There are a handful of you who think that I haven’t written in two weeks because of a successful cyber-attack on our company website. You’re wrong, it’s far worse than that, I have been absent because my mom is ill.
She’s tough, though. I’m not. I didn’t cope as well as she did. It’s a terrifying feeling, knowing your mom is fallible. And even though it feels like #RockBottom, it isn’t, and this too shall pass with God’s grace.
And for those hackers: #FreeFreePalestine, I don’t care about your clandestine!
#RockBottom. That’s a great analogy for some of the horrific stories you’ve endured these past two weeks. Join me as I claw my way back up to the surface with Acumen Media.
When the story broke, I didn’t believe it; no mother would viciously beat her 11-year-old son to death; there had to be another person involved, it couldn’t be the mother. Bruised and partially clothed, #JaydenLee’s body was discovered on the stairwell … cold, dead. His mom #TiffanyMeek’s story didn’t add up, and the magistrate was on her like a bloodhound.
The darkness
We wished for #JudgeErasmus from the #KellySmith trial; we got a female version instead: excellent. She tore into the defence’s version of events and sent that woman with her black bobble-hat straight down into (what we wish was) the gallows. We wish it was a pit deep and dark at the bottom of the earth. That’s where we’d like to see her. #RockBottom.
Staying in the darkness, Mduduzi Mnisi’s case was dropped by the NPA. He was accused of murdering and mutilating #LikhonaFose, a 14-year-old girl. Her private parts, ears and eyes were gouged out and her limp body dumped in Durban Deep. This man was previously sentenced to 18 years in prison but only served nine years before being released on parole and it was during his parole that this crime happened. #RockBottom.
A 64-year-old man from Mamelodi received a life sentence for raping his daughter since the age of nine. And then, the trending story on Thursday, a horror show that unfolded on social media. A toddler, three or four years old, being encouraged by his mother to light and smoke a bottleneck Mandrax pipe.
We saw the child surrounded by adults being urged by his mother to inhale the substance. Laughter can be heard in the background. The sound of demons. The child was taken to a place of safety, and the woman has been charged with attempted murder and her mates have been arrested as complicit.
Life Esidimeni V2
And here I was thinking that a mother couldn’t kill her 11-year-old child. I was wrong. South Africa is #RockBottom for the way we treat our children.
In a story reminiscent of #LifeEsidimeni, we learnt how a state hospital in Kimberley let psychiatric patients freeze to death last year. A year-long electricity outage at NCMHH left the critical facility without heating and warm water. This was back in 2024, but I don’t remember the story, so it was likely buried under all the other rot.
A report reveals the structural defects at NCMHH: the sewage spillages into the bathrooms and showers; the lack of blankets; cold bed baths and no pyjamas; and a generator that kept breaking leaving lifesaving equipment like resuscitation devices unusable.
I watched the minister of health, #AaronMotsoaledi, the very same minister who got on his knees at the Life Esidimeni trial where he killed our frail and old and then got on his knees and begged forgiveness. And now he appears again, shocked at the ombudsman’s report of “gross negligence”. To the gallows, rock and bottom.
MK Party raising money again
This week I was lucky; I got to watch Dali-Use-All-Your-Words-Mpofu filibuster on behalf of the #MKParty. Yes, chaps, we’re rinsing money again. The irony of this story is too much. Let me just rewind a bit to the early 2020s when #RaymondZondo, #DCJZondo, filled our timelines with explosive testimony of how South Africa was captured under President Jacob Jacob.
It took two years, and everyone implicated in the #StateCapture inquiry had to step aside on instruction of Prezi Cupcake. They did step aside. They all stepped into camo clothing and these bandits regrouped under the #MKParty.
Forward wind to last month and we heard #Mkhwanazi tell us how #SAPS was captured. He did this in camo (camo is key). I believe him, I don’t doubt him even for a second, but our pressie said that it doesn’t work that way and instead of arresting people after real evidence was submitted, even in camo, it would be much better to launch a commission of inquiry.
South Africa is seething
South Africa was seething, Ramaphosa’s nonchalant manner of addressing our concerns infuriated us. He said it would take six months, and he put the accused #SenzoMchunu on “special leave”. He then went and hired a professor from Wits to take over as #PoliceMinister, this despite having two deputy ministers waiting in the wings.
#Cachalia is not even an MP nor is he a member of cabinet and I’m not sure if he’s even served a day behind a police desk, but here we are. So, the camo bandits from state capture took the current more appropriately dressed capturers to the Constitutional Court. They said #Cachalia’s appointment was unlawful and the whole process was flawed.
Our Constitution came under the microscope with a set of very clever judges who were quite frankly duped. And in the end, what was the conclusion? Back to Dali. He was in the wrong court. He should have gone to High Court and not ConCourt.
Exploring the future
Let’s explore the future here: we go through a lengthy legal litany that perhaps unearths all the rot at SAPS, but not only SAPS, the judiciary itself and then what, is everyone going to step aside and start a new party?
Nope, I’ll tell you what is going to happen and mark my words dear readers. The clue is in the camo. #CamoIsKey. Yesterday MK were heroes to all South Africans, they are going to find the president lacking and a motion of no confidence is already on the cards. If that works, very quickly MK will get more votes, they may even win an election majority.
Is that farfetched? I don’t know, they have camo. If they do get a large volume of votes, it’s not unfathomable that Jacob will merge MK with ANC (as he is still a member of the ANC which he keeps telling us) and the 80-something-year-old will be back with his umshini wami draped by camo kings and queens and that will be #RockBottom.
Well, would it? I don’t even know anymore. Was uBaba as bad as Cupcake? He had his Nkaaandlaaa, his fire pool and he was accused of rape and lots of skullduggery and he is likely who we’d blame this whole mess on, but Cyril doesn’t care guys.
He’s absent while we are rock climbing to get out of the hole without a rope to hold onto. Twelve million engagements over a month, our country is furious, almost everything related to this story has a negative sentiment. This story is enormous. Remember this, though, Mkhwanazi deliberately chose to wear military garb. #CamoIsKey.
Mashatile’s millions
In other news, we saw our deputy president Paul Mashatile come under fire with his R30 million rand home that is morphed by Edwin #DryTaps Sodi’s R85 million rand mansion. Imagine how many blankets and pyjamas you could buy for hospitals with just a tenth of that money?
And then there was Gayton’s Patriotic Alliance. I was going to vote for this oke, can you believe that? Voting for an ex-con sounded like a good idea? Well, that thought flew right out the window when I learnt that the DA, the PA and the ACDP went on an all-inclusive trip to Israel and declared there was no genocide whatsoever.
In fact, quite the opposite, things were just peachy … if you exclude those pesky Palestinians. We saw the rise of Liam Jacobs through the DA ranks and his subsequent exit to the PA and becoming a “friend of Israel”. If you weren’t convinced not to vote for the PA, this week we saw #KennyKunene, the sushi king and deputy of the Patriotic Alliance, front and centre of the #Mkhwanazi accusations.
They found Kenny in KT Molefe’s house. KT and Cat Matlala are linked through their alleged involvement of the hit on #DJSumbody and the attempted murder of actress Thobejane. You remember her? She’s the one Cat wanted shot in the face (Molefe was meant to do the job).
Sushi status
So, here’s Molefe sitting with Kenny and the door is smashed in by the task force and everybody hits the deck, regardless of their sushi status. When questioned Kenny came up with some bs about journalists, but no one bought it, not even Gayton. So, he’s been placed on suspension or is it “special leave”? I don’t know, I just see rocks and bottom.
There’s still so much news to cover, I’m never going to get round to it all. #FlySafair was grounded as the pilots demand more cash. This strike left eye-watering prices for tickets. Talking about flights, kids were stranded in Spain and Portugal as a school scammed parents into buying one-way tickets. Yes, I know, so many questions.
And then there was Trump and his impact in South Africa. He won’t be coming to the G20, boo. he’ll send someone else, yay. He is sanctioning political figures in South Africa: can you start with Emma Powell, the fall girl for the treasonous actions of putting our sovereignty up for barter? She resigned, couldn’t cope with the backlash, poor love.
Trump Tariffs
Genocide is real, Emma, it’s just not on the parties you claim it to be. And then Trump tariffs come into effect on Friday. We’ll see where that gets you #ErnstRoets and Kallie DomKop Kriel. You morons, go throw yourselves into the pit.
I am running out of words, so quickly now: an SANDF member was killed by an elephant; there is a massive anti-vaping campaign and as an ex-smoker and a receiver of smoking awards for my poor body, I can get behind this one. In fact, I feel cheated because I gave up my Camels and sucked on that vape because I was told it was much better for me, but four years later I learnt it wasn’t, so I could have stuck to the Camels.
Apparently five pulls on a vape is the equivalent to 40 ciggies. Whatever man, the youth are blowing smoke rings. Corporates are soul fetchers. #RockBottom
There’s too much international news to cover it all, just the quake and tsunami off Russia and America’s coastlines. You say tsunami and 8.8 quake, we say weapon testing. Rock Paper Scissors Boom.
Tide is turning
Palestine’s tide is turning as Europe starts to capitulate and recognises the state of Palestine and makes small movements to stop arming Israel. When you start seeing footage on Sky News about aid being dropped in the flattened northern Gaza with on camera confessions that they are not allowed to look down at the devastation then we’ve reached rock bottom and the only way is up.
When CNN start talking about starvation as a method of war and Trump tells you the people look hungry, then we know the tide is finally turning. Numbers like 400 000 dead are now making headlines, but we all know it’s a lot more than that. The tide is turning. They can hack servers and put up dodgy websites, steal our videos but never again is now.
And once we reach rock bottom, we can only look up, scramble up, cling and claw our way up.
But we still have the Springboks
Probably one of the biggest stories of the year was the #Coldplay cheating couple. A kiss cam caught a CEO in an awkward moment with a woman who wasn’t his wife. She ducked he twirled, and they squirmed away from the cameras. It was a massive story, bigger than Gaza’s forced starvation. That’s #RockBottom.
Depressed? Yeah three weekly reports crammed into one will do that to you. Don’t worry, we still have sport. Springboks will make you smile soon, I promise.
I’m Tonya Khoury from Acumen Media. Keep my mom in your prayers and keep looking up.
