Well, that was a very impressive and dignified response by Israel. The confidence we had coming out of yesterday’s hearing has pretty much evaporated. It does appear that SA’s case was light on hard evidence. The evidence of genocidal intent in the form of statements by leaders is much less impactful when placed in context and countered with other statements, orders and directives requiring the Israeli military to respect the rules of war. We missed Israel’s humanitarian initiatives.

Let’s clear up some of the common misunderstandings about what South Africa’s complaint is about.
1. Israel’s contention that Hamas is an antisemitic terrorist organisation with a genocidal intent, is not in issue.
2. The scale and nature of the Oct 7 atrocity is not in issue. 3. Israel’s right to self defense and its right to wage war against Hamas in order to destroy for good, its capacity to attack Israel and its people and to free the hostages is not in issue.
What is in issue is the manner in and intention with which Israel is conducting that war.

Consulted with a client today. His experience is representative of how SOE’s work.
Telkom is rolling out fibre in some townships in Gauteng. It appointed a main contractor but because the contractor lacks local influence, it insists on the use of a local subcontractor. The main contractor does the buying and pays the subcontractor. The main contractor gets 30% of the contract value, the subcontractor gets 70%. The work goes well till other local political players decide to muscle in. They start destroying the installed fibre infrastructure.

Got a letter today from SASOL’s attorneys, the estimable firm of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. My client is a farmer with a farm downstream from one of SASOL’s waste water dams, known as Dam F. Dam F was built in the 80’s to accommodate toxic waste water from the coal mines. Dam F was designed to leak waste water. The clay was carefully removed to build the dam wall exposing the weathered dolorite, that constitutes the floor of the dam, which leaks like a seive. It’s a cunning way to leach polluted waste water into the ground water.

My client is a natural scientist. A specialist in fresh water invertebrates, he wrote a book on the subject. He was called in to assess the damage done to the aquatic ecology of the Olifants River by a toxic mine spill. He sampled the millions of dead fish in the river and dams. He scooped up the dead fish with a net in order to identify the types of fish that were poisoned and then kept some dead fish as samples to be sent to Onderstepoort for pathology, to establish just what kind of poison killed them.

Twenty one young people, many under eighteen, die in a packed drinking spot under mysterious circumstances. It’s a tragedy, and the grieving parents and th public want answers. What happened? How did the die?
A quick guide on how to botch the investigation. 1. Express shock and anger.
2. Promise that no stone will be left unturned to find to ensure that those responsible will be held to account.
3. Call for a national debate debate on the legal drinking age and town planning laws.

Thought to make a thread of the work I do each day. So here goes. Today I settled papers to release a young man from curatorship following a serious head injury ten years age. He is better now. Then a consult with a trout producer grappling with new and oppressive gov regs. Later a consult with a young man whose mother died recently. Parents married in Zambia, lived in Mozambique, the father lives in the Far East, mother in SA. Fixed property here and in Moz, a complex estate. Finally continued drafting a constitution for a Water Users Association.

There is a long running dispute over the governance of a land restitution trust. The trust was taken over by gangsters. A lot of threats and violence directed against trustees who resist the plundering, only 1 held firm. Due to the theft and looting the trust can’t pay benefits. The gangster trustees tell the beneficiaries that this is because of the trustee who stands firm against the corruption. As a result he and his family live in fear and have been forced to flee the village. But lies have short legs and it has dawned on the beneficiaries,

3 years ago the NICD released a report confirming that Tiger Brands was responsible for an outbreak of listeriosis that killed more than 200 people and injured many more, over 100 unborn children died. The source was contaminated meat products produced at it's Polokwane facility. Class action proceedings were issued against Tiger Brands to secure compensation for the victims. Despite the overwhelming scientific case against them, Tiger defended the matter. The last 18 months the proceedings have stalled while Tiger engaged in a fishing expedition.

These are land invasions organised and financed by top Mpumalanga Businesman and on off pal of DD Mabuza, Themba Sigudla. He is busy with others at Emalahleni and Thaba Chweu. His modus operandi is to identify suitable land, owned by government or community land reform trusts, bulldoze roads and mark out stands and “sell” them. Once the property is fully occupied, residents toyi toyi for services, Eskom and local and provincial government oblige.

The problem withGwede’s oil and gas plan. We have offshore oil and gas, it lies very deep and is expensive and hard to extract, which is why it’s not been done yet. Mossgas failed. Thanks to high oil and gas prices and technological developments, it’s marginal but can be done. Then we have an energy crises achieved by the mismanagement of Eskom. This has resulted in the collapse of steel, chrome and vanadium processing and value add. This is about to get worse as old coal fired power stations are shut down.

The grant of medical parole to Jacob Zuma is strange. First it can only be granted to a person with a terminal condition i.e.the person is dying, or to a person so incapacitated by injury or disease that they cannot take care of themselves i.e. can’t wash dress or feed themselves To get medical parole requires a comprehensive medical report by a medical Dr with a recommendation for parole, that report must be considered by a medical parole advisory body that scrutinises it and then makes a recommendation to the Commissioner of Prisons.

Stumbled across an interesting case, a woman facing eviction from the home that she inherited from her brother in 2007. Turns out her brother was in business with a notorious international criminal Paul Le Roux, who is currently serving 25 years in a New York prison. Seems Le Roux had advanced some moneys to the brother. After his death Le Roux appointed a local attorney and a team of liquidators to get his money back, which they have been doing in the strength of a power of attorney the last 10 years, 6 of them after Le Roux was arrested.

Vaccine mandates been ‘permitted’ by a directive issued by the Minister of Labour on 11 June 2021 in terms of the provisions of the Disaster Management Act. The directive stipulates that a risk assessment be carried out in terms of the OHSA. businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/202… If the outcome of that assessment indicate the need for a vaccine mandate, it may be introduced subject to a number of fairly stringent safeguards. This is the only way in which an employer may introduce a vaccine mandate, which by definition are a limitation of employees rights.

The Covid situation has stabilised, at least to the extent that we have some certainty. We have vaccines that are effective, we know what we are dealing with, and what needs to be done. It’s simple; get as many people vaccinated as possible. This however is where the challenge lies. Until recently the restraint was the supply of vaccines, now it is the lack of demand. Why is that? Vaccines work, yet so many people seem either indifferent, hesitant or even hostile to being vaccinated.

Children cause parents much distress and anxiety. My student daughter and friends arrested after midnight for breaking curfew in Cape Town. Mom and dad a 1000 miles away. She says they are being processed at Cape Town by the SAPS and will probably be released shortly.☹️☹️☹️ Looks like they will let them go after curfew ends at 04h00. An uncomfortable night in the cells.

The Constitutional Court’s handling of the Zuma matter has been a comedy of errors. First, after Zuma ignored a summons to appear before Zondo, it permitted the Commission to approach it for an order directing Zuma to appear. It should have told Zondo to approach the High Court. Second, when the ConCourt ordered Zuma to appear before the Zondo Commision, it failed to coerce Zuma into complying by ordering that he be sentenced to 30 days imprisonment suspended on condition he appear. If Zuma failed to comply he would automatically go to jail for 30 days.

Once upon a time a property had three values. The lowest was the municipal valuation, then the bank valuation, for the purposes of a bond and then the market price which was usually higher than both. Today the municipal valuations are often higher than market value. Once upon a time the value of a property was calculated by a municipality by adding the value of the unimproved property and the value of the improvements. Now for commercial properties they effectively value the business of the property.

Rode the 1st stage of the MTO pursuit race today. I entered in the 61 y/o men called Richard Spoor category. Well on my way to a world record when I parted company with my bike and my glasses. Found my bike but had to call SOS for help to find my glasses. Record attempt foiled.

Spent some time in a mining community today. It was really depressing to see how many young people were drunk by midmorning on a Sunday. I have been working in this community since platinum mining began there almost 20 years ago. There have been dramatic changes. What were once isolated but coherent rural communities have grown and merged into a huge incoherent rural/urban sprawl.

Consumer Alert #Weylandts Furniture!
Went shopping for a couch at their Furniture Store in Nelspruit. Found one we really liked. We were offered a choice buy the slightly shop soiled one we saw, or order a brand new in to be delivered in May, we opted for the one on the floor. Then we asked when it would be delivered. The shop assistant said it would be in 3 weeks time. I thought that was an undue delay and suggested that if that were the case I would collect it myself. I was told that despite having paid for it +_ R22 k that I could not do so.