{"id":14407,"date":"2021-07-02T04:54:19","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T04:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/?post_type=stories&#038;p=14407"},"modified":"2024-09-15T18:20:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T18:20:22","slug":"210702-amab-comment-departures-and-arrivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/210702-amab-comment-departures-and-arrivals\/","title":{"rendered":"AmaB comment: Departures and arrivals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\">Twenty years ago Stefaans Br\u00fcmmer, then the head of the<em>\u00a0Mail &amp; Guardian<\/em>\u2019s investigative unit, recruited an obscure Durban journalist to join the team. That was me.<\/p>\n<p>Not long afterwards, <a href=\"https:\/\/mg.co.za\/article\/2002-12-06-an-unshaikable-friendship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in November 2002<\/a>, I broke the story that the Scorpions were investigating then Deputy President Jacob Zuma \u201cfor an alleged attempt to secure a bribe of R500 000 a year from French defence giant Thomson-CSF\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This year Zuma finally went on trial on that charge; this month (hopefully) he finally goes to jail (briefly) for a decade of constitutional contempt; and this week (hopefully) Stefaans finally gets a rest (briefly).<\/p>\n<p>Stefaans and I have worked closely together for two decades \u2013 and for all that time Zuma has loomed as a dark shadow over the constitutional project.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Also read: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mg.co.za\/article\/2002-12-06-an-unshaikable-friendship\/\">An unShaikable friendship<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course the problems we face today are not all down to Zuma \u2013 the arms deal, which dominated our early collaboration, was Thabo Mbeki\u2019s baby.<\/p>\n<p>But we are living in the state that Zuma, more than anyone else, constructed \u2013 or rather demolished, piece-by-piece. A state more captured than capable, with a governing class that is sometimes indistinguishable from an organised crime network.<\/p>\n<p>It was investigative journalism that, year-after-year, threw a few frail bodies at the political and state ramparts that Zuma fashioned to protect himself, his family, his cronies, his wealth and his influence.<\/p>\n<p>It was investigative journalism that laid the groundwork for both the Zondo Commission \u2013 and the Constitutional Court decision this week that called the deposed emperor on his naked disdain for any form of genuine accountability.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth quoting what judge Zondo said this week about South African journalism.<\/p>\n<p>He told a media briefing, \u201cI want to take this opportunity to point out that we certainly appreciate the very important work that the media plays in our society. We appreciate the enormous contribution that you as journalists make in building our society, in building our country, in placing before society various things that society should know.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, you know what I am talking about because you have played a very important role towards the creation of this commission. Indeed, as I have been hearing evidence since August 2018 I have come across many areas where it was quite clear to me that had we not had the kind of investigative journalism that we have in this country, this society and this commission would not have known certain things, ugly things, that have now been placed before society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe really salute you\u2026 we think this commission has benefitted enormously from the investigative journalism we have in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What he didn\u2019t say, what the public doesn\u2019t often see, is how thin this line of defence is. Journalism and journalists are stretched. Stefaans and I have the scars to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>Stefaans is taking a break, but amaBhungane\u2019s mission continues \u2013 and we expect to announce the arrival of some reinforcements soon.<\/p>\n<p>The constitutional delinquents \u2013 Zuma included \u2013 are still here, not only outside the walls, but in powerful positions within the city, stealing its meagre reserves, stripping its defences, jostling for power.<\/p>\n<p>We rely on you, the public. We depend on you to keep us going. To fund us. To support us. To defend us.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>So, if you\u2019re moved to\u00a0donate\u00a0to our cause, go\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/amabhungane.us11.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=760d27a4555f5cf43b2813a89&amp;id=3bac727db8&amp;e=5ca3b11c86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/amabhungane.us11.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3D760d27a4555f5cf43b2813a89%26id%3D3bac727db8%26e%3D5ca3b11c86&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625285161636000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGtAouQDbL4iKiVC6xh6hsTn8HvTg\">here<\/a>.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>If you want to read our\u00a0new story on the VBS\u00a0bank scandal, go\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/amabhungane.us11.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=760d27a4555f5cf43b2813a89&amp;id=860a4ec0c5&amp;e=5ca3b11c86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/amabhungane.us11.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3D760d27a4555f5cf43b2813a89%26id%3D860a4ec0c5%26e%3D5ca3b11c86&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625285161636000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjlt-IilDEEcSV0ma7N7wvFvo5CQ\">here<\/a>.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>If you\u2019d like to know more about our\u00a0latest success at the Constitutional Court\u00a0go\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/amabhungane.us11.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=760d27a4555f5cf43b2813a89&amp;id=0ec35de815&amp;e=5ca3b11c86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/amabhungane.us11.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3D760d27a4555f5cf43b2813a89%26id%3D0ec35de815%26e%3D5ca3b11c86&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625285161636000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFvSvu-QUSbXfCv9qOL7NHmGP9z0A\">here<\/a>. Or do it all!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em><br \/>\nAluta Continua<br \/>\n<\/em><strong><em>Sam Sole, amaB managing partner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 20-year journey with Stefaans Br\u00fcmmer and Jacob Zuma may be coming to an end, but\u00a0with your support, amaBhungane\u2019s work goes on \u2013 and remains as vital as ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,649,550,530,22],"class_list":["post-14407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-amabhungane","tag-mg","tag-sam-sole","tag-stefaans-brummer","tag-zuma"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30001,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407\/revisions\/30001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}