CHAFIK JARRAYA
The seemingly untouchable
Tunisian businessman, a member
of the old elite, was arrested
in May after challenging the
government to try him. He now
faces a trial in a military tribunal
for threatening state security.FETHI BELAID/AFP; DEE-ANN KAAIJK; ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDJEFF RADEBE
The minister in the presidency
hit trouble in May when it
was revealed that he was sexting
with a photographer who
worked for the president’s office.
He apologised, but earned
the criticism of ANC colleagues.LAWY AURA
In May, the Kenyan electoral
commission removed its head
of procurement due to repeated
delays in organising the delivery
of ballot papers for the August
vote. Past election violence puts
the commission under pressure.JOSEPH ARERUYA
In June, the cyclist became the
first Rwandan to win a stage in a
European competition. He took
stage five of the under-
category of the Giro d’Italia. The
21-year-old’s ambition is to
compete in the Tour de France.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; SYNC-PHOTOSLOLA OMOLOLA
Also in June, the founder of the
‘Female in Nigeria’ Facebook
group met CEO Mark Zuckerberg,
who praised her work in building
a network of more than a million
members for Nigerian women to
share their experiences.WIZKID
At the Billboard Music Awards in
May, the Nigerian star beat the
likes of Rihanna and Bruno Mars
to win the prize for best R&B
song for ‘One Dance’, his
collaboration with Kyla and
Canadian rap phenom Drake.“They made me walk
around, waving dummy
cheques, yet they never fulfilled
the promise they gave”Zimbabwe’s PresidentRobert Mugabeconfesses
to feeling “used” by Chinese mining companies.SIPA
more than 2,000 confidential
emails pointing to further corporate
influence, Mentor has been
vindicated. But most of all, she
says she is saddened by the damage
to South Africa: “We are a shell of
a country. We have 25-30% of what
we used to have. And every day things
are being taken out of the country
in so many different forms.”
It was people’s lack of awareness
that unsettles Mentor: “What has
been shocking me was not the rot
necessarily, but it was the
obliviousness of South Africans at
what was happening.” This is partly
explained by political subterfuge,
she says, with Zuma’s acolytes pushing
appealing slogans such as ‘radical
economic transformation’. “There has
never been an intention to radically
transform the economy,” Mentor says.
In 2008, Mentor was made chair
of the parliamentary committee
on public enterprises, where she says
she saw mismanagement and fraud
destroying SAA and Eskom. However,
in 2010 journalists and politicians
lambasted her for accepting
an all-expenses-paid trip to China
financed by Transnet, a parastatal.
Mentor insists it would be simplistic
to try to blame one man for South
Africa’s troubles. “I’ve not singled out
the President. Yes, that one individual
caused a lot of damage, but he was
enabled.” That damage extends
to the party itself, she says. She points
to its declining membership, and
this informs her forecast for the next
elections: “All I know is in 2019, the
ANC is not going to be the governing
party, irrespective of which candidate
runs.” As for her, “There are still a
few clean people in the ANC [...] I don’t
know that when my membership
expires whether I’ll renew it.”
CrystalOrdersonin Cape TownBRIEFING 15