine is astoundingly high. Are they gullible, racist, uninformed, stubborn, or are they far sighted? 

FREE TO READ — NEVER TOO LATE FOR DIVORCE | In most age brackets, the divorce figures are dropping. But people 50 and older are falling in line at divorce court. 

BEWARE OF THE BANTING | We still don't know enough about the long-term effects of diets with low carbs and high fats. 

THE MAN FOR THE JOB  | Job Maseko is one of SA's forgotten war heroes, and there is now a campaign to finally award him the Victoria Cross.

FROM THE ARCHIVES | Andrea Vinassa, the original Vrye Weekblad 'commander of culture', died of cancer this week. Here is one of her typical, ballsy articles: a review of Madonna's book Sex.


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