She said she’d accept five grand for Joshlin. She said she was promised twenty grand, but she’d accept five. According to witness testimony this week, Kelly Smith made those statements more than once while her child was alive.
We learnt how she had tried to stab her other child, how she often left the kids to their own devices even though they were too tiny to take care of themselves.
She said a Nigerian man had said it’s “time to play”. She also told her friend: “Joshlin made me famous”. She said that her seven-year-old daughter was in a container on a ship that was traveling to West Africa. The #JoshlinTestimony has been explosive. We beg the media houses to fix their sound as the nation tunes in every day to try and make sense of missing Joshlin and her #PrettyGreenEyes.
Even though the audio isn’t great, the judge is excellent. He’s got this. He has schooled the legal team on a daily basis and also caught the translator during some shoddy translations. The entire court case is set in a community hall making the echo unbearable for a nation glued to YouTube. #NotFitForPurpose
I’m Tonya Khoury, the media cycle works so fast that I struggled to read the news so you don’t have to.
The ‘pioneer initiative’
Last week we spoke of the nation’s traitor #ErnstRoets; he returned to ‘home’ soil and then told us he was about to make a huge announcement. Bigger than your visit to the yawning lawns of the #WitHuis? Well this I have to see. I wasn’t disappointed, I was vindicated. Ernie want’s you all to give him a hundred bucks a month towards his ‘Pioneer Initiative’. I think he was playing on the word ‘Voortrekker’, forward puller but ‘pioneer’ sounded more multi-lingual … which is handy as Trump said America is 100% Engels.
So those acts of treason were actually just a massive ad campaign and I wonder exactly how many #Amerikaners paid Roetsie his hundy. #PonziScheme loading. The President took a good swipe at Ernie and Kallie by calling them ‘unpatriotic’ and that we are yet to determine if their actions are in fact, treasonous. He didn’t speak to them directly; I don’t think he will condescend to crawl on their level, but he told them at the Prez’ Q&A.
“All of my life had been spent in the shadow of apartheid. And when South Africa went through its extraordinary change in 1994, it was like having spent a lifetime in a boxing ring with an opponent and suddenly finding yourself in that boxing ring with nobody else and realising you’ve to take the gloves off, get out, and reinvent yourself.” ~ Athol Fugard
My story of the week is a personal one, being involved from the beginning and watching the health of my friend #TomLondon improve every day. I have a story of hope and accountability that we all need as South Africa.
Helen Joseph Hospital drama
The #Ombudsman released its findings on #HelenJosephHospital and to quote the perfect line from the report. #HelenJoseph is “not fit for purpose”. #NotFitForPurpose, a South African story. Tom is so brave, he walked into that room filled with detractors and journalists hungry for headlines. The establishment tried to swing the narrative to Tom’s allegations being unfounded.
They conveniently mentioned that they had interviewed the doctors and some random people in the hospital who said everything was just dandy. They also said Tom was seen by 23 doctors; they said this with pride, 23 doctors; is that normal? They said they leave bodies out of the morgue for two hours because sometimes “they wake up”; this was said with a giggle.
It was only much later in the press conference that we learnt that HJH has the same person handling procurement and payments, that there is no linen or food because none of the suppliers have been paid, that in order to paint the ceiling there is a whole new company that has to not only confirm it needs painting, they are needed on site if there is a lightbulb that needs changing.
Sounds like a tender lotto built for Sodi doesn’t it? The mortuary slabs have been stolen and the number of flies requires immediate pest control. In this instance ‘unsubstantiated’ also means ‘not fit for purpose’. I think that’s vindication enough, don’t you?
Why ban the gummies?
And then the worst news is that the government, and I have no idea why, have banned CBD gummies/edibles. They do realise we’ve been making space cakes for decades right? I wonder what that’s all about? #BringBackTheGummies
Cyril, the squirrel, after a tour of the metros, was shocked at the state of our city centres. He had the gall to ask us “Who did this?”. Who did this? You did this, china. You, and yes you’re calling Lesufi to try and scupper him from his fat cat post, but that doesn’t change the fact that this here mess is down to you. No time to play. Really you insult us, Cupcake; do you think we cannot see what is in front of our eyes?
#Ramastilskin answered questions in the #PresidentsQandA where he admitted to meeting Mossad and Elonskyy. Julius was not amused. Within the same week Matamela met with the #EUSummit, he looked pleased as punch as the European Union agreed to bridge the #PEPFAR gap live on television. All three of them taking a jab at the nectarine.
We witnessed two horrific bus crashes and the carnage on our roads. We braced ourselves for our own crash position as the #BudgetSpeech2025 made a 2.0. This time VAT was definitely on the table, it was either we take the VAT increase or our destitute South Africans relinquish their SRD grant worth R370 a month.
Please bear in mind that R56 billion was allocated to salary increases for government employees; did you get an increase over inflation this year? Just wondering if you are fit for purpose. Here’s an interesting fact, if you have more than R654 in your bank account you don’t qualify for the #SRDGrant. #NotFitForPurpose hey?
“For you in the West to hear the phrase ‘All men are created equal’ is to draw a yawn. For us, it’s a miracle. We’re starting out at rock bottom, man. But South Africa does have soul.” ~ Athol Fugard
Let me wrap up South Africa as succinctly as I can. After the death of a star witness, the #Omotoso trial resumes and another so called pastor, #ShepardBushiri and his wife Mary, have been extradited back to South Africa from Malawi. Frightening that these gangsters still call themselves men of God.
Out of Congo
SADC finally pulled out of Congo, but there was still a war zone at a Sandton restaurant as a gun fight ensued that might as well have been in the #OKCorral. Everyone’s favourite cat, #Skebanga, died this week. The fat cat that took ownership of the fancy #OysterBox in Durban had the heavens are weeping for our kitty as level six warnings of bad weather hit KwaZulu-Natal.
I’d rather not skip over the waters, but I suppose I have to. Let’s keep it tight. Trump is selling Elon’s cars outside the White House, armed with a price list and colour codes. Elon is having a bit of a hard time as his swazticars are being vilified across the world. The French burnt down his showroom (got to love the French and burning stuff, Saffers can relate).
Asked how it he was running his business and the US government, he responded: “With great difficulty”. Aw diddums. There is a ceasefire on the cards between Russia and Ukraine. There is no aid, electricity, water or food entering Gaza, it’s day 14.
A clear war crime, without consequence. There are a bunch of Trump and Muskette stories but I’m too weary and I really need a weekend. So, I’ll leave you with this; RFK, the man known for ‘healthy eating’ also did a commercial for Steak and Shake’ this week. Take the red pill, the blue one is #NotFitForPurpose
“Those are big collisions, Hally. They make for a lot of bruises. People get hurt in all tha bumping, and we’re sick and tired of it now. It’s been going on for too long. Are we never going to get it right? … Learn to dance life like champions instead of always being just a bunch of beginners at it?” ~ Athol Fugard, Master Harold and the Boys.
I’m Tonya Khoury and thank you for scratching the surface with me and Acumen Media. #RIPAtholFugard
