Overall Symbiosis

Did Judge Hilary Squires use the term “generally corrupt relationship” in his judgement? No. Did the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) say that he did? Yes. Did Squires find Jacob Zuma corrupt? No. Did Squires and the SCA find that there was a relationship, corrupted by Schabir Shaik? Yes. Did they find that the Shaik’s actions were “reciprocated” by Zuma? Yes. What is the SCA calling it now (as per TV last night)? Overall symbiosis! So where to now? At this moment South Africa has a new form of judge-made law, renamed already as “overall symbiosis”, which can put you down for 15 years if you are not careful. All the Scorpions have to do is show that you did some favours, and received some favours. They don’t have to show that any favour corresponded to any particular other favour. The favours could be seven years apart and unrelated. So long as there were favours on both sides, that’s “reciprocation”, like the reciprocating internal combustion engine that drives you off to chookie. It’s a catch-all and it is custom-made to fit up any and all struggle buddies. It looks like a good case for the Constitutional Court. The judges might well be happy to throw it out. It promises nothing but trouble for them as well as for the country. Two articles from the Johannesburg daily press are linked below. This story is developing fast. Hardly noticed amid the brouhaha, the Oppenheimer family has sold an enormous slice of Anglo American, South Africa’s biggest monopoly capitalist corporate, to a Chinese financier. Is this “symbiosis”, or what? See the linked article below, together with the report of what the other main Oppenheimer operation, De Beers, is doing to workers. Is that “overall symbiosis”, or what? On the day of the US election, the Israeli colonialists conducted a massacre at Beit Hanoun. Uri Avnery tells it like it was. See the link below. If you ever thought that the colonisation of Palestine was a good idea unfortunately gone wrong, read what Lord Montague, a Jewish member of the British cabinet, had to say about it in 1917. See the link below. Click on these links: Storm in a teacup says Downer, Wendy da Costa, The Star (557 words) COSATU calls for appeal judges heads, Brown and Mde, Business Day (576 words) Oppenheimers dump Anglo, Julie Bain, Sunday Times (709 words) Unions to fight De Beers layoffs, Amy Musgrave, Business Day (368 words) Beit Hanoun - call it massacre, Uri Avnery, Counterpunch (1594 words) Dissent from Balfour Declaration, Lord Montague, 1917, Counterpunch (2061 words)