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By Citizen Reporter

Journalist

7 minute read

6 Mar 2017

08:44 am

Manyi, Mngxitama called ‘Gupta boys’ for defending Dlamini

Both men fired off volleys of tweets on Sunday, with Atul Gupta himself favouring one of them with a retweet.

Mzwanele Manyi and Andile Mngxitama.

Two of South African Twitter’s most outspoken users, Black First Land First’s Andile Mngxitama and the President of the Progressive Professionals Forum (PPF) Mzwanele Manyi, came out guns blazing on Sunday in support of Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini.

Dlamini, who had experienced a tough morning at the office, possibly needed the support.

She faced widespread criticism for a press conference in which she said that she had not yet confirmed the continuation of an illegal deal with Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to ensure grants are paid on April 1, despite saying on Friday that a deal had indeed been reached.

She was challenged by particularly one journalist, Karyn Maughan, who took her to task for not being willing to take questions on the resignation of her accounting officer, former director-general Zane Dangor, and for not providing any specifics on how grants would be paid and whether this would be a legally acceptable arrangement.

The Constitutional Court found in 2014 that her department had not awarded the original tender to the company in a legally sound manner and gave her until April 2017 to sort it out. That does not appear to have happened, and her department and its social security agency, Sassa, have been scrambling to find a solution.

Whatever solution they come up with will probably represent a deviation from sound procurement regulations.

It also emerged that they had ignored legal advice given to them by Advocate Wim Trengove in October to try to get a head-start on the problem.

None of this, however, appeared to bother either Mngxitama nor Manyi. The former chose to again lay the blame at the door of Treasury and the man in charge of it, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, while Manyi doggedly pointed out that Dlamini has not yet done anything wrong and the deadline remains 1 April. Up until 1 April arrives, in his view it is impossible to judge her and say that her actions represent contempt of court in any way.

It emerged last week that Eskom was accused of sponsoring Manyi’s PPF to help it wage a so-called dirty war against National Treasury.

On Tuesday, the DA said it had been told through a written parliamentary question that Eskom and Transnet had sponsored the forum to the tune of R840 000.

The opposition claimed this proved former Eskom CEO and now ANC member of parliament Brian Molefe had been helping Manyi in a PR battle against Gordhan.

Eskom admitted it gave the money to the PPF through the sponsorships of its events, but Manyi said on Sunday that any sponsorship his forum was given would be good value for money for the exposure it brought for the sponsor.

On Sunday, in a series of tweets, Manyi once again complained about the power of “white monopoly capital”, which he refers to as “WMC”. He took issue with Maughan for saying that government needed to account to the media in a constitutional democracy, as the media was owned by big business.

“They even forget that they [the media] are 1st and foremost businesses. How can government account to capital instead of to parliament?” Parliament’s watchdog committee, Scopa, has also slammed Dlamini and her department, but Manyi did not mention this.

For Manyi, journos were “silly” for wanting the minister to account to them on the details of how she will ensure grants are paid. As far as he is concerned, the only thing that matters is that on 1 April we “will see grants being paid”.

“They reported that they are crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s. Have faith in [the department of social development,” Manyi wrote.

“The ONLY time contempt arises is when the court order is not adhered to. They are ON track.”

He claimed to know the “tricks of WMC” because he had worked for them for more than years, a comment at least one user found hysterical.

https://twitter.com/SA_public_econ/status/838489230804406273

Manyi opined that WMC had also created the load-shedding Eskom crisis so that white businesses could buy the state utility for “two cents”.

He said Dlamini was now being persecuted by the WMC grouping because she was supporting Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to become the next president, a comment that also seemed to earn an endorsement from City Press political writer Andisiwe Makinana, who told him to “Preach!”

Manyi accused the media of making things up, and “distorting issues to get a sensational headline … sadly the gullible people fall for it”.

EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu has in the past criticised Manyi by alleging he is part of the “Gupta group” and is “singing for supper” and is a “zombie”.

Even former NPA head Vusi Pikoli took Manyi on, but was quickly rebutted.

Manyi also retweeted a message pointing to an apparent inconsistency in the attitude of the white middle class towards grant recipients.

https://twitter.com/EsethuHasane/status/838313340225073152

Ranjeni Munusamy, writing on The Daily Maverick, had earlier said of Manyi: “The onslaught against Gordhan is so clumsy that in just one day the nexus between Manyi, [Sars commissioner Tom] Moyane and Molefe revealed itself without the finance minister having to do anything or the media having to conduct any serious probing. Like with the ‘paid Twitter” offensive and the “white minority capital” front campaign, a lot of effort goes into trying to manipulate and sway public opinion with little results.”

In his turn, Mngxitama was just as busy on Twitter, but instead of just referring to white monopoly capital, he continued his assault against billionaire Johann Rupert, and built on his narrative that Gordhan is in the pockets of “white-owned” banks.

https://twitter.com/SammyMatlaila/status/838611911323316225

https://twitter.com/Mngxitama/status/838607088867753984

Mngxitama, after a stint with the EFF as its land commissar and a member of parliament, now regularly defends President Jacob Zuma and the Guptas and has often faced accusations that he is part of the “paid Twitter” group trying to change perceptions of the controversial family and their supporters in government.

He wrote on Sunday: “If you read the white-owned media for your news you [are] paying Rupert to misinform you and then you insult blacks about corruption.

“How is it ok that Pravin Gordhan is minister of finance and yet benefits directly from corrupt banks and corporations like Unilever?

He retweeted the sentiment that “Minister Dlamini has committed no crime , yet she is guilty, and Black … [Maria] Ramos admitted guilt, she is not questioned she is white.”

Mngxitama said: “Some blacks get a sever case of cognitive dissonance when evidence of white corruption is presented. Whiteness kills black brains.

“Don’t be surprised to hear treasury rejects the [Sassa] deal cut to ensure grants flow. Pravin wants white-owned banks where he has shares to get it.”

He alleged that the finance minister was “working hard to sabotage minister Bathabile Dlamini to ensure the Sassa grant administration goes to banks he has shares in”.

Barely a day goes by without a tweet aimed at Rupert, who has previously complained about the Twitter offensive against him.

“Johann Rupert steals cooking oil from the poor who live on grants. Pravin Gordhan gets direct benefit from that theft and its ok.”

Mngxitama also doggedly clings to the idea that it was not the axing of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene that cost the economy R500 billion in December 2015, but the collusion of a forex traders working together between 2007 and 2013, as revealed by the Competition Commission.

He wrote: “Banks corruption cost S.A. R500 billion in two days; media not calling for Pravin to go. Sassa not missed one grant but minister must go.

“Pravin’s mission is to surrender everything to the banks and white monopoly capital.”

Mngxitama also seems to think there are double standards with regard to Dlamini, since the health minister was not made to resign after the Life Esidimeni tragedy, though many are calling for Dlamini’s head.

“Not single poor person has not received their Grant; media calling for Bathabile to go. + 100 people dead no call for Dr Motsoaledi to go.”

He admitted that “the grants crisis should have been averted”, but he said one could not deny that “the deal minister Bathabile Dlamini secured is best”.

Somehow, Mngxitama appeared to know more about the specifics of the CPS deal than the rest of South Africa, declaring that Dlamini had secured an extension of the contract “at [a] favourable rate of mere one rand increase. I just wish Zane [Dangor] didn’t resign.”

He admitted respect for recently resigned social development director-general Zane Dangor, “a competent and progressive civil servant”.

“The regime change agents are going to try use the operational disagreements between Zane and the minister to push their white agenda.

Munusamy, in a clear allegation that Andile may be funded by the Gupta family, pointed to the fact that Atul Gupta was retweeting him as possible evidence of Mngxitama being employed by the family.

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In response, both Manyi and Mngxitama faced a barrage of criticism from many users, interspersed with messages of support.

https://twitter.com/Niro2_1/status/838482730279108609

https://twitter.com/1112steven/status/838613923209297920

https://twitter.com/Unathi_Kwaza/status/838629366607265793

 

Read more on these topics

Andile Mngxitama Bathabile Dlamini Jimmy Manyi

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