Johannesburg – “We won’t drop the charges against Grace Mugabe. We are frustrated and furious about the police’s handling of the matter,” says Debbie Engels.

Her daughter, Gabriella, 20, says the Zimbabwean first lady hit her with an electric extension cord at a hotel in Sandton until her head bled.

Debbie said according to police, a warrant of arrest would be issued for Mugabe, Netwerk24 reported.

She had been expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, but did not arrive. She also didn’t hand herself over to the police.   

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Mugabe, who was still in South Africa on Wednesday afternoon, is seeking diplomatic immunity. Earlier rumours had suggested that she returned to Zimbabwe on Tuesday, Jeanelle Greyling reports.

The Zimbabwean government officially informed the Department of International Relations and Co-operation in this regard.

“Her itinerary includes private business, but also participation in the summit of the Southern African Development Community and the bilateral diplomatic meeting being held in Pretoria,” a statement by the police ministry said.

“The suspect stays in South Africa and has not left the country.”

Also read: South Africa debating immunity for Zimbabwe first lady

Mugabe was visiting her sons, Robert jnr and Chatunga, on Sunday when she apparently stormed into their room and assaulted Gabriella while her bodyguards watched.

Robert apparently is studying architecture at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), but has never been seen at lectures. It’s not known where Chatunga is studying, but it is not at UJ.

According to reports the two spend a lot of time clubbing and holding excessive parties. They apparently like to spend up to R6 000 on champagne.

They were evicted from a luxury apartment complex in Sandton last month after a spat about girls.

Some of the criticism levelled against them is that they live a life of opulence while most people in Zimbabwe live in abject poverty.

Chatunga was fiercely criticised after he posted a video on social networks in which he bragged about his excessive lifestyle which included booze sessions at the most expensive nightclubs. People in Zimbabwe are especially furious at the comment he makes in the video. “Live your life and have fun.”

In addition to the assault charge she is facing and her sons’ shameful behaviour, Mugabe is also said be paying R70 000 a month for their hotel room.

Also read: 5 Times Grace Mugabe Got Violent While Abroad

Robert jnr couldn’t care less about the fracas.  On Tuesday, he posted a  picture on Facebook with the caption: “They keep on talking, we keep rolling.” He removed the post after a flood of criticism.  

Marikana – The President of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) Joseph Mathunjwa says the 2012 Marikana massacre is no different to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre.

Muthunjwa said the Marikana incident, however, happened under the constitutional democracy.

“It is shameful that the same people who claim to have liberated us and who condemned police violence against protesters, were the same people who let police kill striking mineworkers,” Mathunjwa said.

He was speaking at the fifth anniversary of the Marikana killings in August 2012.

He received a warm reception at the commemoration.  

Siphokazi Maraqana sang the struggle song “Senzenina – What have we done” before Mathunjwa took the stage.

He said in a capitalist system, workers lived under “slave salaries”.

A sea of green Amcu supporters gathered to honour their fallen colleagues.

Some locals put up small stalls selling fruits, beer, cooldrinks and food while a small group of people carried knobkieries and placards which read, “Remembrance of our heroes”.

They marched around the koppie, which was once the scene where the Marikana massacre played out.

The knobkieries were symbolic of August 16, 2012 when 34 mineworkers were shot dead by police during the protest for better wages.

Most of the miners were shot in the back.

The illegal strike began on August 12 and in the days leading up to August 16, 10 people had already been killed. By the end of the strike, the death toll had risen to 44.

Banners with the image of Mgcineni Noki aka “The Man in the Green Blanket” were placed all over the stage which had been set up for the memorial.

Mathunjwa said the workers who assembled at the koppie five years ago, were the real pioneers of radical economic emancipation.

‘This is the land God has given us’

He said five years later, no one had been punished for the killings of the workers adding that the commemoration was a reminder of how long the families of the deceased had suffered.

Mathunjwa has also called for the amendment of the electoral system to allow the country to elect a president instead of political parties.

He said there should be two political parties, namely Democrats and Labour Parties, and that the other parties would just have to look for employment.

Among the politicians were spiritual leaders, who opened proceedings with prayer and thanks-giving.

One of the pastors read from the book of Exodus 3, which stated, “This is the land God has given to us”.

‘They threw it back at me’

When EFF leader Julius Malema arrived, the masses were heard shouting, “Juju juju juju”.

First to take to the stand was DA leader Mmusi Maimane saying the Marikana massacre was something South Africans should never forget.

“We stand together because there is a dictator who killed our people five years ago but they protect him. What happened here five years ago deserves justice,” Maimane said.

He said they won’t rest until that dictator was out, adding that the Gupta money should go to the workers.

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader General Bantu Holomisa said he was one of the first who came to Marikana after the shooting. He said it was time to change government.

“I gave Mantashe and Ramaphosa the ball last week and they threw it back at me,” Holomisa said.

Addressing the crowd, Malema said it was a day to remember the fallen heroes.

“The reason we came here, is to remember our fellow comrades who were killed here asking for a living wage. Those who are in power would want us to forget the brutality which was unleashed by the police under the ANC government against innocent workers who were asking for a living wage,” Malema said.

August 16 should be a day which should be celebrated all over the world and not only in Marikana.

ALSO READ: ‘We were massacred for radical economic emancipation by the state’ – Marikana miners

“August 16 must be like June 16, because there is nothing different between June 16 and Sharpeville day and Marikana day. Workers, [the] working class was killed by the government, therefore we must remember this day all over South Africa so that government does not repeat a similar mistake,” he said.

He said when the EFF was established in Marikana, most leaders didn’t want to be associated with the people and said they were criminals.

“Ours is not to pay revenge, it is to say to them you were wrong to declare genuine demands of workers as demands of criminals. This day does not exclusively belong to anyone, it belongs to the working class in South Africa and it must be celebrated by all,” he said.  

Malema concluded by saying they gave Amcu a million rand to build houses for the families, adding that they are going to contribute more.

“Amcu must know they got an alliance in the EFF, if you want anything raised in Parliament, and you want it to be raised without fear or favour, come to us – we will raise it and the whole world would pay attention.”

Lonmin CEO Ben Magara who also took the stand said Amcu is now the majority union at Lonmin.

Magara said they remained committed to working with the families.

When EFF national chairperson Dali Mpofu delivered his speech, he slammed the government’s promises of compensation payment as “lies”.

“There has been no justice in Marikana for the past five years. It is a disgrace that we are talking about five years and yet not a single cent has been paid in compensation to our people,” Mpofu said.

Mpofu said the government was continuing to torture the people, and that it was time for Zuma to stop playing with the people.  

At the end of the commemoration widows of the slain men, and family members were each handed flowers and candles which were then placed in the shape of a cross next to the stage.

Johannesburg – Former ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga has accused his party of “victimising the victims of a corrupt state” by taking disciplinary action against ANC members who voted for President Jacob Zuma to go.

Motshekga, who is also a member of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), has called for a special NEC meeting in the wake of the announcement by the ANC that it would discipline MPs who had voted to remove Zuma in Parliament.

“The ANC members are victims of a corrupt state and cannot be accused by the governing party and its government,” Motshekga told News24.

He said the disciplinary inquiry amounted to putting “honesty, integrity and transparency on trial”.

Motshekga was reacting to the ANC’s national working committee’s decision to discipline at least three ANC MPs who it said have publicly confirmed voting with the opposition in last Tuesday’s historic motion of no confidence against Zuma.

Party secretary general Gwede Mantashe announced the decision on Tuesday following the NWC meeting on Monday. He said the members who have publicly come out after the vote to say they voted with the opposition were “daring the party”.

READ MORE: ANC to discipline members who voted for Zuma to go

He compared them to a “fifth column” – a military term used to refer to infiltrators or collaborators with the enemy.

“You can’t have some members of the same army working against it, you can shoot other soldiers from behind. We cannot allow that and promote the notion of a fifth column in the ANC,” Mantashe said.

He further confirmed there was a proposal from the party’s NWC for former tourism minister Derek Hanekom to be removed as chair of the party’s disciplinary committee.

Hanekom and Pravin Gordhan, who were fired as ministers by Zuma during the “night of the long knives” reshuffle in March, together with MPs Mondli Gungubele and Makhosi Khoza have publicly stated they would vote with their conscience. They have also called for Zuma to step down.

“It would be grossly unfair to suggest that comrades face disciplinary action without looking at the root causes of their conduct,” Motshekga said.

ANC insiders have said the failure of the NEC to hold Zuma to account forced an estimated 30 to 40 “frustrated” MPs to break rank and support a motion of no confidence against the party leader – something that was until now seen as sacrilegious.

Divisions around Zuma’s leadership have deepened following last year’s Constitutional Court decision that he failed to uphold the Constitution by not paying back the money used on his Nkandla private home as recommended by the then public protector Thuli Madonsela.

‘Serious introspection’

The Nkandla saga was also seen as part of the reasons the party suffered a 10% decline in electoral support during the local government elections last year.

Other controversies include his recent cabinet reshuffle without consulting the party’s top six and Madonsela’s State of Capture report that investigated Zuma’s friends the Guptas’ undue influence on his Cabinet and state owned entities. The leaked Gupta emails have further shown the extent of the siphoning of state funds.

ALSO READ: Gupta leaks; A collaborative investigation into state capture

Zuma has survived eight motions of no confidence and two attempts to recall him at the NEC.

Motshekga said the decision to discipline the MPs was so “grave”, it could not be left to party officials. Instead a special NEC meeting must be held. He said the ANC MPs had raised concerns by ANC members and society at large.

“The conduct of these comrades give us an opportunity to do serious introspection and to self-correct,” Motshekga said.

He also cautioned against the disciplinary inquiry being used to “settle succession battles”.

“The position now is not and cannot be the settlement of scores, but the restoration of unity and integrity to reconnect with the people who are the real owners of the ANC.”

JOHANNESBURG – Esther Mahlangu’s uniquely South-African flavoured BMW 7 Series is back in South Africa and will be used to preserve the Ndebele cultural heritage of her people.

Mahlangu (aged 82) is a South African Ndebele artist and was the first woman to create artwork on a BMW 525i Sedan turning it into a unique and colourful BMW Art Car. In 2016, Esther was once again commissioned by the BMW Group to refine a BMW 7 Series. 

The vehicle was on display at the Frieze Art Fair which took place in London in 2016. Simultaneously, the original BMW 525i Art Car was part of the exhibition “South Africa: the art of a nation” at the British Museum, functioning as a significant piece and highlighting Mahlangu’s key role in South African art.

BWW Group South Africa is now the owner of Esther’s specially commissioned BMW panels painted in Ndebele art, which have been installed into a new BMW 750Li Individual.  The vehicle will form part of BMW Group South Africa’s Heritage Collection and will be utilised as a display vehicle at various arts and cultural events with the blessing of Mahlangu in order to preserve her cultural heritage for the people of South Africa.

“I am so glad that BMW brought my art back to South Africa, it is a beautiful car to be shared with the people of South Africa for many years to come,” says Mahlangu.

“The patterns I have used on the BMW panels marry tradition to the essence of BMW. When BMW sent me the panels to paint, I could see the design in my head and I just wanted to get started! I started by painting the small ones first to get the feel of the surface and then it was easy as the design follows the lines of the panels,” she adds.

Tim Abbott, CEO of BMW Group South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, is proud that Esther’s work will now be preserved in her home country.  “We are delighted to share Esther’s legacy with the people of South Africa. Esther embraces her traditional heritage passionately and has dedicated her entire life to the development and promotion of Ndebele art”.

Mahlangu was born in Middelburg, Mpumalanga. At the early age of 10, she began to paint under the guidance of her mother and grandmother.

Traditionally, Ndebele women decorate the exterior walls of houses with elaborately painted patterns and graphic elements, symbolising important events such as weddings or other celebrations, thus the walls are used as active communicative media within the community.

eNCA