Brazen and unabashed, they offered the bribe in a Dior gift bag. Pieter Louis Myburgh opened the envelope and pulled out the cash. R60 000 in two hundred randallas. It was a small pile; I thought it would be bigger.
Myburgh (an investigative journalist with Daily Maverick) casually photographed the cash, put it back in the Dior bag and promptly told the CEO of the IDT and counterpart that they were Malakas. Well, the CEO’s surname is Malaka but you get my drift.
It wasn’t just R60 000, it was an offer that included many lucrative tenders at the bottom of that gift bag. But Pieter got what he wanted, and finally, the Daily Maverick caught the act of bribery of a journalist on tape. We all know it happens; we know that many of our journos have taken far less to kill a story.
This time it was to end coverage of an investigation into Malaka’s luxury property in Waterfall, and the small thing about the irregularities in an R836-million oxygen plant tender that may be linked to Ramaphosa. The video, which went viral, showed Malaka pleading to “close this chapter” and Makgolane pushing the cash toward Myburgh. Myburgh rejected it and left. #BrilliantBraveSouthAfrican. People get shot for less.
I’m Tonya Khoury, there’s been a tidal wave of headlines, let’s try and surf that wave.
It was the #ANCNEC this week and normally we’re all ears and eyes to see what the top six have to say. This year, we couldn’t give a damn. The ANC is done. It’s over. We didn’t care when Razmatazz told us that they are fed up with the DA’s theatrics.
We’ve been done since 2017
We all are, mate. We’ve been done since 2017, did you forget? You’re know what else we’re done with? You, you and your top six. No more #TalkTalk.
#ShebaGoldMine unearthed 546 “artisanal miners”. Artisanal miners is now how we refer to them, but I’m still sticking with #ZamaZamas, it sounds like what it is. Scary, dark, desperate and dangerous. It was another round of #Valaumgodi, project: close the hole.
The court was too small to fit in the accused and they had to be taken in batches of 50 after they were arrested. Community members will tell you that these illegal miners thrive because the police are bribed to look away. I always find it fascinating that these Zamas are pulled out of the ground when we need them, like when we’re focusing on stories like #Mkhwanazi. #BriberyAndDiversion and lots of #TalkTalk.
Matlala and Mkhwanazi
This #CatMatlala and #Mkhwanazi story will not be buried in a deep mine, nor will it fit in a Dior gift bag. It’s resulted in another ten officers from SAPS and Ekurhuleni Metro Police being arrested for corruption. I watched an interview with Prince Mashele who told us in no uncertain terms that the President is briefed every single morning about security.
There is no way he didn’t know about Senzo Mchunu. Allegedly Mchunu was Rama’s go-to bribe guy, he’d carry the cash. That is why Cyril the squirrel has been so coy. Senzo was doing exactly as he was told to do.
He went on to say that Zuma may be the most corrupt president this country has ever had but Ramaphosa will go down as the most useless. I couldn’t agree more. Rama’s called for a “people’s dialogue” because all he ever wants to do is talk talk, talk talk. All he ever does is talk talk and borrow money. #BrazenBribery and stuffed couches.
Slime wave to crime wave
Moving from the slime wave to the violent crime wave: In murder most foul, a fifth woman was found burnt beyond recognition in Silverton, near Watloo train station. This follows the discovery of four other burnt bodies around the same station. All women. And the police are suspecting a serial killer.
Suspecting? Let me guess, is that because all five women were found killed in the same way in the same region. You guys are absolute geniuses.
Then the #PigFarmMurderers are back in court with one of the three accused turned state witness. A 37-year-old man was arrested for one murder and 10 counts of rape, he targeted women via a dating app. I wonder if the police are considering him a serial rapist? And then this, possibly the foulest: a traditional healer faces murder charges after being found with the heads of a mother and daughter in her home. #UnspeakableThings.
Prosecutor gunned down
Prosecutor Tracy Brown (47) was gunned down in front of her partner and child. She was shot multiple times by four masked men. Three months ago, we read of the murder of prosecutor Elona Sombulula and before that we heard of the murder of Mpho Mafole, who was auditing R4 billion contracts.
All these deaths linked to government corruption. I find these deaths terrifying. #UnspeakableThings.
#TrumpTariffs came into effect yesterday and we were nowhere near ready. Economists and government scrambled to try and dissect the impact on South Africa. America is only just realising that they will have to pay 30% more for a piesang from Suid Afrika, not the other way around. Sometimes I wonder if their electorate are as dumbed down as ours.
Ramaphosa got on the phone to the Trumpet and begged, but in vain. In fact, the response was a 250% tariff on medication, but for now Thumper will “start small”. Cosatu has warned of a job “bloodbath” as the tariffs threaten over 100k jobs in South Africa.
Ramaphosa keeps contesting Trump’s trade deficit calculations saying that 77% of U.S. goods enter South Africa duty-free. The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition launched an Export Support Desk for the mayhem. A whole desk guys, we’re taking this very seriously. A desk, I mean this is huge, we have a greedy megalomaniac attacking our economy and we put up a desk? #UnspeakableThings.
Diamonds and loan sharks
Louis Liebenberg, the diamond Ponzi scheme shark is defending himself in court and our Deputy President had to eat humble pie as he now declares Liebenberg gave him a “best friend” too. Well, a kiss on the hand can be quite continental, but diamonds… He’s been sent to Weskoppies (Liebenberg, not Mashatile). Temporary insanity, that old chestnut.
In our schools, a 16-year-old was attacked by four other boys in a classroom. The teacher told them to take their fight outside and it was two weeks later that we saw the protests in Vosloorus begin as the lack of action from the school and its principal left a child traumatised and bullied over tribalism.
And here’s the next big story about to flood South Africa; I watched ordinary South Africans standing outside of hospitals and clinics refusing to allow a single foreigner treatment. It didn’t matter if that foreign nationals had permission to live in South Africa or not, it didn’t matter that they still pay for the hospital service, unlike South Africans.
Xenophobia is back
You want to know why they’re doing this. The hospitals are empty, the cupboards are bare, the medicine long gone, the water and electricity a luxury, and now some domkop South Africans think this is because of foreigners that have been here for years, some even decades. When will you see that this is only the ANC?
Xenophobia is back, and this time we will see bodies on the streets: we will be reliving 2018. Herman Mashaba, Action SA and others are not being held accountable for the pending massacre called #PutSouthAfricansFirst.
I used to be anti-immigrants, and I almost agreed with Trump – don’t panic – I stopped myself. A good friend told me, Tonya, why don’t we just tax these guys, tax them more if we have to. There are millions of these foreign nationals, why don’t we use them to contribute to our economy. But instead, we want to send them back to the war-torn, poverty-filled holes they come from. That’s my South Africa. Sick, hey?
My words are being consumed by all this ugliness called #UnspeakableThings. Gayton is suing a few podcasters for making racial slurs against coloured people and not surprisingly, there is a call to bring back the death penalty. And one lotto winner bagged R147 million rand, please do something good with the money, no #BrazenBribery needed now.
Across the ponds
Across the ponds; well actually, across the road, eSwatini fills up with America’s unwanted criminals. Speaking of which, the Jeffrey Epstein files will not go away. Trump now says that Biden planted his name on those manifests. I used to call Biden #PedoJoe for a reason but I am certain that Trump was there too.
In fact, there are so many pictures of Trump and underage girls, and if we just believed the women, we wouldn’t need a list. Ghislaine the trafficker has been moved to a soft prison, and she’s bound to be released soon; there was never a list, remember, there were never girls, just a collection of nasty porn Epstein downloaded. If you pull my right leg it has bells. #UnspeakableThings.
And then my dear Palestine: Even after offering to return all hostages, #Hamas are still blamed for the famine and hunger games that America and Israel are playing with starving people. It’s been streamed real time on our phones and yet Netanyahu says that Hamas are starving everyone, and he insisted the “Red Cross” deliver food to the hostages.
Mad man in the Knesset
Um, in May 2025 you killed two #RedCross workers; in March you killed another eight; in June you killed two. That was just this year, shall I do last year too? What’s the point? Every single day children are starving to death in a forced famine by a mad man who is losing his grip amongst his Knesset.
This week a major coalition partner left, and others resigned. The people of Israel have taken to the streets. Europe has recognised the State of Palestine which leaves basically Israel and their arms dealer, who’s fighting a phantom list.
And while all this was going on, what happened to Diddy? Is he still in prison? See how quickly we forget? I’ll tell you that Maurene Comey who prosecuted both Epstein and Diddy Combs was fired. You see, you call Merica first world, I call it a bigger South Africa. It’s a coverup and filled with brazen bribery, talk talk and unspeakable things.
I’m Tonya Khoury, it’s really cold in Sodwana Bay but I’m braving a boat tomorrow in exchange for talk talk. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes for my mom, we’re taking one day at a time. Your love is incredible, and we are so very grateful.
Blog Link: https://acumenmedia.net/brazanbribery-talk-talk-and-unspeakablethings/
Audio Link: #BrazenBribery – Talk Talk and #UnspeakableThings
