For that is the context in which President Ramaphosa has pitched the ANC’s municipal election manifesto. Nonetheless, he calls on his comrades to exhibit accountability and zero tolerance on corruption – attributes which have been increasingly absent over the past 25 years and which are conspicuously lacking in Ramaphosa’s own case.

In that local government is seen as an orchard of accessible, low-hanging fruit, it has been the most convenient to exploit and to loot. Political analyst Sandile Swana identifies councillors as well-positioned conduits in exploiting tenders and budgets and becoming guardians of public resources for personal and party ends. As such, municipal government facilitates a ready means of enrichment.

Not surprisingly, it follows that political killings are on the rise. In 2025, there were 121 political killing case dockets. Given the conditions where crime apparently pays, elections are not only exercises in democracy. They are also ruthless contests to retain or gain access to the low-hanging fruit.

Despite what the playing fields of municipal election campaigns have become and despite the proven inability of B-BBEE to alleviate mass poverty, Ramaphosa insists on more of that policy when the obvious panacea is a policy of merit. As journalist Nomvula Mabuza wrote on July 14, 2025, “We cannot build national character on the lowest common denominator.”

Yet that is exemplified by the Madlanga hearings and the almost daily disclosures of new financial mismanagement, such as the fruitless waste of R19 billion by the Passenger Rail Agency, the R2 billion stolen from Tembisa Hospital, and the R5 billion maladministration of student funding.

During Women’s Month a year ago, ANC veteran Naledi Pandor expressed her dismay at the erosion of values and widespread corruption within the ANC. “We have lost our glory. Let’s not pretend about it. The people are looking at us with disdain…” (The Mercury, August 26, 2025).

Pandor’s diagnosis of the cancer within the ANC renders Ramaphosa’s 2026 ANC election manifesto devoid of credibility.

The post ANC Election Manifesto Is Devoid of Credibility appeared first on Duncan Du Bois.

Equally appalling is that in any other circumstances, the one-seat NFP would be irrelevant. Yet in the hands of this amalgam of jostling personalities who resort to litigation against each other and squabble about what spoils they should be awarded, the governance of the province depends.

The NFP, as a splinter breakaway group, has nothing to recommend it. The ugly reality is that the governance of KZN is dependent on a political prostitute willing to appease whichever side bestows positions and perks. That is the corrupt side of politics which is experienced worldwide.

If the NFP throws its one seat in with the MKP and EFF, it could place governance of the province in the hands of two parties that can’t govern themselves. Both are riven with factions. In the case of the MKP, it is held together by an extremely corrupt octogenarian individual. Both parties are committed to an ideology the results of which are best exemplified by the dystopia of Cuba.

With local government elections due at the end of the year, there can be no doubt that the current provincial political uncertainty is a precursor to hung municipalities across the province. As has been the case in eThekwini since 2021, a dozen one-seat wonder parties have sustained the ANC in power.

Expect a crop of NFP-type opportunists to prevail in municipalities after December 2026. Of course, if the MKP manage to roll back responsible opposition in key areas, then parts of KZN could be facing a Mamdani-type New York City dark ages future.

The post KZN Governance Dependent on a Political Prostitute appeared first on Duncan Du Bois.

Following the failed attempts of the Washington oligarchy to destroy Trump’s presidency by alleging Russian collusion and by impeachment, their strategy was to weaponise the justice system so as to produce convictions damning his eligibility to hold political office. By referring six times in his letter to Trump as a ‘felon,’ Markandan reflects the success of that strategy.

Yet each of the five cases against Trump is baseless. For an alleged affair which she denied for years after 2006, the statute of limitations rules out the Stormy Daniels case. But resurrected in 2018 in an attempt to disparage Trump, it has dragged on. It suits Trump’s detractors because the alleged 34 charges of felony serve to sustain their objective of reputational damage.

The Fulton County case in Georgia is a monument of baseless lawfare. Trump had every right to question the vote tally on the basis of reports of improper procedures. His concerns have subsequently been vindicated by an investigation of 17,852 ballots which uncovered duplicate images suggesting ballots had been scanned twice. As reported in the Atlanta News First of May 7, 2024, Georgia’s Secretary of State has reprimanded Fulton County for this.

What makes the Fulton case even more pathetic is the election precedent in Florida in 2000. Al Gore and George Bush, in their rightful quests to claim Florida’s 25 Electoral College votes needed to clinch the presidency, stridently resorted to suing counties. Gore demanded the extension of counting deadlines. Bush demanded a halt to all manual recounting. Yet neither candidate was accused of improperly trying to influence the election outcome.

The charge that Trump inspired an insurrection on January 6, 2021, has been thoroughly debunked. Information obtained in Congressional hearings proves that General Milley was responsible for blocking Trump’s request for 10,000 National Guardsmen in order to allay trouble. Nancy Pelosi has admitted she was complicit in rejecting Trump’s request. Information obtained as a result of a lawsuit by Judicial Watch found that more than 200 undercover CIA/FBI agents were embedded amongst Trump’s supporters to provoke violence.

Significantly, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, whose appointment the Senate never approved, is now backing away from the case which has wasted $50 million on bogus charges. His other case alleging 40 counts of unlawful retention of documents of national security is a laugh when one peruses some of the charges. As President, Trump had the right to declassify the documents. Besides, unlike Biden, he co-operated fully with the National Archives.

The civil case alleging Trump inflated the value of his NYC properties has been ridiculed by legal experts because there was no victim and the banks associated with it expressed satisfaction with the deals.

2025 promises a whirlwind uncovering of dark interests and political corruption. Accountability and eating humble pie is going to be big on the US menu.

The post Eating Humble Pie Is On The US Menu In 2025 appeared first on Duncan Du Bois.