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Our Gnu dawn is finally a reality with South Africa’s cabinet finalised. It’s big but mostly promising. The same can’t be said for Gauteng, where the DA has been left out in the cold. Meanwhile, South Africans continue to shine in music and sport – even if we argue we should still be proud of the Proteas for coming second in the T20 World Cup. But mostly, we’re just glad we’re not France, where a controversial right-wing party is coming to power!
So, let’s dive into your weekly update of empowering and easy-to-understand news, brought to you by Verashni Pillay and the explain.co.za team. 😄
Format:
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▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ 1. OUR TAKE: Gauteng’s Cabinet Drama: ANC and DA Play Tug-of-War Over Seats
The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng is a little delulu, as the youngsters would say. The provincial leadership under Panyaza Lesufi has followed a different script to the national structures by wanting a coalition with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in spite of the fact that such a coalition at the local government level was a disaster, especially in Johannesburg. Following the elections, the party landed just 28 out of the 80 seats in the Gauteng legislature, and the assumption was that it would follow the lead of national and KwaZulu Natal in partnering with the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has 22 seats. Lesufi, however, couldn’t come to an agreement with the DA.
Instead he’s opted for an unstable minority government, appointing a cabinet that holds just 33 out of the 80 seats in the legislature. This means it is vulnerable to votes of no confidence and will be reliant on opposition parties like the DA to pass their budget and other decisions.
Lesufi finally announced his new cabinet yesterday following two postponements, given the ultimately unsuccessful negotiations between the ANC and DA over cabinet portfolio allocations.
Solly Msimanga, provincial leader of the DA and DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille said the ANC initially offered just one position, going up to three, but no sight of who would get the other seven, leading to a lack of trust.
Lesufi’s side of the story, meanwhile, is that the DA had withdrawn its earlier agreement, and when it returned to the negotiating table, the ANC had already made agreements with other parties. You snooze, you lose, we guess?
At least the EFF, al-Jama-ah and MK Party aren’t part of the Gauteng lineup – the first two caused havoc in previous local coalitions.
The portfolios in the new cabinet reveal a lineup heavily skewed in favour of the ANC:
- Treasury & Economic Development: Lebogang Maile (ANC)
- Infrastructure Development & Cooperative Governance: Jacob Mamabolo (ANC)
- Health: Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko (ANC)
- Human Settlements: Tasneem Motara (ANC)
- Roads and Transport: Kedibone Diale-Tlabela (ANC)
- Education, Sports, Arts, Culture & Recreation: Matome Chiloane (ANC)
- Social Development: Faith Mazibuko (ANC)
- Agriculture & Rural Development: Vuyiswa Ramokgopa (Rise Mzansi)
- Environment: Sheila Mary Peters (PA)
- eGovernment: Bonginkosi Dlamini (IFP)
As political analyst Matlala Setlhalogile puts it, the Gauteng ANC has returned the same leadership that was repudiated by the voters in the May election. “Having eight representatives, including the premier, in the province’s executive is simple entitlement. The party has, in essence, allocated itself almost 73% of the province’s executive, well over double its level of electoral support. The makeup of the executive could even be construed as a subversion of democratic electoral outcomes as the party-led GPU does not even constitute 50%+1 in the province.”
It’s going to be another unstable coalition ride. 😢
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ 2. BIG STORY: ‘War of Words’ ushers in much-anticipated Springboks vs Ireland Test match
Test rugby is back! The Springboks are on the march once more following their triumph at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Having laid waste to Wales last week at Twickenham, Ireland is next, with a double-header against the Irish Wolfhounds over the next two weekends.
There’s a lot of beef between the two teams. You may remember that Ireland was the only match that the Boks lost at the World Cup. And as the excellent Chasing The Sun 2 documentary on SuperSport revealed, head coach Rassie Erasmus made a point of ramping up the heat ahead of the tie, even using clips from Irish rugby podcasts to make his point. Springboks fans played their part by stealing the Irish fan chant based on Zombie by The Cranberries and making it about Rassie instead. Later, the lock Eben Etzebeth poured more fuel on the fire by claiming they’d been “disrespected” by the Ireland squad that won in Paris.
Not to be outdone, this week, the Springboks’ official accounts released a new video on social media, calling the upcoming fixtures “a war.”
No doubt that the game in Pretoria this Saturday will be intense. It doesn’t help that we have not beaten Ireland since 2016.
But not to worry, the Boks are simply focused on getting their training right so they can win, said fly-half Handre Pollard to News24. And to be fair to the Ireland team, they’ve refused to rise to the bait of a public spat, with their head coach saying they haven’t discussed all the commentary within the team.
As for us, we’re fully in the spirit of this! We can’t wait for Saturday at 17:00, and no doubt the whole country will be singing at the top of our lungs: “He’s in your head, in your head, Rassie, Rassie!” 🇿🇦
▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ *BRIEFS*
3. GNU CABINET THE START OF GREAT THINGS
South Africa, we have a cabinet! After what seems like a lifetime, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the Government of National Unity (GNU) cabinet on Sunday.
It’s bigger than it should be, with some questionable inclusions, but on the whole, really does feel like the start of something new and better for SA, with loads of fresh talent from across parties and several ministers in their thirties!
Eleven parties have come to the, umm, party: ANC, DA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Freedom Front Plus (FF+), Patricia De Lille’s GOOD Party and Gayton McKenzie Patriotic Alliance (PA). There was some last-minute drama with the ANC and DA deadlocked and EFF publicly pleading with the ANC to walk away from the DA and join them at the last minute, plus the MK Party making overtures. Thank goodness that didn’t happen – markets and the rand would have reacted badly, and the economy would have tanked long-term.
There are 32 ministers and way too many deputies – 43 – as Ramaphosa tried to accommodate everyone. Eleven of the ministers are not from the ANC.
It’s a lot to take in, and we’ve summarised the major changes on our site, but here are just some highlights.
- The DA nabbed six portfolios: Agriculture, Basic Education, Public Works and Infrastructure, Home Affairs, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and Communications and Digital Technologies. The Blue Party also assumed six deputy minister posts: Finance, Trade, Industry and Competition, higher education, Energy and Electricity, Water and Sanitation, and Small Business Development.
- FF+ leader Pieter Groenewald will oversee Correctional Services, much to Twitter’s amusement, with loads of jokes about the conservative Afrikaans leaders running a tight ship.
- Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has kept his key portfolio, with two deputies: one ANC and one DA. GOOD Party leader and Tourism minister Patricia de Lille gets to stay in her position, which the sector has welcomed.
- The DA’s chief whip in parliament, Siviwe Gwarube, 34, is our new minister of Basic Education. She replaces Angie Motshekga, who led the department for fifteen years. Gwarube also inherits a department in disarray, and experts say she has her work cut out for her.
- Paul Mashatile is still the deputy president, while DA leader John Steenhuisen, who was gunning for the position, gets agriculture. Food for Mzansi notes that Steenhuisen’s appointment has surprised many in the agricultural sector.
- Ronald Lamola moves from Justice and Correctional Services to the important Department of International Relations and Cooperation in something of a promotion. Lamola has been involved in SA’s international efforts on behalf of Gaza, which primes the promising young ANC leader for a more statesmanlike role.
- Gwede Mantashe has also survived the cut – unsurprising given how important he is in maintaining Ramaphosa’s support in the ANC. However, his department, now known as the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, has lost its energy office, thankfully. Carol Paton notes in News24 that his failure to procure new energy and lighten regulation cost the economy 1.5 percentage points in 2023. Energy has now been combined with the Ministry of Electricity, now known as Electricity and Energy, under the ANC’s Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
- The man who will be making sure that the system remains online at Home Affairs is Dr Leon Schrieber. Schrieber is the leading force behind the Cut Cabinet Perks Bill. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has questioned whether the ANC and DA would still pursue the bill since they’re now in a rather bloated government together. 👀
Meet the rest of the new cabinet and deputy ministers here. A Gnu dawn indeed! What a relief. Now the work begins.
4. Tyla and Makhadzi Dominate BET Awards 2024: Celebrating Mzansi’s Talent
Two South African artists stole the spotlight on Sunday at the BET Awards – a key touchstone of African American entertainment.
Tyla, the 22-year-old pop/amapiano sensation, clinched both the Best New Artist and Best International Act awards, adding to her collection after winning her first Grammy in February.
“This is such a gift to be here. I want to dedicate this one to all the African superstars before me. Africa to the world!” she said in her acceptance speech.
Tyla also lit up the stage with her hit song “Jump,” featuring the unforgettable lyrics “They never had a pretty girl from Joburg.” We love how proudly South African this girl is!
The act featured dancers in tiger-print bodysuits, paying homage to her loyal fanbase, “the Tygers.” With an elephant statue and performers on stilts, the show brought a touch of Africa to Los Angeles.
This win will hopefully overshadow the tired debate surrounding Tyla’s racial identity. She refers to herself as Coloured in South African terms, but her American fans – and detractors – associate the word with the derogatory term from the Jim Crow era.
Obviously, the unique coloured culture and identity within SA should be separated from the American perspective. In an interview last month, Tyla put an end to the discussion. “I’m both Coloured in South Africa and a Black woman. As a woman of the culture, it’s ‘and,’ not ‘or.’,” she said. Amen.
Back to the show’s stars, Makhadzi, a Limpopo-born artist, also took home the Viewer’s Choice: Best New International Act award, making for an unbeatable 28th birthday present.
“I started music from the streets, and today I’m here. My dream just came true. I’m just speechless. This is the best birthday ever,” said Makhadzi.
5. Elections in Europe: The UK heads left while France leans right
🔹The UK
The people of the United Kingdom head to the polls today in an election that may well see the ruling Conservative Party unseated.
The Conservatives, or Tories, have been in power since 2010 and most people in the UK feel like life has gotten worse under them.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in May that the elections would occur earlier than the anticipated October/November date.
The Tories are predicted to suffer a crushing defeat from the centre-left Labour Party, thanks to 14 years of misrule, culminating in a cost-of-living crisis and declining public services. The poorest households have been the hardest hit, with a record number relying on food banks. There are fears that planned spending cuts could lead to even more decline. Take the NHS, for example – waiting times for surgery have almost tripled since 2010.
But if we were the Labour Party, we wouldn’t be so quick to celebrate. The party would be inheriting a “legacy of ashes”, says University of Manchester professor of political science, Robert Ford. Speaking to the New York Times, Ford said that voters would be less kind to Labour leader Keir Starmer after years of failures by the Tories.
Starmer is a relative unknown who, critics argue, lacks conviction. He’s even been described as “Tory-lite” and has faced criticism from other Labour leaders like Jeremy Corbyn, who is now running as an independent candidate.
🔹France
Across the English Channel, it seems like French President Emmanuel Macron has bigger fish to fry than people pooping in the Seine. 🤭
The French held the first of two rounds of elections on Sunday to choose representatives in the National Assembly, which has 577 seats. And we thought our 400 was a lot! They return to the polls this coming Sunday for a second round of voting
But if the results of the first round are anything to go by, Macron’s party is in trouble with his far-right opponents, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), in the lead.
- Right-wing RN party: 33%
- Left-wing bloc: 28%
- Macron’s centrist group: 20%.
Context: These elections are taking place three years earlier than they were scheduled because Macron dissolved the national assembly in June and called for a snap election. This was thanks to his party’s massive loss to RN in the European Parliament – a separate political body but indicative of local trends in France. Political leaders call snap elections for all kinds of reasons, some to capitalise on an advantage and others to stave off a disadvantage. In this case, Macron is very much at a disadvantage following the EU elections, and snap elections are a way to try and kill off the surge of the far-right. (His gamble is that the French population may sober up and lean back to the centre once confronted with the possibility of far-right rule at home). Note that since parliaments elect presidents in South Africa – as opposed to directly elected leaders in Europe – we don’t do snap elections here.
Macron’s term ends in 2027, and he has said that he intends to see out his term no matter the ultimate outcome of the elections. However, this would be tricky with a different party in power in parliament, leading to what the French call “cohabitation,” which is a system of divided politics used whenever the president and prime minister come from different political parties.
The scary part is that RN is conservative, anti-immigration, islamophobic and denies the holocaust. It is led by Jordan Bardella, who, at 28, is on track to become France’s youngest Prime Minister. This would make him the second most powerful person in France: the head of government and the leader of the council of ministers. Just another reason we’re grateful our country has avoided the rise of similarly destructive populist politics in our recent elections.
6. South Africans are feeling happier after the elections
After a stressful national election and the coalition negotiations that followed, South Africans breathed a sigh of relief when Ramaphosa announced his cabinet on Sunday night. And that’s a scientific fact.
According to well-being economist professor Talita Greyling, South Africans became happier right after the cabinet was announced. Greyling, from the University of Johannesburg and fellow well-being economist from Auckland University of Technology, Stephanié Rossouw, have developed a happiness indicator that measures a country’s happiness using sentiment analysis. Sentiment analysis is the process of analysing large volumes of online text generated by citizens to determine whether it expresses a positive sentiment, a negative sentiment or a neutral sentiment.
Greyling and Rossouw’s model was initially used to measure sentiment in tweets but now includes Google Trends.
They’ve found that happiness levels in South Africa have been trending upward since the election results were announced, and the index rose from 5.36 to 5.42 out of ten. The team also found that positive emotion words used in South Africa, such as “ ubuntu”, “hope,” “happiness,” and “joy,” had increased.
We have more good news: The government has reported a primary budget surplus for the first time in 15 years, thanks to spending cuts. Well done, Cyril!
However, former DA shadow minister in finance, Dr Dion George, said that the expenditure control measures had not targeted the right areas. “Instead, the enormous top-heavy public wage bill highlights that the ANC government’s priorities lie with high-ranking government officials, not with the hardworking policemen, teachers, nurses, and the soldiers who serve our country. It is them who disproportionately bear the brunt of an ANC-induced cost-of-living crisis as opposed to protected cadres,” he said. Yikes. He doesn’t sound very happy. But maybe now that he is in cabinet (as the new Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries), he can be the first to take a cut to his perks?
7. UNISA’s Cheating Scandal: ChatGPT Strikes Again!
If ChatGPT had a motto, it might be: “Helping you with your homework… and getting you into hot water”.
Students at the University of South Africa (UNISA), the largest open distance learning institution in Africa, take their exams online. This setup might be convenient, but it also makes it a playground for AI mischief. The business management department was the unlucky site of the latest AI scandal.
Hundreds of students’ exam scripts in the “Strategic Implementation and Control” module were flagged as “disciplinary cases” for allegedly using ChatGPT, the AI tool that’s as infamous as it is helpful.
Professor Tersia Botha of the business management department told guilty students last week that dishonesty reports were being prepared. “It’s disheartening to assess so many scripts that must be flagged as disciplinary cases,” she said.
Like all tertiary institutions, Unisa has zero tolerance for dishonesty and plagiarism and uses plagiarism detection software like Turnitin and the Invigilator App to catch would-be cheats.
The Unisa Students’ Group Facebook page is a treasure trove of reactions as students wait to see who will face disciplinary action: “God be with me,” “The waiting is killing me,” and “This module will cost our degree.” 👀
Remember the case last year where a Johannesburg lawyer was caught using ChatGPT for legal research? It didn’t end well. The AI concocted fake citations, leading to a punitive cost order and a lesson in the importance of fact-checking. Magistrate Arvin Chaitram summed it up perfectly: “The efficiency of modern technology still needs to be infused with a dose of good old-fashioned independent reading.”
In the US, a similar scenario played out with lawyers fined for submitting fake cases generated by ChatGPT.
Not everyone is anti-AI, though. Professor Maryna Reyneke from North-West University believes AI should be embraced to promote education. The key is to use it responsibly, with clear guidelines to avoid academic fraud.
So, the next time you’re tempted to let ChatGPT or any other AI tool take the wheel, remember: it might just drive you straight into a disciplinary hearing.
8. Give the Proteas their flowers
In the aftermath of South Africa’s narrow defeat to India in the T20 World Cup final, the question on everyone’s lips is whether the Proteas choked under pressure or simply fell short against a superior opponent. The term “choker” has haunted South African cricket for decades, but this time, the narrative might not do justice to their journey.
During this historic final for South Africa on Saturday, 29 June, India batted first, scoring a total of 176 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.
With every boundary and six, hopes soared that this might finally be the Proteas’ moment. But the task proved just a touch too steep in the end, with the Proteas finishing with 169 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
Captain Aiden Markram, visibly crushed yet proud of his team’s journey to their first World Cup final since ’92, summed it up perfectly, “Gutted for the time being, it’ll take some time to reflect on a really good campaign, hurts quite a bit but incredibly proud,” he said.
While the wounds of defeat may sting now, South African cricket fans can hold their heads high. This Proteas team, with its grit and determination, has set a new standard. As we mourn what could have been, let’s also celebrate what was—a valiant effort that nearly rewrote history!
Meanwhile, Patriotic Alliance leader and former gangster Gayton McKenzie has taken on a new role as South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture. His mission? To kick gangsterism out of the park and onto the sports field. “A child in sport, is a child out of court,” stated Mckenzie, who has already outlined plans to promote sports like spinning and harness their potential to address gangsterism in South Africa.
Spinning is a street sport that grew out of townships like Cape Flats in Cape Town and Eldorado Park in Johannesburg. It involves driving cars at high speeds in tight circles. Motorsport SA regulates it and currently makes it legal under specific conditions. (Watch Spinners on Showmax if you’re unfamiliar with this uniquely South African sport!)
McKenzie is a colourful character with a mixed track record, but his enthusiasm for his new portfolio has been infectious. We hope he will do a good job in sports, as well as arts and culture, which too often get neglected in that portfolio.
That’s it from us at The Wrap, an award-winning product of explain.co.za – simple news summaries for busy people. 💁🏾♀
The Wrap is sponsored by explain’s agency division. We specialise in content marketing for purpose-driven organisations, often with a pan-African reach. Mail info@explain.co.za for a quote.
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