Pierre de Vos

Ceta's huge party to launch ... nothing In June 2022 the Construction Education & Training Authority hosted a lavish launch for a biometric student verification system that didn’t exist.

🔒Guests arrived at the Gallagher Grill Auditorium in June 2022 for a full breakfast, speeches and branded gifts, followed by a buffet lunch, to launch the biometric student verification system that did not exist. www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times...

“Fine has previously said Gaza should be nuked and posted thatPalestinians are “demons that live on Earth … they only deserve death.” There’s very little outrage or media coverage about his hateful remarks because anti-Palestinian racism is a bipartisan position in the US.”

What is going on with Marjorie Taylor Greene? | Arwa Mahdawi The far-right Republican and conspiracy theorist is suddenly speaking (a small amount of) sense. Weird!

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write: Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right conspiracy theorist and bigot who also happens to be a Republican congresswoman, has suddenly started to speak (a small amount of) sense. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Belgium summons Israeli ambassador over Gaza plans BRUSSELS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Belgium's foreign minister on Friday summoned the Israeli ambassador citing Israel's announced plan to occupy Gaza City and take military control of the Gaza Strip.

Even Belgium: The ministry said Belgium wanted to “express total disapproval of this decision, but also of the continued colonization … and the desire to annex the West Bank,” adding that it will “vigorously advocate” for a reversal of this decision. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Gaza: Israeli School Strikes Magnify Civilian Peril Israeli forces’ deadly attacks on schools sheltering Palestinian civilians highlight the absence of safe places for Gaza’s displaced people, Human Rights Watch said today. Since October 2023, Israeli ...

Israel’s campaign of revenge: More evidence in this Human Rights Watch report that Israeli airstrikes targeting schools used as shelters, and killing scores of children, did not involve military targets at all.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Josephine Quinn · Born on the Beach: Ancient Coastlines Seas are repetitive creatures, working in cycles of tides, migration and climate change, which is normally to say the...

"The seaside​ was invented in the 18th century, along with freedom, fraternity and the rights of man. Now the sea is back in vogue just as those waters gather to end humanity for good." www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Did they bribe so many people that they ran out of money and are not able to pay for a competent criminal lawyer? Or did they pay a dodgy or corrupt lawyer who lied to them? No other explanation for the bizarre and obviously false statement that attempted bribery is not a crime. So embarrassing.

The Tebogo Malaka video ‘sting’ – here’s why Daily Maverick did it The action of the Independent Development Trust’s CEO and her spokesperson is an assault on the fourth estate, a vital pillar of a functioning democracy, and on freedom of expression.

"Our President, for some reason, keeps cash in his couches. The deputy president and his family sit on vast assets that they can’t quite explain. Two of Ramaphosa’s “post-capture” ministers have been caught in huge graft scandals." www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

NATASHA MARRIAN: ANC and DA in a dead end dance Party clashes are set to turn off even more SA voters towards the upcoming election cycle

🔒NATASHA MARRIAN: ANC and DA in a dead end dance. Party clashes are set to turn off even more SA voters towards the upcoming election cycle. www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/c...

Alleged Ponzi scheme kingpin Louis Liebenberg sent to psychiatric hospital for 30 days | News24 Alleged Ponzi scheme kingpin Louis Liebenberg will undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is able to understand his court proceedings.

🔒Alleged Ponzi scheme kingpin, and Zuma benefactor, Louis Liebenberg, who gifted a diamond to Mashatile's wife, sent to psychiatric hospital for 30 days www.news24.com/southafrica/...

ANC donor almost bagged state’s largest tender Tau reveals why he declined Ringeta, backed by Batho Batho Trust, to operate the national lottery

🔒ANC donor almost bagged state’s largest tender. Ringeta bid was tainted by the participation of high-profile ANC MP Sibongiseni Dhlomo, trustee of the Batho Batho Trust. www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/...

South Africa’s intestate inheritance law is creating chaos among township families The single most common problem brought to the Orange Farm Advice Centre is disputes over ‘family houses’. Legally, there is no such thing as a family house, yet it has a very real existence.

The single most common problem brought to the Orange Farm Advice Centre is disputes over ‘family houses’. Legally, there is no such thing as a family house, yet it has a very real existence. www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...

Only 1.5% of Gaza cropland left for starving Palestinians due to Israel’s war, UN says Figure down from 4% in April, suggesting Israel has continued to target farmland in once-abundant Gaza Strip

Only 1.5% of Gaza cropland left for starving Palestinians as Israel continues its campaign of revenge against the people whose land they occupy. Figure down from 4% in April, suggesting Israel has continued to target farmland in once-abundant Gaza Strip. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

NATASHA MARRIAN: Blind ambition in the ANC Ramaphosa might see the problem, but his deluded comrades are more interested in the succession race than in pleasing the electorate

🔒NATASHA MARRIAN: Blind ambition in the ANC. Ramaphosa might see the problem, his comrades are more interested in eating while they can, and thus in the succession race, than in pleasing the electorate. www.businesslive.co.za/fm/opinion/s...

Israel holds Awdah Hathaleen's body. His killer roams free through his village On hunger strike to demand his return, Umm Al-Khair's women can't even sleep undisturbed as the army detains the village's men in nightly raids.

Israeli authorities have refused to release the murdered Awdah Hathaleen’s body for burial, while his killer roams freely through his village. www.972mag.com/awdah-hathal...

Chris Hedges Speaks on ‘American Sadism’ Chris Hedges gave this talk on American Sadism at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, New York on Sunday June 27.

Sadism as a defining United States value: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges charts the rise of a culture in which cruelty is not an aberration, but a structural necessity—used to dominate the poor, racialized, feminized, and excluded. scheerpost.com/2021/06/29/c...

OPINION | From apartheid fighter to Gaza enabler: Denmark’s moral collapse | News24 While Denmark took an active stand against apartheid in South Africa, in Gaza, the Danish government’s humanism collapsed, writes Erik Boel.

🔒"Why is there a focus on the killing spree of children? Probably because Israel realises that murdering children will inflict maximum harm and pain on parents and grandparents. Murdering children is a way to erase the future of the Palestinian people." www.news24.com/opinions/col...

Calls for probe into KZN school nutrition tender amid corruption claims KZN’s National School Nutrition Programme, a critical source of daily meals for more than two million vulnerable learners, faces a deepening corruption scandal implicating Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka ...

Calls for probe into KZN school nutrition contracts amid corruption claims implicating ANC MEC for Education. The programme is engulfed in a deepening corruption scandal that threatens to undermine this critical safety net. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Parliament’s Mkhwanazi probe is led by ANC MP, sparking opposition ire Political parties have until Friday to make inputs on the ad hoc committee’s terms of reference.

Parliament’s Mkhwanazi probe begins under ANC leadership, sparking opposition criticism www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Stellenbosch University meningitis death — what to know about the infection The sudden death of Stellenbosch student Chris Scheffer from meningococcal meningitis — a rare and deadly bacterial infection — has sparked urgent health warnings. Here’s what you need to know about t...

All the facts on meningococcal meningitis in wake of tragic death of Stellenbosch student www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Mashatile caught between luxury property, a diamond and a hard place The ANC’s National Executive Committee broke for an hour on Sunday to deliberate on allegations of impropriety swirling around Deputy President Paul Mashatile and Human Settlements Minister Thembi Sim...

Deputy President Paul Mashatile caught between luxury property, a shiny diamond and a hard place www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Suspended Independent Development Trust CEO, spokesperson offer Daily Maverick journalist R60K in cash to quash investigation In possibly the most brazen act of attempted bribery ever recorded on camera in this country, the IDT’s suspended CEO and the entity’s spokesperson offered this journalist R60,000 in cash to bury an o...

In possibly the most brazen act of attempted bribery ever recorded on camera in this country, the IDT’s suspended CEO and the entity’s spokesperson offered a journalist R60,000 in cash to bury an ongoing Daily Maverick investigation. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Parliament’s failure to ensure public participation a threat to democracy, says Corruption Watch Parliament told to start search from scratch after top court finds appointment of Commission for Gender Equality commissioners invalid

🔒The Con Court’s finding that parliament failed in its constitutional obligation when it interviewed candidates vying for the Commission for Gender Equality’s top jobs shows legislatures are sleeping on the job, says Corruption Watch. www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/...

Texas senator asks FBI to help locate and arrest Democrats for leaving state John Cornyn ramps up gerrymandering showdown between lawmakers and Trump administration seeking GOP seats

This is not normal in a democracy: US senator John Cornyn has asked the FBI to arrest Democrats who left the state to forestall a plan to aggressively redraw the state’s congressional map to help Republicans keep their House majority after the 2026 elections. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A wasteland of rubble, dust and graves: how Gaza looks from the sky The Guardian joins a Jordanian military airdrop for a rare chance to observe a landscape devastated by Israel’s offensive

Gaza is gone – not buried under volcanic ash, not erased by history, but razed by an Israeli military campaign that has left behind a place that looks like the aftermath of an apocalypse. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Why are so few people describing the Trump regime in the US as extremist? An extremist regime is usually characterized by its intolerance, authoritarianism, and a willingness to suppress dissent? And in the case of the US, also by its support and funding of a genocide in Israel.

Israeli cabinet meeting postponed as tensions rise over Netanyahu’s occupation plan Officials said prime minister was planning offensive to fully occupy Gaza, but resistance reveals splits in government

Israeli cabinet meeting postponed as tensions rise over Netanyahu’s occupation plan. Officials said prime minister was planning offensive to fully occupy Gaza with support of extremist Trump administration, but resistance reveals splits in government. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Israel Tries to Shift Narrative at Home and Abroad on Gaza

Fixed the headline: Israel tries to change the topic to draw attention away from its starvation of the civilian population and its other genocidal actions in Gaza www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/w...

Ex-SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana fears extortion allegations putting her life in danger | News24 Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana says she fears the charges of extortion against her are putting her life in danger.

🔒Ex-SAA board member Yakhe "fat cakes" Kwinana says she fears that extortion allegations are putting her life in danger. Kwinana was arrested for terrorising the residents of Hongweni Village to extort "rent" from them. www.news24.com/southafrica/...

I agree wholeheartedly with your point that praising diversity while living in cultural silos is problematic. But I fear that too many people are incapable or unwilling of recognising, let alone embracing, the most attractive cultures and values, which requires humility and moral imagination.