WORDS By Chanel Retief PHOTOS By Yeshiel Panchia



TOPLINE: After a tense week of public and violent unrest that left 117 dead across South Africa, reports of #CleanUpSA have come into effect since Thursday. South Africans have taken to social media to demonstrate how in some areas of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng provinces, which saw escalated lootings and lawlessness, volunteers are coming forward to help in rebuilding looted shops, recovering stolen goods and cleaning up the streets.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-photos">IN PHOTOS </h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-2-of-3-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51871" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-2-of-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-2-of-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-2-of-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-2-of-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-2-of-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



Volunteers and community members sweep the streets outside the looted and destroyed Pan Africa Mall in Alexandra, Johannesburg, 15 July 2021. The city was relatively quiet as community members and volunteers came out to sweep the streets and conduct repairs after days of unrest and looting. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-3-of-3-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51872" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-3-of-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-3-of-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-3-of-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-3-of-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/15-July-2021-Alex-Cleanup-3-of-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



Construction vehicles collect debris outside the looted and destroyed Pan Africa Mall in Alexandra, Johannesburg, 15 July 2021. The city was relatively quiet as community members and volunteers came out to sweep the streets and conduct repairs after days of unrest and looting.



Key Facts



● Since the arrest of the former president, Jacob Zuma, South Africa has been in flames. Following his incarceration for contempt of court, there have been multiple outbreaks of public violence in parts of KZN and Gauteng. Hundreds of shops and businesses have been looted and the government says it is acting to prevent food shortages.



● The layers of this unrest look at Zuma loyalists who want the former president to be free. However, Government has commented that there have been “opportunistic criminals”. But there have been those who have also observed this could be people grabbing the opportunity to put food on the table while getting governments’ attention on service delivery issues in South Africa.



● On Tuesday, Ramaphosa deployed the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) “in support of the operations” of the South African Police Service (SAPS). About 25,000 more troops were deployed Thursday which has been reported as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/africa-south-africa-59f7817632563dcf19d7e212de8046c9">“one of the largest deployments of soldiers since</a>” the end of apartheid.



● This has also led to racial tensions breaking out in some parts of South Africa but predominantly in KZN. According to the <a href="https://citizen.co.za/news/2568028/15-people-killed-in-phoenix-following-racially-charged-clashes-cele-confirms/">CITIZEN</a>, Police Minister Bheki Cele took to Phoenix, north Durban, where 15 people have been killed. This follows after several reports indicated that the attacks may have been racially motivated.



● Even though the unrest has slowed down, about 117 people have died and more than 2,000 have been arrested. The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services on Wednesday in a statement



said that the alleged perpetrators of the unrests that “ravaged Gauteng since Monday” have appeared in various courts within the Gauteng Local Division.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-food-insecurity">Food Insecurity</h3>



South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday in his address warned that if the unrest continued, the situation could lead to food insecurity. According to a report released by<a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/agriculture/071621-unrest-in-south-africa-disrupts-agricultural-logistics-raises-food-security-concerns"> S&amp;P Global</a>, the unrests have had an impact on agriculture in South Africa.



“Unrest in South Africa&#8217;s eastern provinces is posing a threat to the country&#8217;s already precarious food security situation by disrupting agricultural trade and transportation, and damaging infrastructure and planted crops in the region,” the report stated.



&#8220;The biggest risk in the short-term is the free movement of goods, including food and agricultural produce on the roads, specifically to and from the Durban port,&#8221; said Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.

15 July 2021 Alex Cleanup (1 of 3)

Rebuild And Repair: Community Members Unite To Clean Up South Africa After Days Of Devastation

President Cyril Ramaphosa deploys the SANDF and calls to restore order in South Africa after looting, vandalism and violence leave 11 dead and many injured.



Just a day after addressing the nation about strengthened Covid-19 lockdown restrictions until July 25, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa was back on TV screens again “with a heavy heart”, this time on the government’s response to the public violence and unrest currently ravaging parts of the country.



The vandalism, looting, riots, “political protests” and “anarchy” over the last three days have led to the army being called in to “protect property and safeguard social and economic infrastructure”, as the president stated in his address on Monday evening, July 12.



“As the Commander-in-Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), I have today authorized the deployment of Defence Force personnel in support of the operations of the South African Police Service (SAPS).”



The protests, sparked by the arrest of South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court last week, began in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Zuma’s homestead where he is currently incarcerated at the Estcourt Correctional Centre. The civil unrest saw an estimated <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2021/07/11/south-africa-protests-and-unrest-grow-over-zuma-arrest/">$7 million in damages with over 30 trucks set alight.</a> The protests continued in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic hub, in places such as Soweto, Jeppetown and Alexandra.



Social media has been agog with dramatic scenes of the state of affairs: videos of people running into shopping centers, malls, and/or shops being destroyed and/or vandalized. Many experts, politicians, and citizens, including the president, questioned if these protests were really under the banner of the #FreeZuma campaign.



“What we are witnessing now are opportunistic acts of criminality, with groups of people instigating chaos merely as a cover for looting and theft,” Ramaphosa said. “There is no grievance, nor any political cause, that can justify the violence and destruction that we have seen in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.”



So far, over 11 people have been declared dead due to the unrest; 166 suspects have been arrested in KZN and 323 suspects arrested in Gauteng concerning these incidents.



“Many South Africans are at this hour counting the cost to their livelihoods and property, to their shops and businesses, to their safety and security. Many more South Africans are feeling anxious and afraid,” Ramaphosa added in his address.



“This means that our sick cannot get medication from pharmacies, food does not reach supermarket shelves, and health workers cannot go to work.”



The incidents of the last few days have disrupted the country’s ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive that had been gathering momentum.



With the number of Covid-19 cases still surging, the cost of these protests on the economy may be dire.



<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-12/rand-slumps-with-south-african-riots-spreading-amid-covid-surge">Bloomberg</a> reported that South Africa’s rand collapsed to “its weakest level” against the dollar due to the unrest. The rand declined as much as 2% and was 1.7% weaker at 14.4681 per dollar by today heading for its weakest level since April 30.



“The victims of the violence that is unfolding now are the workers, the truck drivers, the business owners, the parents and families of those who have lost their lives, who have done nothing wrong,” Ramaphosa added.



This is a developing story and FORBES AFRICA will provide updates as the story progresses.

Durban shopping centres and businesses looted over the weekend

Continued Riots And Anarchy In South Africa, The Military To Help Police

South Africa woke up to TV images of its former president Jacob Zuma’s convoy arriving at the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal where he handed himself over to police to begin serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.



Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been admitted to Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to begin serving his 15-month sentence on contempt of court charges, after handing himself over to police in the early hours of Thursday morning.



Zuma’s compliance and subsequent incarceration follows a tense few days at the former president’s homestead in Nkandla, where Zuma, his allies and supporters, made statements illustrating his intent not to comply with the court order.



Zuma’s attorneys made a last-minute attempt to stay his arrest, arguing that his incarceration was a threat to his life and based on attempts to vilify the former president; “… based purely on vindictiveness and desire to see Zuma punished…” said Zuma’s counsel Dali Mpofu during an urgent High Court hearing on Tuesday.



The Constitutional Court handed down the sentence against Zuma on June 29 in a judgement that has had profound legal and political implications for South Africa. The first custodial sentence ever passed by the court follows Zuma’s refusal to appear at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture earlier in the year. Acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe was firm in her pronouncement of the judgement: “I order an unsuspended sentence of imprisonment of 15 months. I do so in the knowledge that this cannot properly capture the damage that Mr Zuma has done to the dignity and integrity of the judicial system of a democratic and constitutional nation. He owes this sentence in respect of violating not only this Court, nor even just the sanctity of the Judiciary, but to the nation he once promised to lead and to the Constitution he once vowed to uphold.”



Hundreds of Zuma’s supporters gathered outside his home in Nkandla since last week to protest the impending arrest, in breach of South African Covid-19 regulations, with some attendees discharging firearms into the air. However, South African police were hesitant to make arrests or enforce Covid guidelines for fear of sparking violence – reflected in Minister of Police Bheki Cele’s writing to the Constitutional Court to query whether the Police Service should proceed with Zuma’s arrest warrant despite a lower court application to set the said warrant aside.



However, with no response from the Constitutional Court by late on Wednesday afternoon, a large police presence, which included an air wing and specialized units, could be seen mobilizing some 100km from Zuma’s home, preparing to enforce the warrant and arrest Zuma. By this point, only a handful of die-hard supporters and relatives remained outside Zuma’s home.



“We will be stopping anybody who will want to incarcerate Jacob Zuma… They will have to shed blood for that because we are going to be defending him with our lives,” said Edward Zuma, the former president’s eldest son, as he gathered with fellow supporters outside Nkandla late last night.



Despite the strong rhetoric from many Zuma allies and fears of violence, Zuma left his homestead in the early hours of this morning in a motorcade, handing himself over to police at Estcourt Correctional Centre, where he is currently in Covid-19 isolation as is protocol, Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed in a statement. Details regarding his incarceration are expected to be announced at a media briefing later today.



It’s the first time a former president has been jailed in post-apartheid South Africa and Zuma’s incarceration is being regarded as a landmark for judicial enforcement in the country.



Many political parties issued statements noting Zuma’s compliance with the court, including the African National Congress. “Former President Jacob Zuma’s decision to abide by the incarceration order was truly a brave and hard decision to make. We wish him well”.



Zuma’s stay in prison could potentially be extended pending the outcome of outstanding criminal cases against him.

4 July 2021 FORBES

President To Prisoner: A Week Of Defiance And A Night Of Surrender

<h4>What the judges said</h4>
&#8220;We feel Thuli Mandonsela is a woman of substance who has inspired many people across Africa with her stand for the rule of law and against corruption. In seven years of hard work, she has spoken truth to power and helped keep the people running her country accountable. A difficult job she carried out with professionalism and integrity.&#8221;
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-28699 aligncenter" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_5398.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_5398.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_5398-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_5398-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_5398-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
Her polite, welcoming, voice would make anyone feel at home. It is strange to see Thuli Madonsela – the towering advocate woman who has taken flak from politicians for years – at home, relaxed and flanked by her family. She ushers me into the lounge. We sit next to an open patio door, facing a cluster of colorful trees, with a welcome breeze easing this sweltering summer’s day. Every bit of furniture matches her unpretentious nature. African paintings on the walls; each ornament holds a story about her travels across the continent.
She looks good for a person who has just left office, in her own words, followed by missiles. Her biggest case so far has caused ructions – the so-called state capture report. She was investigating allegations made by South Africa’s Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas that he was a offered the job of Finance Minister by the billionaire Gupta family that has opened a can of worms.
The offer came, it is alleged, just before President Jacob Zuma fired the then Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015. When Jonas blew the whistle, former member of parliament Vytjie Mentor also alleged she was offered a cabinet post by brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta. The family has businesses, from coal mines to media companies, and were in partnership with President Zuma’s son. Former Government Communications and Information Systems head Themba Maseko also claimed the family unsuccessfully tried to bully him to put government advertising to their newspaper.
This report was one of the last acts in Madonsela’s seven turbulent years of speaking truth to power that took nerves of steel.
Her office, in the last days, was like a house of madness, she says. There were complaints to be investigated, last-minute interviews and many loose ends from multiple investigations.
On the very last day, she and her team worked through the night in an atmosphere leavened by banter and jokes.
“It was exhilarating, as a result I never really had the opportunity to feel sad about seeing my office for the last time because there was so much adrenaline, so much to be done and it was all done,” she says.
“Then there were curve balls of having being either sued or spending time with the lawyers. On the outside I was pretty calm but on the inside I would be thinking I have three hours to complete this document but these other things were coming, so I did feel some of the pressure. There was a bit of noise on the outside but the team that I worked closely with also stayed calm. I think the only time I saw some cracks was when we were told the president has lodged an application for an interdict and they thought it was the end of the road. I had anticipated these difficulties with some of the seniors, so when the younger ones got panicky about life overtaking the good work done, we didn’t panic. We told them to calm down and continue with the report as if they haven’t heard any news.”
Zuma had applied for a court interdict to stop the report’s release, saying he wasn’t given enough chance to respond. He also accused Madonsela of saying the report was not final, implying he was misled. Zuma withdrew the court challenge on the day of the hearing.
“I’ve never said it was not a final report. All in writing, I have always promised to issue two reports. Phase one would cover whatever we knew then and what should be done to fix it. It was going to look at ministerial appointments, Mentor and Jonas’ allegations. It would look at the president’s liability because of the 30-day requirement. Phase two would be on the Catholic Bishop’s request to look into Gupta-related companies and all licenses and related matter,” explains Madonsela
Madonsela’s report has left a trail of tears and paper leading to murky business dealings that the Gupta family denies.
“I recommended a commission of enquiry because this investigation cuts across ministries, the legislator, the executive and go into state-owned enterprises, it is bigger than the arms deal (South Africa’s arms procurement scandal) and if you’re going to do an investigation like that you obviously need a commission of enquiry.”
Madonsela says she doesn’t understand why the report was being challenged and also “got a sense that if the president wanted this matter to be investigated he would have long done so.”
“This gives a perception that is not in his favor because if somebody makes this allegation about his son and this person is a member of the cabinet, a normal person who has nothing to hide would look into it. That’s a question that people raise which shouldn’t be raised about the president,” she adds.
“We asked him a simple question like why did you fire Mr Nene?”
The president chose not to answer the question, Madonsela says.
Madonsela knows how it feels to field questions about a son. Her son Mbusowabantu took her official car while she was asleep, in 2012, and had an accident.
“It was very awkward because for me, I’ve been asked very difficult questions too, I couldn’t give a different answer to journalist. The issue about my son, I have given a consistent answer whether you’re the media or parliament. I was asked by parliament and I never even got a lawyer to answer those questions, so I don’t understand.”
It’s surprising that this woman, who has worked where few dare to tread, has regrets. She feels she should have encouraged someone to sue the government for depriving her office of resources. Organs of state are compelled by section 181 of the constitution to equip institutions like hers. Madonsela’s office didn’t have electronic data capturing.
“You have to go through the whole system manually to find out where that matter is. You’re also unable spot cases that aren’t moving. I think we should have stood up, it is threatening the functionality of that office,” bemoans Madonsela.
Her biggest regret, she says, was also leaving remuneration problems to the administration. Staff were unhappy with a heavy work and light salaries. Law firms handle four major cases a year while Mandonsela’s staff handled more than 50.
Madonsela says this means low morale, contrary to her successor Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s claim, before Parliament, that hinted at Madonsela’s management style.
“I wrote in the report that staff morale was a problem. I had explained that the main problem with staff morale was finances. People are getting too many cases and it is documented, there are memos at my desk all the time,” Madonsela explains.
“In other words, had it been me I would have explained to them, provided I have evidence. I would have said here is a memo, the provincial managers have taken us to court on some of those issues. She had to say she will improve staff morale. She can’t improve staff morale without being given money.”
Parliament invited Madonsela for her last appearance, on October 12, but this was postponed to October 19. This meant Mkhwebane would sit in parliament to present the 2015/16 Annual Report after a mere six days in office.
“I remember I was with the team when we got the notice. We laughed and said nothing here is surprising. We still wanted to find out why it was postponed, but no answer was given. For me it was about leaving graciously but I think it created a clumsy transition between me and my successor. She now had to find herself presenting a report that was not hers which required prior preparation for her to defend herself.”
She also feels there should have been more quiet conversations with the government around values and processes. Institutions with more or less similar functions of the public protector spend their time doing a lot of education, she says, to the executive around the laws they have passed. Her clashes with government ended up being about processes and powers, but at the core of the disputes was the enforcement of values.
“There’s a common narrative about wrong and right. Take Nkandla [the president’s homestead that received irregular non-security upgrades], it was always about what was the ethical standard that President Zuma should have complied with. What was the responsibility of the president?”
“We’re back to the same problem again with state capture. The essence of it was what was the responsibility of the president of this country when one of his own trusted deputy ministers says I’ve been offered a bribe to take the job of my colleague and pass decisions that favor the person that is offering me a bribe. If you’re a president of the country isn’t it your job to just find out if there this is happening since the person who is saying this is implicating your friend and your child or somebody you call a friend publicly,” says Madonsela.
“It’s just an issue about ethics. Themba Maseko accuses you publicly as the president of the country that you asked him to help those people, don’t say I never did that. Shouldn’t you say I have instituted a commission of enquiry to find out why this young fellow is lying about me.”
“These people may well be lying and if they are lying they should be called to order but you need a process that checks out whether or not they telling the truth. As long as nothing is done about it you will always have this question mark. It is creating a dysfunctional executive, it’s creating fractured relationships but it’s also saying to the world there are improper influences in the state of South Africa but it may well be not true.”
These are conversations she believes would have helped cabinet with its responsibilities as stipulated in the Executive Members Ethic Act under section 195 and 237 of the constitution. Her office was inundated with requests to investigate cases she would rather not, like state capture. There were many reasons. Hands were full, she was on her way out, cases should be dealt with on last in last out basis but this case was brought under the Executive Members Ethics Act. When a case is brought in through this Act it compels the Public Protector to investigate. According to this law, cases are also supposed to be completed in 30 days, which also left her with no time.
Madonsela had to make tough choices in standing up for the truth that won her the admiration of many Africans and won her the title of FORBES AFRICA’s 2016 Person of the Year – a fitting send off for a fearless woman who never backed down even in the face of death threats.
“My children are relieved. My brother is just relieved that I made it out alive. That was his message the day I finished on the 14th, saying “sisi siyabonga ukuthi labantu abaku bulalanga (Sister, we are grateful these people didn’t kill you). I hope we keep it that way because with the state capture report, the missiles are following me. I’m done, this is just revenge, I can’t harm them in any way whatsoever,” she laughs.
Many people want to hear from this elegant and softly-spoken daughter of a domestic worker and taxi driver; she has filled her diary until the end of the year. Thereafter she heads off for either Harvard, where she may study guidance and governance, or lecturing at Oxford University. It’ll be a lot quieter there.
&nbsp;

‘Sister, We Are Grateful These People Didn’t  Kill You’

I have not worked a day in my life, because I love what I do. The daily adrenalin rush of live television is a necessity and I thrive on the pressure. Recently, CNBC Africa went global with an exclusive interview with President Jacob Zuma. To prove my mettle as a financial journalist, I asked a number of tough questions. The more challenging aspect was that CNBC Europe had booked a satellite link the following morning, directly into their live shows. We would cross ‘live’ six times during the morning into the global CNBC network and introduce segments of the president’s interview live from Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Each of the first five live crossings to London was a nerve-wracking two-minute ad lib leading into the interview. It was as though this is what I had been training for the last 13 years. Five crossings down, and congratulatory emails started streaming in from our global network affiliates, the most notable from CNBC Europe’s Head of News and Programming, Patrick Allen: “Watching from New York, very happy with the outcome, interview good, report great, you and shot look great, bravo.” But in the live television business, it is not over until it is over.
Our biggest moment was still to come – our live link directly into Squawk US. The controllers out of the US spoke to me: “Bronwyn, this is New Jersey, we are linking you into Squawk US. This is CNBC US, the biggest financial broadcaster in the world, they have a very different broadcast style, no mistakes tolerated. You must conduct a precise 45-second ad lib, then throw forward to a 15-second sound bite from President Zuma.”
My heart was pounding and my knees shaking, as
I waited for the cue from Becky Quick, the CNBC US anchor. Then it happened.
“Thank you Becky – emerging markets are out of favor and their currencies are all under pressure. South Africa has one of the most volatile currencies in the emerging market space having fallen some 17% against the dollar over 2013. Many economists in South Africa feel ongoing allegations of corruption against the ruling party and unrest in the mining sector are fueling further rand weakness. In a CNBC Africa exclusive, I sat down with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and asked him what he thought was behind the rand’s fall.”
And just as suddenly as it began, it was over. South Africa’s minute of fame on the world’s biggest financial network had come and gone. How did it go? The broad smile on my producer’s face and her thumbs-up indicated it was a clean execution. My reputation intact, I was ready to face another day in the world of live broadcasting.

‘I Have Not Worked  A Day In My Life’

Some may mistake Brett Murray’s self-titled book of art as a course in realpolitik, and The Spear – his work that depicts South African President Jacob Zuma standing like Lenin, from the Victor Ivanov poster, while his genitals dangle from the open zipper of his trousers. It triggered a defamation lawsuit by the ruling African National Congress and was defaced in May 2012, at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. Yet the book that chronicles his artworks over a career of 30 years is more than that. It is an interesting study about Murray’s catalogue as satire and political comment, where political factions spark racial divide as the rule, not the exception. This beautifully put-together book treats The Spear debacle as one pinnacle in a prolific career that is, at times, touching and melancholic. It tells the story of a non-conformist, who has been creating controversy since the get go.
Murray’s pop art is elegant and austere: simple form, bold color, in steel, sculpture and mixed media. Each work is an attack on neo-tribalism, tokenism, apartheid, cronyism and pretentiousness. Over the years, some critics have thought his attacks somewhat simple-minded, but most agree his work is classic in its own way. Murray’s art is peculiar, it touches on the tragedy and absurdity of our past and present, but at its core it grapples with South Africa’s failure to communicate its humane emptiness.
A lot of art nowadays is incoherent and meaningless; audiences are not required to connect, and it leaves the observer contemptuous and superior, as though they were watching a television advert – with a sense that they are being sold to. Murray’s pieces are old-school, virtuoso triumphs that work on a primitive notion that his issues are all surface and physical – a la his 2000 sculpture titled Africa, with its African statuette and several Bart Simpson faces stuck to its body. Is it about tradition selling out to commercialism? Afrocentrism buckling to Westernism? A clash of cultures? The analysis goes on.
Many present day artworks do not make one think, instead it is decorative and beautiful to look at. Art is meant to challenge, to make one feel a part of something again, not just as though one is lost in another city. Good art makes one care about how the country is faring, and makes one believe in collective possibility once again. I guess Murray understands that. He creates exhibitions that speak to its audience. It is not that we want all his work to be high art, it can be low art too – like his Heritage Collection with its steel animals and African curio feel – and still feel like high art.
What makes Murray timeless are his themes – his art can access the modern youth because he knows what touches them. The recurrence of themes in Murray’s work illustrates that each generation wants satire, just addressed in newer ways. Murray fulfils this need, but with each new artwork, he pushes the boundaries a little further – have we become that desensitized? Was The Spear a step too far? When South Africa was a young democracy, it enjoyed any art that laid bare its diversity. As the country’s democracy has become more nuanced, complicated, and tricky, it is harder to be straightforward.
There was a lot of talk about The Spear this time last year that our tastes and habits had changed, moved on from Murray’s kind of art. But that is preposterous. Part of the purpose of art is to open up debate. The artist’s job is to give a glimpse of what is really going on below the surface. Murray does that with a simple angle: subversive gesture. His book reflects that modus operandi. It also makes it clear that his straight-shooting style will never go out of fashion, because it never loses sight of its primary reason: it is not intended to be solemn, but smart, inventive and deliberately absurd. That makes for good art.

Another Sharp Spear Point From Murray

She walks into the room with great confidence, wearing a full black suit. Although she is on holiday, she has made time to meet FORBES WOMAN AFRICA – that is just the type of person she is. She reaches out her hand, introduces herself and apologizes for being late. It is hard to believe that this poised figure is Thuli Madonsela, whose name is being kicked around the political scene like an empty tin can.
The fight between her and the South Africa government is all about Nkandla – the private home of South African President Jacob Zuma. It sits on a vast amount of land and cost over R200 million ($18.3 million) of, reportedly, taxpayers’ money to upgrade security. The president claims to have taken out a R800,000 ($73,200) loan for the purposes of the renovations. Besides the thatched huts built for his family and the beautiful landscape of KwaZulu-Natal province, one of its features is a so-called ‘fire pool’. It has been explained away by his spin doctors, for it is not a recreational swimming pool, but a water reservoir in case of fire.
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Who would be bold enough to investigate these allegations against the head of state? That woman is public protector, Thuli Madonsela.
“I don’t see it as me versus the government, it’s my team versus maladministration. For any government, if they want to govern in perpetuity, maladministration is an enemy because your ability to govern, or the authority people give you to govern, is withdrawn one piece at a time if there is maladministration.”
It all began in December 2011 when a citizen lodged a complaint to the public protector’s office regarding how the country was spending its money. A few months later, another citizen lodged a complaint against the president, under the Executive Members’ Ethnics Act, accusing him of using money to which he was not entitled. Madonsela had 30 days to respond.
“Firstly, when the complaint was made, I didn’t think that it was going against the president because procurement is not a presidential matter. So, at no stage did I think there would be any direct involvement with the president.”
The public protector’s office compiled information provided by several ministers, some of whom were also under investigation. Her team began asking harder questions, which raised red flags.
“The minister of police said he was going to give us information, so we were expecting it. Then, he said when he comes back from his honeymoon, he will give us the necessary information. When he came back, he wrote us a letter saying that he doesn’t understand why we were doing this investigation because as ministers they have everything under control and they are investigating [the matter].”
The ministers and security cluster opposing the investigation took Madonsela to court on the charge that the investigation would compromise the security of the president. Meanwhile, in December 2013, the 12,000-page provisional Nkandla report was published on the Mail and Guardian. Madonsela, a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was accused of being underhanded. Some called her a heroine, while ANC loyalists hissed that she was a traitor.
At the time of writing, Madonsela could not comment on the findings of the final report. President Zuma was presented the findings in two capacities, as president of the country and the accused.
But there is more to her job than what appears in the media.
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“In reality most of the cases that take our time on a day-to-day basis are from ordinary people, who are just grappling with being denied one or another service. Usually, people who are struggling with an ID or permanent residence, people who are struggling with a grant and also people who have been unfairly treated in employment situations in government and who can’t go to the CCMA, or can’t go to the public service commission, or who would go to those but the service processes take forever.”
The frenzy has put Madonsela in the public eye. Many people expect her to be a loud and aggressive woman but are surprised by her soft-spoken nature.
“Some man once saw me and he seemed almost disappointed in meeting me, we were doing a walkabout in the mall and he said to me, ‘Oh aunty you’re just a little girl, I thought you were taller.’ Then I said to my team, ‘He always made me feel guilty that I’m not taller,” she laughs.
In her spare time, when she is not flexing her muscles, she enjoys reading women’s magazines  and listening to classical music. At home, she jokingly admits her children often remind her that she is not the ‘PP’, but simply a mom. She never fears for her safety or that of her children saying that, “I think other people fear for my family more than I do. My view on it, and this is the view my team takes, is that if anyone wanted to do anything wrong to me they would have done it at the early stages of this investigation. You don’t let the investigation complete and then you want to do something to someone because what would that achieve?”
Looking back, Madonsela has few regrets but there are things she would do differently with the Nkandla report.
“I should never have given the ministers a provisional report with the findings. And my team warned me against it because you are giving a provisional report for security filtering to someone who is one of the investigated…”
After her term in office, Madonsela has set her sights on writing another couple of hundred pages.
“When I finish, for a year or two, I would like to focus on writing, writing about the potential of this office [of the public protector], not just for South Africa, but for Africa and the world. It has enormous potential, but it’s not fully known, understood and exploited because it’s an office that has potential for transformative work.”
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Madonsela also wants to go back to the bar, this time as an advocate, where she will continue her fight against injustice. Clearly we haven’t heard the last of Madonsela.

Tag: President Jacob Zuma

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