Thomas Johnson - The Blog

"Just as the purpose of a pilot is to ensure the smooth passage of his ship, and of a doctor to make his patient healthy, so a statesman's objective must be the happiness of his country." Cicero, On the Republic (De re publica), 54 BC (as quoted by Robert Harris, Dictator, 2015) By his own words and actions, President Jacob Zuma placed himself, his family, friends and party before the country, and acted, as Cicero might have said, for "personal glory". The events of the past week - three finance ministers in four days - and the agendas and unknown advice from unknown quarters (not cabinet) that propelled him to make the dreadful decision to fire former minister Nhanhla Nene, which saw the rand dive and markets lose R171 billion, once again prove he and the ANC are unable to rule. Even after Sunday night's appointment of Pravin Gordhan to the post to mitigate the damage, replacing David van Rooyen (the "weekend finance minister"), on Monday ANC s...

Jacob Zuma's firing of Nhlanhla Nene is more than him exercising presidential prerogative, but upholding his oath to place the country first and govern to the standard the constitution and public demands. If he and the government he leads cannot do that, what does this mean for the institutions and society? A few years ago I was fired as accountant for a small organisation allegedly due to restructuring but I was the only one affected. After I was gone, my reportedly incompetent and unqualified "replacement" (and others) were implicated in embezzling - management was derelict too for not adhering to policies.   The real reason for my firing, though, was I had continually spoken out about their failure to adhere to policies and financial waste, theft and, in the end, permitting these failures. I have been unable to find work since partly because my professional integrity, and career, was ruined because of my dismissal (and I'm too old and the wrong colour). Knowi...

It was reported the ANC welcomed, by omission or commission, the appointment of inexperienced and unknown David van Rooyen as finance minister, and by extension, the dismissal of experienced and respected former minister Nhlanhla Nene. This is like saying one welcomes the appointment of a newly graduated doctor to head of surgery or a newly qualified pilot as captain of the latest Airbus. Only in the ANC’s through-the-looking-glass universe does this make sense. It’s as irrational as their other acts: “welcoming”, that is, approving the appointment of a teacher to the highly complex and technical post of SAA chairperson; an engineering degree faker to the head of a multi-billion rand railways procurement programme and a matric certificate faker as chief operating officer of the SABC. The ANC has taken leave of its senses and it and President Jacob Zuma have put the country firmly on a perilous route, that recent investment downgrades and a persistently poor economy, due mainly to o...

In October Diane Kohler Barnard was suspended from the DA and as MP for sharing a Facebook post that education etc was better under apartheid and the then president PW Botha. Put the question another way: is Jacob Zuma the worst president since Botha, or ever? The answer must be yes. Last night he fired finance minister Nhlanhla Nene for unspecified reasons, except Nene will purportedly take up a “strategic post”, and replaced him with unknown MP David van Rooyen who has no treasury or policy experience. The move has shocked South Africa, economists, investment analysts and the rand, which tumbled below R15/$ after the announcement. The probable reason is Nene stood firm on Zuma's friend Dudu Myeni and SAA and affordability of the R1 trillion nuclear deal, over which he has taken a personal interest. Zuma's action has confirmed South Africa is facing perilous times – if we weren’t already in serious trouble with last weeks double investment downgrade by S&P and Fitch ...