Gangster State

imploring, ‘Mr Premier, please live long, for the benefit of our
people.’^29
At the time, Makhele, a regular columnist for The Weekly since at least
2012 , was working at the Free State branch of the South African Local
Government Association (SALGA). A few months after The Weekly
published his open letter, Makhele was appointed as Magashule’s new
spokesperson, replacing Makalo Mohale, who was moved to the Free
State Department of Human Settlements.^30 Makhele, who stayed on as
the spokesperson for current Free State premier Sisi Ntombela, says his
appointment was in no way influenced by the open letter. ‘My
deployment at [the] Premier’s office was a decision of the ANC, not of
the former Premier,’ he insisted.
While The Weekly kept up its flattering and uncritical reporting on
Magashule and his administration, a few of the province’s other news
outlets remained committed to holding the premier to account. Because
Ntsele seemingly formed part of Magashule’s capture network, the
Letlaka group and its affiliated entities inevitably featured in rival
publications’ news reports. In response, The Weekly sometimes lashed
out at its competitors in ‘exposés’ of its own, but these reports fell well
short of the South African Press Code’s benchmarks for acceptable
journalism.
In November 2017 , the Afrikaans daily Volksblad revealed that
Magashule’s government had splurged R 95 million on the contentious
website contract that had been awarded to Ntsele’s consortium in
2011.^31 A few weeks later, The Weekly retaliated with street posters
and a front-page report that cast Volksblad in an unflattering light.
‘Volksblad covert agenda exposed,’ read the posters. The newspaper
claimed that Volksblad was running a ‘cloak and dagger smear