Gayton McKenzie South African MultiMillionaire Business Man,Motivational Speaker,Former Bank Robber

Gayton McKenzie South African MultiMillionare Businessman,Motivational Speaker, Former Bank Robber !!!

2034-11-24T05:59:00.001-08:00

Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie Picture

Gayton McKenzie
Gayton McKenzie is a South African motivational speaker who came to public attention in 2002 when he and a small group of inmates smuggled secret video cameras into Grootvlei Prison in the Free State province.

Kenny Kunene has ordered a yellow Lamborghini valued at R1.5 Million and is in the market for a helicopter

The motivation for this was McKenzie's shock at witnessing the nine-hour rape of a fourteen year old white boy. McKenzie, who grew up during Apartheid, and was classified racially as a "coloured", had entered prison as a racist. This event, one of innumerable rapes that he witnessed during his more than seven years in jail, changed his view.
Corrupt wardens, who had sold the boy to a rapist gang, told McKenzie that there was "not enough proof" to do anything about the rape. This was in spite of the boy's physical appearance.

McKenzie, who, until then had been a committed criminal, having entered jail for, among other crimes, bank robbery, and who was one of the prison's most senior gang members, turned his back on crime.
XCon So What Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie Picture

The secret video footage showed numerous acts of warden corruption, including buying prison food, supplying drugs and liquor, smuggling a loaded pistol into jail and, finally, selling a juvenile for the purpose of sex to another prisoner, who was also part of the video team. When the footage hit national television, and was also screened internationally, McKenzie's team became knows as the "Grootvlei Four".
Gayton McKenzie Swizz Beatz Kenny Kunene Picture

They were subsequently victimised in prison, with several attempts made on their lives. Three of the four men (other video makers' identities had been successfully kept secret) were finally released from prison after obtaining remissions of sentence for their exposure work. McKenzie went on to marry Nicolett Joubert.
Kenny Kunene Louis Figo and Gayton McKenzie Picture

She was an advocate he met while still in jail when she was sent by the South African Presidency as a member of the Jali Commission tasked with investigating corruption in South African prisons.

After his release he went on a national campaign to combat ever-higher levels of crime in South Africa. His talks to school children were sponsored by a security company, and he is still serving as an advocate against crime. Thus far, he has reached 1.6 million South African school children of all ages. He was also voted the country's top corporate speaker for the last three years.

After an extraordinary life of crime, prison and redemption, Gayton McKenzie is today one of the most well-loved and sought-after motivational speakers in the country and has addressed millions of school kids, parents and businesspeople with his hard-hitting, entertaining, engaging and inspiring talk. A deal to produce a film based on his biography has also been signed and filming will commence this year. The success of the film will contribute to a drug rehab centre he is planning to build in the township where he grew up, and where he continues to do charity work for the children in the area. He has worked with various corporate sponsors such as Chubb and Nike, and is the spokesperson for the JAG Sports and Education Foundation which is bringing hope to kids in underprivileged areas. Gayton is also the Group Executive for Central Rand Gold, where he is in charge of community participation and social investment.

Gayton McKenzie came to controversial public attention in 2002 when he and a small group of fellow inmates smuggled secret video cameras into Grootvlei Prison in the Free State province.
The motivation for this was Gayton’s shock at witnessing the nine-hour rape of a fourteen year old white boy. McKenzie, who grew up during Apartheid, and was classified racially as a "coloured", had entered prison as a racist. This event, one of innumerable rapes that he witnessed during his more than seven years in jail, changed his view. Corrupt wardens, who had sold the boy to a rapist gang, told McKenzie that there was "not enough proof" to do anything about the rape. This was in spite of the boy's physical appearance.

Gayton, who, until then had been a committed criminal, having entered jail for, among other crimes, bank robbery, and who was one of the prison's most senior gang members, turned his back on crime. The secret video footage showed numerous acts of warden corruption, including buying prison food, supplying drugs and liquor, smuggling a loaded pistol into jail and, finally, selling a juvenile for the purpose of sex to another prisoner, who was also part of the video team. When the footage hit national television, and was also screened internationally, McKenzie's team became known as the "Grootvlei Four". They were subsequently victimised in prison, with several attempts made on their lives. Three of the four men (other video makers' identities had been successfully kept secret) were finally released from prison after obtaining remissions of sentence for their exposure work. McKenzie went on to marry Nicolett Joubert. She was an advocate he met while still in jail when she was sent by the South African Presidency as a member of the Jali Commission tasked with investigating corruption in South African prisons.

After his release he went on a national campaign to combat ever-higher levels of crime in South Africa. His talks to school children were sponsored by a security company, and he is still serving as an advocate against crime. Thus far, he has reached 2 million South African school children of all ages. Thanks, in part, to his great exuberance and charisma, he was also voted the country's top corporate speaker for the last three years.

What Gayton offers as a corporate speaker:

Gayton’s talks examine the following themes, among many others:

• His own personal journey and what led to his changed views on life

• The legacy of crime in South Africa

• The question of racial division in South Africa and how it can be overcome

• The need for personal integrity and ethics

• How to recognise your blessings

• Reaching your dreams

• How to turn your suffering into something that enriches you

• Black Economic Empowerment

Gayton’s talks are extrememly memorable because he shocks as much as he entertains, and he is always very entertaining. No one who’s listened to him can ever walk away quite the same person.
Kenny Kunene Picture

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Jamie Foxx might play role of SA convict Gayton McKenzie

OUTSIDE CHANCE: Gayton McKenzie, a former gangster and bank robber who exposed corruption in prison, is now a motivational speaker. The life of the Gayton McKenzie, a convict paroled after helping to expose corruption at Grootvlei Maximum Security Prison in Bloemfontein, will be turned into a movie.

His character might be played by Hollywood megastar Jamie Foxx - but McKenzie feels a more home-grown approach would be better.

"I know the producers want to take it global, but I really want a South African guy to play me," he said.

The producer of the film, Global Creative Studios, is negotiating with Morgan Freeman, whom they want to play Gayton's father.

McKenzie shot to fame in 2002 when a secret videotape of corruption at Grootvlei prison was screened on television around the world.

McKenzie said the film would allow him to give something back to the community that he once terrorised.

He wants to build a drug rehabilitation centre near his home township of Heidedal, in the Free State.

Peter Morgan, of Global, said his company was talking to potential investors in an attempt to attract funding for the film.

I don't boast, I boost, says Mister Sushi
I'm an inspiration, says Kunene, as he buys R1.5m Lamborghini
Nov 14, 2010 12:00 AM By BONGANI MDAKANE and ROWAN PHILP

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A month after provoking public fury over his R700000 birthday party, former gangster Kenny Kunene has ordered a yellow Lamborghini valued at around R1.5-million and is in the market for a helicopter.

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TOASTING SUCCESS: Kenny Kunene brandishes a giant champagne bottle behind gilded 'prison bars' at his club, ZAR Picture: SIMPHIWE NKWALI

'We have been made by white people - we are not ashamed to say that'
He says his party - at which sushi was served on the bodies of half-naked models - was nothing compared with the R800000 he splurged on another bash in his Free State home town of Odendaalsrus to thank friends and ancestors in August last year.

Then he arrived in a helicopter for the traditional slaughtering of a cow.

This is the man who dares South Africans to find fault with his millions and his partying excesses.

Just four years ago, Kunene says he had less than R10000 in assets, had to hitchhike to meetings and sometimes slept in business partner Gayton McKenzie's car.

Now he is a part owner of a mining and entertainment empire and has partied with celebrities like musician John Legend and French football coach Arsene Wenger.

He and McKenzie, also an ex-convict, park their cars together so that their personalised numberplates read "X Con" and "So what?"

While Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi has called him a "hyena" who "spits in the face of the poor", Kunene claims he is a "new generation role model" for South Africa's youth.

In an interview withthe Sunday Times, Kunene, 40, acknowledged that public speculation and suspicion were rife about how he jumped from poverty to riches in just four years.

He spent 10 years in jail before his 2003 release and then starting his business empire in 2006, he says.

"The reason why everybody is questioning my income is maybe they have limited knowledge of the business world. Or they are lazy - they like salaries and to bask in the sun."

Born in Kutlwanong township and raised by his grandparents and unemployed mother, Kunene now lives in a reported R12-million Sandton apartment, while his wife and son live in Odendaalsrus.

He was jailed in Grootvlei Prison in the Free State for six years for fraud in 1997, having spent four years awaiting trial.

There he risked his life to expose gross corruption and abuse to the Jali Commission.

He said he plotted his rise to riches there while literally on his knees clipping the toenails and calluses of a prison warder.

This week, he revealed more details of his criminal history when he committed sometimes violent crimes as part of a gang while working as a Klerksdorp teacher.

In what he described as "the worst thing I ever did", he said that, enraged that a fellow gang member had heightened their risk of arrest, he shot him in the thigh as they left the scene of an armed robbery.

He admitted that he had tried to sell ivory illegally in Pretoria in 1995 and told of how he had grabbed a tourist around the neck to shield himself from police guns aimed at him before his arrest. That case was later dropped.

"We used to get involved in fraud, car theft, robberies. Now, when we do our talks to kids and schools, we say, 'When we were criminals, we couldn't enjoy our cars, we couldn't drive them in the daylight.'"

Under threat to his life from prisoners and corrupt warders, he said he once carried a teapot spiked with rat poison to a panel of Jali Commission advocates - including Jerome Brauns, SC, who later defended President Jacob Zuma - but warned them not to drink it.

"The 50m I walked with that kettle was the longest of my life - and the decision I made to warn Advocate Brauns was the best of my life."

For his success, Kunene credits McKenzie, the ANC's empowerment policies "beyond tenders", "foreign investors" and the teaching and support of two "mentors", mine boss and philanthropist Greg James and telecommunications tycoon Gavin Varejes.

He said McKenzie found him counselling troubled pupils at Calculus Secondary School in Bloemfontein, at a salary of R3000 a month, in 2006 and proposed they join forces to sell McKenzie's book, The Choice, to schools.

"We went everywhere. Sometimes we'd sleep in the car when we could not (afford) a hotel.''

He said that James, inspired by the book's anti-crime message, bought 80000 copies of two versions of the book in June 2007 to give to Western Cape schools, thus providing him and McKenzie with the cash to start "a small mine consultancy business".

The pair were later appointed senior managers at Central Rand Gold (CRG) - where James was CEO - in charge of dealing with the Soweto community affected by the proposed mining.

He said he had since become co-owner of "about three, four businesses", including a new mining venture "elsewhere in Africa", which he said could grow to be worth R700-million.

"Our mentors, Greg and Gavin, have taught us to diversify. We have been made by white people - we are not ashamed to say that - because they celebrate when you turn your life around."

He gave a long list of his charities, from a burial fund for "our heroes" in the MK Veterans' Association to university bursaries for 12 Soweto students, whom he set up in "brand-new flats".

At his five-star club, ZAR, in Sandton, the Sunday Times found Kunene, dressed in one of his Aigner designer suits, being debriefed by staff he had sent to Durban to find a site for a ZAR franchise. He flaunted his history by holding a giant champagne bottle behind gold-painted "prison bars".

Said Kunene: "I landed in a helicopter in my area to motivate young people - some of you will say I am boasting. I am not boasting, I am boosting."

How I earned my bucks

In jail, Kenny Kunene says, he earned R22 a month making tea for the warders at Grootvlei Prison, and other cash and goods working for Gayton McKenzie "in the smuggling business";
On his release in 2003, he declined numerous invitations to take part in robberies and scams, despite having only R3000 in his bank account;
In 2004, he earned a small wage as the agent for a man selling refurbished desks and stationery to schools in the Free State;
Later that year, he used his old contacts to arrange discounts on equipment for a partner starting a nightclub in Odendaalsrus, and earned a stake in the business;
In September 2005, he got a teaching job at Calculus Secondary School in Bloemfontein, teaching life orientation and English, for which he earned R3000 a month. He bought an old VW Golf, but had to put it on blocks;
In 2006, with less than R10000 in assets, he struck a deal with Gayton McKenzie to form X Concepts Publishing and to promote and sell McKenzie's prison biography. They also began a fish company with four trucks and a refrigerated warehouse, and later sold it "for profit";
Kunene became rich in 2007 selling tickets for McKenzie's motivational talks to companies for "big money" and also advised people on "holes" in their home security for a fee. A portion of the money they made from the book sales was invested in a "mine consultancy business". Benefactor Greg James's company, CRG, hired Kunene on a large contractor's salary. He does not deny that he received share options allegedly worth hundreds of thousands of rands;
In February 2008, he was appointed a senior manager of community relations at CRG. He bought a multimillion-rand Sandton apartment and a Porsche 911, using a numberplate that read "What now?" as a taunt to prisoners who said he could not afford the car without resorting to crime;
Applying business lessons he says they had learnt from mentors, James and Gavin Varejes, Kunene and McKenzie attracted foreign investors and became part owners of "about three, four companies"; and
In February 2010, the pair began mining operations in Zimbabwe. Kunene says they are in the process of securing R140-million in start-up funding from foreign investors for a R700-million mining project "in another African country" and plan further ZAR clubs in Durban and Mozambique.
NEWS FLASH

In his first legal drama since prison, Kunene this week rushed to resign his position as director of at least five private companies - having learnt it was illegal from newspaper revelations for convicted fraudsters to be directors of companies.

Kunene said he discovered his "honest mistake" after newspaper revelations two weeks ago revealed that Tony Yengeni, the former ANC chief whip and fraudster, had contravened the section by becoming the director of six companies.

No person with a compulsory prison term for an offence "involving dishonesty" may be a director of a company, according to the SA Companies Act.

Kunene told the Sunday Times: "I didn't know that was the rule - when I read this thing about Yengeni, I started resigning all my directorships."

Among the companies he is resigning from include African Australian Minerals and Energy Ltd, Dirbyn Investment Holdings and Dirbyn Publications - saying he would lodge the papers yesterday. - Rowan Philp

Tycoon writes off R2m car

April 30 2011 at 04:21pm
By Sameer Naik

INLSA

Gayton McKenzie. Photo: Khaya Ngwenya

Following his miraculous escape last weekend when he wrecked a R2 million supercar outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, controversial businessman Gayton McKenzie already has his eyes on a multimillion-rand Maybach limousine.

McKenzie, the chairman of Kenny Kunene’s growing nightclub empire ZAR, was travelling in a convoy of flashy cars on the R61 to Ngcobo when his white Audi R8 Spyder flew off the road, crashed through a fence and stopped in a field.

The vehicle knocked down an Eskom power pole, cutting electricity to parts of Ngcobo.

In the car with him was former Miss SA Teen Moloko McKenzie (not related to Gayton), who was knocked unconscious.

Gayton managed to free himself from the wreck, pulled Moloko free of the seat and carried her to safety.

Gayton, a former prisoner, his business partner Kunene and others were returning to Gauteng after attending the wedding of President Jacob Zuma’s daughter Dudu and businessman Lonwabo Sambudla at the Easter weekend.

The accident was witnessed by several people in the convoy, and Kunene was following the R8 in his Lam- borghini convertible.

“We’re all just glad that Gayton is okay. It was absolutely horrifying, but the important thing is that he is okay,” said Kunene.

“He has hurt his leg really badly and cannot drive at the moment. So, after he attends meetings he goes straight home to relax because he needs to recover,” said Kunene.

“Gayton was simply happy to be alive,” he added.

Meanwhile the Sushi King has revealed that he would be bringing popular US producer-performer Timbaland to the country to celebrate his club ZAR’s birthday at the end of May.

Kunene also revealed that several other famous singers would perform alongside Timbaland.

Celebrities Ciara, Fat Joe and Lil’ Kim are expected to join in the celebrations.

“Timbaland and the rest have been in talks with ZAR to do a four-show tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe, starting at the end of May, and have agreed to spend a week in Mzanzi,” said Kunene.

“So, instead of the usual whirlwind tour, they will be spending time with the ZAR family to get to know the country and its people and rock us all in Johannesburg, Durban, Nelspruit and Harare,” he added. - Saturday Star

ZAR Club chairman Gayton McKenzie crashed his Audi R8 V10 Spyder on Easter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnhWqEF0Pgg

Celebs race for a good cause

May 5, 2011 10:54 PM | By Kuli Roberts

Kuli Roberts: It is always wonderful to see celebrities giving to charities, so off I went to Rosebank to witness the Amazing Race.

Actress Faye Peters with Maud Nale, publicity executive of The Wild, at the 'Big Brother Amplified' after party

Organised by Sli Dumake, the ever-ravishing marketing manager of the Zone shopping mall, the race was amusing because while some DJs took it seriously, others made it clear that the gym is not a close friend.

You should have seen how hard DJ Fresh ran. At one point I thought he was being chased by the devil.

The Amazing Race involved three teams each led by a hot DJ racing from shop to shop looking for secret clues.

The hunky and heavily tattooed DJ Fresh and his team won R30000, and he gave us a sweet speech about how he would do anything for charity. He competed with the uber-hot DJ Euphonick who came last probably because he was missing his girlfriend, Bonang Mathema. What sweet, young love.

The third DJ was DJ Grant from 5fm. Although the youngest, he kept us in stitches with his continuous moaning about being tired.

It was a great afternoon watching folk run for their money, listening to music and chatting to fabulous folk.

On the topic of gorgeous men, the Big Brother Amplified after party, which took place at ZAR, was filled mostly with folk I did not recognise. But I did spot owner Gayton McKenzie being assisted up the stairs. Why do these folk never rest? Remember, he broke his foot after attending Dudu Zuma's party. Clearly, he is still up for a party.

It was also nice to see actress Faye Peters, who is now in a new soapie. She told me she has been living in London for almost a decade. It was great to hear she still has her South African accent - unlike those folk who go to the US for two days and come back with a twang. I asked her if she has found a new man. She said she had not.

Being nice, I suggested graveyards and holding cells.

While we waited for American singer Busta Rhymes to arrive, I also chatted to sexy Playboy bunny Tshego Seakgoe, who is even sexier in real life. She was going on and on about how cool her parents are to let her bare her chest for the May issue of Playboy.

"Of course, I would not mind if my kids wanted to show off their boobs if they are being paid," said the weaved one while her boyfriend happily snapped pictures of her every move.

Also spotted Zola of Zola 7 fame at the party. He might have lost his shows, and his contacts, but the man still has swagger and is as humble as ever. While the rest of the celebs were sitting in the VIP area, he was with a bevy of beauties in ZAR's peasant's area. Even though he still has issues, he was looking good enough to eat.

Busta Rhymes never arrived, but I did get to hear fantastic new talent this week.

I went to a club in Sandton to listen to Durban's sensational singer, JAE, perform at her album launch. The sexy lass is known for her song Missing You, which was a major hit a couple of years ago.

She was great and was applauded by hot talents such as Liquid Deep, DJ Switch and loads of other hot acts like Chad, who hails from the Cape.

There was great food and dodgy sponsored gear.

We had a massive party, even though Kenny Kunene kept bugging me about bringing Ciara and other African Americans to come and sing in this country.

Kenny Kunene Mr Sushi Mansion South Africa Living Life To the Fullest - Majozi!!!

Zar nightclub warned to obtain valid operating license

Rafiq Wagiet | 2 Day(s) Ago

Management of the trendy ZAR nightclub in Cape Town has been warned to obtain valid operating licenses or face closure.

The night spot, which opened in January this year, is operating without liquor, entertainment and business licenses.

The club, which is owned by business tycoon Kenny Kunene, is housed at the Cape Royale Hotel in Greenpoint.

It is believed the club is operating on the hotel's licenses.

Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said nightclub management will be issued with a notice.

“As for the business license, when they get the first notice it will give them a warning and a minimal time to comply. Failing so, we will take them to court,” he said.

Smith said the SAPS Liquor Unit will also issue ZAR management with a final notice.

ZAR: Shebeen or trendy nightclub?

BIÉNNE HUISMAN | 03 July, 2011 14:51

Kenny Kunene was Celebrating his Birthday Party at Zar in Sandton. Pic:SIBUSISO MSIBI. 22/10/2010. © Sunday World
Image by: Sibusiso Msibi / © Sunday World

TYCOON Kenny Kunene and his business partner Gayton McKenzie are running their plush Cape Town nightclub like an unlicensed shebeen, city politicians said.

Whisky costs up to R200 a shot and cocktails R50 a pop at ZAR in Cape Town.

The club ruffled feathers when, at its opening in January, it featured bikini-clad girls covered in sushi and draped over sports cars.

Special guest Julius Malema told partygoers: "Helen Zille will not close ZAR at 2am like she does to other clubs in Cape Town."

This week, five months later, it has emerged that the club is operating without:

A liquor licence;
An entertainment licence; or
A business licence that allows for the serving of food.
And complaints over noisy antics at the club, housed at the five-star Cape Royale Hotel in Green Point, are pouring in.

Police have already fined the hotel and ZAR for contravening liquor laws.

Kunene insisted the club was trading under the auspices of licences held by the hotel. This is not the case, according to the city council, which argues that the hotel and ZAR are two separate entities.

Mayoral committee member for safety and security Jean Pierre Smith said: "The only difference between ZAR and an ordinary shebeen is this dispute. We can't just go in guns blazing, we first need to get to the bottom of this."

On Friday McKenzie extended an olive branch, lauding the city's liquor board as "helpful and efficient".

"We are very respectful of the laws of Cape Town. We want to keep employing people in Cape Town and drawing ZAR fans to the city. We will do everything required," he said.

"As for the licences, we began trading ... based on a number of assumptions, which have since been challenged. As a result we are now resolving all these matters with the liquor board. All other legal matters are also being resolved."

On Wednesday evening staff and customers at the club seemed oblivious of the legal storm over ZAR.

Patrons paid a cover charge to gain access to a "Battle of the Divas" bash - with platters of meatballs, cupcakes, fruit skewers and flutes of rose-coloured bubbly up for grabs at the neon-lit bar.

Nathan Ladegourdie, assistant chief of the city's liquor enforcement and compliance unit, said further steps would be taken, depending on the outcome of the next council and police inspection of ZAR.

"We phoned in a few weeks ago to inform them that there were noise complaints. The noise complaints will be taken into account when they apply for the entertainment licence."

The hotel's marketing manager, Kim Cochrane, said it had been their "understanding" that ZAR was covered by the hotel's liquor licence.

In the interim, ZAR's management was in the process of submitting all the required applications to the relevant authorities, she said
.

Secret film exposes South African jails

Warders trade in sex, drugs and weapons, inquiry told

Chris McGreal in Johannesburg
The Guardian, Saturday 27 July 2002 02.06 BST
Article history

The South African prisons department has been forced to reinstate a governor who was sacked for resisting official pressure to destroy a secretly made video showing warders selling convicts weapons, drugs and juveniles for sex.

Tatalo Setlai, the governor of Grootvlei prison, was sacked a fortnight ago, after the presentation of the video to a judicial inquiry laid the ground for weeks of astonishing and at times horrific evidence about the scale of the corruption and abuse in jails.

More than 20 warders are now under investigation. One is accused of rape, another of making £600 a month smuggling brandy to inmates.

The video was made by four prisoners at the jail in Bloemfontein over a five-month period. Using miniature cameras, the four - two murderers, an armed robber and a cattle rustler - filmed in their cell, the prison kitchen, and parts of the jail where warders sold drugs and alcohol to convicts.

Two particularly disturbing scenes stunned the inquiry, and, after the video was shown on television, the public. One showed a warder selling a pistol and a bullet to a double murderer for about £400, for use in an escape attempt. The other caught a guard bringing a juvenile inmate into the cell for sex with another prisoner.

The video opened the floodgates for evidence by youths who told how they were regularly auctioned by warders to older inmates for sex. Several accused a senior warder, Sam Mohanoe, of having raped juvenile prisoners since 1985.

One, Wilson Mohodi, said on Monday that Mr Mohanoe ran a "soccer club" for young inmates who were all forced to have sex with him. He said the guard rewarded the young men with marijuana, toiletries and petroleum jelly.

"When [Mohanoe] needed a young man, he gave me dagga [marijuana], and I gave him a young man," Mohodi told the commission. "Sometimes, after he had finished with a young man, he would call me and I would also have intercourse in his office."

The commission also heard this week that one juvenile, unable to afford the £36 bail while awaiting trial for theft, was raped 11 times and twice tried to commit suicide. "I don't accept myself as a human being anymore," the youth told the commission.

A prisoner the youth identified as one of his rapist, Japhta Moeng, admitted that there was a trade in young inmates for sex.

"Juveniles are sold there. If he was sold, what can I do?" Moeng said.

Turning to his victim, he added: "If I did sodomise you, I did it because you were sold by somebody else to me."

Other prisoners have told the commission of lesser abuses: one was forced to give a senior prison official a pedicure and cut his corns.

A female prisons commissioner said she was forced by armed warders to kneel, and was spat on and called a bitch, because, they said, it was against tradition for a woman to stand in front of men.

One man complained to the commission that a fellow convict, jailed for impersonating a doctor, was treating prisoners in the jail hospital.

Gayton McKenzie, the prisoner who organised the videotaping, said he was responding to President Thabo Mbeki's declaration of 2002 as the "year of the volunteer".

The convicts handed the video to the prison governor, Mr Satlei, who told the inquiry that he regarded it as an important step in eradicating abuse and corruption by his staff. Officials in the prisons department had different ideas, however.

Mr Setlai said that the provincial correctional services commissioner, Willem Damons, asked him to destroy the tape. "He said it would damage the image of the department, the government and the country as a whole, and drive investors away."

The minister of justice, Penuell Maduna, came to the governor's defence after a prisons commissioner, Linda Mti, said he should be suspended, but he was removed from his post and appointed to the parole board.

Mr Setlai was reinstated at Grootvlei on Tuesday after he had threatened legal action and the chief counsel at the judicial inquiry had accused Mr Damons of constructing a "tissue of lies" about him.

The commission heard that Mr Damons blocked the arrest of the accused warders, who are still employed by the prison service.

The four prisoners who recorded the video said they were stripped of their privileges and locked in their cells for 23 hours a day as punishment.

Another, a member of one of the notoriously violent prison gangs, told the inquiry that a "death sentence" had been passed on the four at the behest of some warders.

One of the four, Samuel Grobbelaar, said two attempts had already been made to kill him.

He was knocked unconscious with a steel rod and had his food poisoned while he was recovering in hospital.

Does SA need a rich president? – Gayton McKenzie

2012-06-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Does SA need a rich president? – Gayton McKenzie

2012-04-22 10:00

Gayton McKenzie

Besides the fact that it is probably next to impossible for someone who is dirt poor to suddenly get elected state president, this debate is more about whether the person will find that he or she actually needs the salary.

Sure, the salary is not bad, although even I have been paid more for doing far less in the private sector. And if in fact the president does need the salary, is this a good or bad thing?

Perhaps the idea is that a man with money will be less likely to be bribed once in office and perhaps be less eager to plunder public coffers. The problem, however, with this kind of thinking is that a rich man may already be owned by big business, and without the need for business to even have to make the effort to corrupt him. How are we to know?

There are endless examples in our history of rich men coming to power (rich men coming to power are in fact the norm) and then abusing that power to become even richer, and make their friends even richer.

In the USw America, for example, government decisions overwhelmingly favour big business and not everyday, average Americans.

Although Harvard-educated Barack Obama was not a poor man, half of his 2008 campaign contributions came from everyday, average and middle-class Americans who pledged small and big amounts to see him bring about change.

President Obama has been noticeably trying to make a difference to the lives of these people. He wasn’t born rich, wasn’t always rich, and without his salary, I doubt he would carry on doing the job.

And why should he?

Donald Trump has tried to run for US president from time to time. Despite his popularity, he always fails. He just doesn’t have the muscle born from years of political struggle.

Globally, heads of states are famously remunerated quite poorly. Tony Blair’s wife earned more than he did. She was a barrister; he was the prime minister.

He needed that money. He was a professional politician and had worked his way up the ranks. Getting the salary and the pension, albeit a humble one, was his reward for a lifetime of service to the state.

In 1997, India elected KR Narayanan, who came from India’s lowest caste, the Untouchables. This undid centuries of discrimination, but social change is still needed. South Africa is the same. Only a man who understands what poverty is is able to overcome the challenge it poses since he knows – intimately – his enemy.

Statistically, to stand a chance of being rich, you have to come from a rich family. Or you have to be an exceptional human being whose gift lies in making money. Being able to make money does not guarantee that you will be a good human being, and Ferial’s qualification that doing it for “the love” is no reassurance either.

A president who leads “out of love” may be very reluctant to step down, because he “loves” what he does too much. In any case, love is an irrational thing, and who wants someone irrational in charge?

The best presidents are often those who are reluctant to take the job because they know it’s one hell of a tough job, and it’s a largely thankless task. To be a crummy dictator – well, now, that’s easy. I would love to be a dictator. I would hate to be a long-suffering servant of the people.

And that is why a president should need the salary we pay him. He is a public servant.

He works for us. If he doesn’t do a good job, he might in any case go on a fat pension for the rest of his days, but if we so demand, we could impeach him.
A president who doesn’t need or care for the salary we pay him may just not need or care for us.

The bottom line is that a rich person could be as great or even a greater president than one from poor, humble stock. But to simply presuppose being rich as a matter of principle is something that smacks of class discrimination. And class discrimination leads to civil war.

» McKenzie is a millionaire businessman and former bank robber

Gayton McKenzie on The Best T In The City

2012-06-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Gayton McKenzie on The Best T In The City

Podcast:

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Gayton McKenzie is a South African motivational speaker and author. McKenzie has turned his back on crime after spending time in jail. After his release, he went on national campaign to combat ever-higher levels of crime in South Africa. McKenzie talks to school children, parents and business people. Thus far, he has reached millions of them and was voted the country’s top corporate speaker for the last three years.

Catch Gayton McKenzie on My Top 10

2012-06-27T14:20:00.002-07:00

Q&A with controversial businessman Kenny Kunene

2012-06-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Kenny Kunene.

Kunene divorce ‘not about lifestyle’

2012-05-19T20:13:00.001-07:00

Kunene divorce ‘not about lifestyle’

May 19 2012 at 12:35pm
By Sameer Naik

Comment on this story

Lucky Nxumalo

Kenny Kunene, centre, is also known as the Sushi King.

Kenny Kunene ‘devastated’ about divorce

2012-05-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

Kenny Kunene ‘devastated’ about divorce

May 15 2012 at 12:36pm
By Marvin Adams

Comment on this story

Lucky Nxumalo

Kenny Kunene, centre, is also known as the Sushi King.

Millionaire businessman Kenny Kunene and his wife Mathato are divorcing.

The ex-convict playboy, who’s known for eating sushi off half-naked models, told a local newspaper that they have decided to split after realising that “they have different visions in life”.

Kunene broke the news on his own reality show So What? on e.tv.

The ZAR nightclub owner has denied rumours that started last year that his alleged affair with a young radio presenter is to blame for their separation.

And Kenny expressed sadness that his 16-year marriage has come to an end.

“I was so devastated when Mathato first told me her reasons she wanted a divorce,” he explains.

“I went for two weeks without even shaving my head and beard. But I accepted it, mainly because I knew she wasn’t divorcing me because she doesn’t love me any more.

“We are just at different places in life.”

Meanwhile, Kenny denies rumours that he’s run out of money.

“Just because we closed down ZAR, it doesn’t mean that money has run out. Right now I’m wearing a R15 000 pair of jeans and an R8 000 Gucci shirt,” he insists.

“I still travel on a private jet, as people can see on my show. I still drive my cars and I stay at my penthouse in Sandton.

“I finance my reality show and I bet it’s the most expensive local production and I don’t even get paid for that or get any revenue from it.” - Daily Voice

Kenny Kunene divorce

2012-05-19T20:05:00.001-07:00

South African controversial business man, Kenny Kunene, announced on his reality show that he is getting divorced. Ag shame!

South African ex-con playboy, business man, self made millionaire, owner of ZAR empire, Sushi King, DJ and ~~very well deserved and scripted and acted out~~ reality star of eTV’s SO WHAT, Kenny Kunene, announced last night on his show that he is going through a divorce with wife Mathato.

Honestly I have been wondering when will this day come. This guy is notorious for controversy.

Last year Sunday World ran a story on Kenny Kunene, stating that his philandering ways were leading to family drama and that his wife was divorcing him. He denied rumours that his alleged affair with a young radio presenter or the bed-sharing with three Swazi girls on his reality show is to blame for their separation.

The ZAR empire owner expressed his sadness at the end of his 16 year marriage. “I was so devastated when Mathato first told me her reasons she wanted a divorce, I went for two weeks without even shaving my head and beard. But I accepted it, mainly because I knew she wasn’t divorcing me because she doesn’t love me any more. “

He added that Mathato did not married him for money, as she declined a blank cheque he offered her. “She only wanted to keep the house that she lives in and wanted me to continue to pay for her car...I'm also going to continue supporting [his] children.”

The show follows Kenny Kunene as he lives the luxurious life (his unapologetic for his success and lavish lifestyle). In the show’s 2nd season its all about the business side of things, his personal life, the great parties that he hosts and attends, the ups and most definitely the downs ...because he is being divorced and that surely is a down.

Kenny Kunene-How much "Bling" is too much ?

2012-05-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

My question is - how much “bling” is too much? Are African high rollers judged more harshly than, say, big-spending Russian oligarchs? Or is Vavi correct in saying that South Africa’s rich should be more circumspect with their wealth?

Posted by: CNN Correspondent, Robyn Curnow

KENNY KUNENE IN NEW YORK TIMES
Partying Amid Poverty Stirs South Africa DebateBy CELIA W. DUGGER
SANDTON, South Africa — Kenny Kunene, a former gangster turned businessman, gave what he called “the mother of all parties” for his 40th birthday. With his small paunch protruding from a white tuxedo and his eyes hidden behind Roberto Cavalli sunglasses, he ate sushi from the belly of a woman who was wearing nothing but black lingerie and high heels while hundreds of guests looked on.

As the revelers got tipsy on his liquor, he says he treated the most important among them — including Zizi Kodwa, President Jacob Zuma’s stylish spokesman, and Julius Malema, the rabble-rousing leader of the governing party’s youth wing — to $1,300 bottles of Dom Pérignon. Like the American rappers he emulates, Mr. Kunene himself swigged a bottle of Armand de Brignac Champagne that goes for more than $1,500 at his posh nightclub, ZAR, perched on the roof of a five-star hotel.

His October bash here in Sandton, a Johannesburg suburb often described as the wealthiest square mile in Africa, and another sushi-eating party that Mr. Kunene hosted recently in Cape Town, have turned him into a peculiarly South African sensation. His antics set off raucous bickering in the governing alliance about the conspicuous consumption of a politically networked black elite in a country where the majority of young blacks do not even have jobs.

Zwelinzima Vavi, leader of Cosatu, the powerful trade union federation allied with the governing African National Congress, accused Mr. Kunene of “spitting on the face of the poor” and declared that parties where people who have gotten rich in dubious ways flaunt their wealth “turn my stomach.”

Mr. Kunene, who says he supports the A.N.C.’s Youth League with his time and money, promptly retorted that his was “honest money spent on honest fun.” He describes his success as proof of the nation’s democracy, and he told Mr. Vavi, who is also black: “You remind me of what it felt like to live under apartheid. You are telling me, a black man, what I can and cannot do with my life.”

The Kunene story has crystallized a recurring question about life in post-apartheid South Africa: Is the accumulation and exhibition of such wealth a sign that blacks have finally arrived after an era when whites hogged the high life, or is it evidence of a moral decay undermining Nelson Mandela’s once great liberation movement?

“It raises in such wonderfully stark terms what freedom is and what one does with it,” said Jonny Steinberg, an author and one of the many newspaper columnists who commented on the events. “The idea that one uses it to get rich, and ostentatiously so, and that this is the most important dividend of freedom, is very powerful.”

In recent months, the spectacle of eating sushi from a woman’s body — perhaps familiar to Americans from Samantha’s escapades on “Sex and the City” — has been a source of both lurid fascination and ridicule here. A cartoon by the Mail & Guardian’s Zapiro, titled “The Last Sushi,” depicts a naked woman lying on a long table with well-known businessmen and politicians feasting on the fishy bits that decorate her curves.

That Mr. Kunene, a small-time player in South African politics, has vaulted onto the front pages underscores how salient the issue of economic inequality has become in South Africa, a country that by some estimates has the worst disparities of wealth in the world.

But the focus on Mr. Kunene, nicknamed the Sushi King by headline writers, is also a tribute to his obvious gifts for self-promotion and self-reinvention.

He was raised by his unemployed mother (an evangelical faith healer), his grandfather (a retired English teacher), and his grandmother (a midwife and the family’s only earner) in a black township outside of Odendaalsrus in what is now the Free State. The family could never afford to give him a birthday party, he said, and he always craved luxuries.

When he was a teenager during apartheid, he said he and his friends picked out the houses and cars in wealthy white areas they fantasized would one day be theirs. He dreamed of Porsches. “The objective was to overthrow the government and take everything that the white man had,” he said.

Like his grandfather, he became a high school English teacher. To earn extra money, he opened a small saloon, eavesdropped on gangsters and joined them, hijacking cars, robbing businesses and dreaming up ways to trick people out of their money, he said.

“My heart was not into armed robberies,” he said. “My heart was more into fraud because I’m a thinker.”

But he was caught and convicted in 1997 of helping run a Ponzi scheme. His case alone listed more than 1,900 victims, he said. He served six years in prison. After his release, he went into business with Gayton McKenzie, a bank robber he had befriended behind bars. They sold a book that Mr. McKenzie wrote about quitting a life of crime, and marketed Mr. McKenzie’s motivational speeches to schools and corporate groups.

They invested their earnings in a fish distribution business, Mr. Kunene said, and then started working as consultants to diamond and gold mining companies, helping manage testy relations with restive local communities and navigate the shoals of government regulation in a country governed by a black majority.

Last year, Mr. Kunene and Mr. McKenzie helped Gold Fields, a major gold producer, retain its mining rights to the South Deep mine southwest of Johannesburg, which the company describes as “one of the greatest undeveloped ore bodies in the world.”

“It’s a lot of political lobbying work,” explained Sven Lunsche, a Gold Fields spokesman.

At Mr. Kunene’s swanky apartment in Sandton, a snapshot of him with President Zuma is displayed in the living room. On his iPad, he flicked through photographs taken at his birthday party, showing pictures of him with the men he called “Zizi and Julius” — Mr. Zuma’s spokesman and the Youth League leader, Mr. Malema.

At the Cape Town party on Jan. 29, Mr. Malema was quoted as saying that Mr. Kunene’s club belonged to the A.N.C., but he later issued a statement insisting that he had said only that black people have a right to own a club in “predominantly white territory.”

Mr. Malema’s comments prompted Gwede Mantashe, the party’s secretary general, to starchily insist that the A.N.C. “is not into nightclubs or partying, but it is a revolutionary movement. We furthermore reiterate our condemnation to the act of serving sushi on a woman’s body.”

Kenny Kunene, Lil Kim and Fistaz Mixwell

Mr. Kunene this month bowed to his party’s wishes and foreswore sushi parties, but he could not resist noting that in South Africa, the rainbow nation, “I ate sushi off a black girl in Johannesburg. In Cape Town, I ate it off a white girl. I was intending to eat it off an Indian girl in Durban.”

Mr. Kunene has leapt into a life of fame and money, but often on Mondays he gets into one of his Porsches and makes the short drive to the poor and working-class township of Alexandra. “I don’t forget where I come from,” he said.

Uproar over Times journo’s sexual frolics with ‘Sushi King’

2012-05-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

THERE KENNY: Kenny Kunene the ‘Sushi King’ and Times of Swaziland Entertainment Editor, Ntombi Mhlongo Social network site Facebook is abuzz with comments over a picture of Kenny Kunene the ‘Sushi King’ and Times of Swaziland Entertainment Editor, Ntombi Mhlongo. The picture was taken last August during the Bikers Party at the Mavuso Sports Café which had been attended by former Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Macford Sibandze. Over 60 comments were received after the picture was posted on Facebook’s gossip forum ‘Umgosi Eswatini’ from last Thursday. Most of the comments are derogatory against the entertainment editor. Facebook users have attacked Mhlongo but she hasn’t responded to any of these comments. In the picture, Mhlongo is dressed in a denim mini-skirt with a matching jacket, and reacts somewhat happily as Kunene frolics with her in full view of the public. Kunene appears to have his hand inside her skirt. The ‘Sushi King’ seems unmoved as Mhlongo smiles from ear to ear. Users have insinuated that the picture was photo-shopped whereas others dismiss that notion. Swazi girls were labelled as ‘cheap’ on Facebook, following their antics on Kunene’s reality show ‘So What?’ that is currently airing on e-TV. The episode, which featured Kunene’s trip to the country, shows snippets of him in his bedroom with some Swazi girls posing near his bed. The 30-minute reality series showed all ‘Sushi King’s movements while he was in the country -from his arrival at the plush Happy Valley Resorts to the Biker’s Party at the Mavuso Sports Bar. Facebook comments n A member of the welcoming committee in good standing n Ewu ds s d Ntombi Sushi Queen... n Awu???? n hhawu n A whole editor. n This is a DISGRACE..honestly.. I am disappointed!! n Damaged goods...walking wounded...factory faults....Nx. n Uze losisi utsi haleluya,,,,,yini kona lolokushuthe nalosisi webanftu? n You have let us down as women in the whole wide world,specially in Africa, who in her sane mind gets(f*****) in everyone's view, you are a disgrace woman..why didn't you at least book a room or something ngoba that sushi guy is loaded? n This pic has been photoshopped with Adobe Photoshop 7.0, I checked with my computer...

King of Bling ‘stands for the truth’

2012-03-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Carly Ritz

Kenny Kunene doesn’t apologise to anyone for his lifestyle. He has no regrets, except he never meant to disappoint his grandparents.

To the media and the public, Kenny Kunene is an Agner suit with Blue Label in hand – extravagant and over the top. But he was once just a boy who wanted to make his grandparents proud.

Raised by his mother and grandparents in Kutlwanong township after his parents divorced, businessman Kenny Kunene learned the value of hard work early. His grandmother was a midwife and his grandfather a retired teacher. To their grandson, they were heroes.

“In everything I have done in my life, I never meant to hurt them,” Kunene says, knowing his life is peppered with mistakes as much as it seasoned with success.

Kunene wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t mince his words. “I’m successful and I am entitled to celebrate.”

His anecdotes about his childhood tell the story of a boy with big dreams. His friends came from wealthy backgrounds and Kunene wanted in on the good life. He also wanted to wear the labels. But at home things were challenging. He grew up in a two-bedroom house with no electricity, no fridge or television. When it was hot, the fruit would be put in the coolest room in the house, on the floor, so that it wouldn’t spoil – a far cry from the man he is today with his fancy cars, expensive suits and bling accessories.

He ate pap and jam all the time. “Food is food”, his grandfather would say. He was a stern and logical man. “The reason we eat is so that we can have energy,” he would say. “You won’t be able to play if you have no energy and all the children will talk about you. When you go out after you have eaten pap and jam it would be as though you ate meat or chicken – no one will know, just don’t tell them.”

Kenny was a good student. The value of education was drummed into him early on and his peers came for help with homework. His teachers loved him and forgave him his sins when he stepped out of line.

His grandparents could not afford the fancy labels and told their grandson that if he wanted these things he would have to earn his own money. So that’s what he did.

His grandmother loaned him the start-up capital he needed for his small business – selling fruit at school during break. He would leave class five minutes before break to set up his stall. He made enough money to buy himself clothes and groceries for his grandparents. All they asked was that he repay the loan.

When his fruit business closed, he moved on to the taverns at weekends to clean up tables. He started DJing – music was always a passion – and running errands for illegal gold smugglers. They paid well.

Kunene followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and received a teaching qualification. But the money for his studies was not always available and he turned to petty crime. He would gun for the wallets of the “missus”, he explains. “There’s always money in the missus’ purse.” He was a hustler.

Kunene reflects on some of the lower moments in his life. “I stabbed a school teacher on a school trip,” he says. “I grew up fighting, so I carried a knife everywhere I went.” He should have been expelled, but his grandmother begged the school to keep him on. She bled for him, he says.

He reiterates that he never meant to hurt his grandparents – it’s the only tangible tinge of regret he shares. As she aged and became ill, his grandmother asked to see her grandson get married in her lifetime, so he dutifully married the woman who became pregnant with his first child.

The teacher, DJ and criminal put on a big white wedding for his grandmother and, two weeks later, she died. He is satisfied knowing he met her final request.

Family is key to Kunene and he will take on anyone who says otherwise. He talks about his time in prison from 1997 to 2003 openly, with the insight of a man who has had time to mull over it all. He has no regrets and is a better man for the experience, but his first comment about his time in prison is how difficult it was.

Kunene is a father of three, but cares for six children in total. His team of boys and a seven-year-old daughter live in his home in Welkom and he sees them regularly. He has a special relationship with his Grade 12 daughter, who lives with him in Sandton.

“I will not plan my kids’ lives, I can only guide them, but they know the rules,” Kunene says. “My daughter knows that if she falls pregnant, she must pack her things and the man must take care of her. Being a father of daughters is difficult.” It’s a hard line, but he only wants the best for his children.

“My daughter calls me Robert Mugabe,” he laughs. “She says there is no democracy in the house. If you saw the phone my daughter carried, you would not think she is Kenny’s daughter.” The world is not served to his children on a plate. He wants them to learn the lessons he did, to work for things they want in order to truly value what they have.

Kunene has always had a good rapport with youngsters and when he spent time in prison he was asked to offer counselling to the juvenile inmates.

“Prison is the house that made me,” he says. “I have no regrets for going to prison.”

Always the socialite, he threw parties in prison to boost the morale of the inmates.

The Bible presented itself to Kunene in prison. Now a born-again Christian and spiritual man, he is often hauled over the coals for his lavish lifestyle in the face of the poor. To the naysayers he responds thoughtfully: “The Bible says all of us are sinners and those who say they are not are making God a liar.” He doesn’t profess to be righteous and admits to mistakes. But where in the Bible does it say we must be poor, he asks. “I don’t make money to give it away. I make it to enjoy the finest things in life. I never had them, but always wanted them.”

He watched movies and wanted the lifestyle reflected on the screen. “The reason I am driving a Porsche is because of Scar Face,” Kunene says. “I watched it years back on VHS and this man, Al Pacino, who comes from Cuba, tells his friend I am not in America to wash dishes. He becomes a drug dealer. I don’t give a f@%^ what he becomes, but it’s his vision that I understand and I always said one day I would drive a Porsche – it was a dream.”

He hates being called a black diamond. “It’s an insult,” Kunene says. “The reason black people are called black diamonds when they make it in life is because Europeans always perceived us as slaves – destined to be poor – so the one who makes it must be rare, like a black diamond because they made it beyond expectation. You don’t hear about yellow diamonds or pink diamonds.”

Kunene has also been accused of degrading women – a statement at which he scoffs. “I am not degrading to women,” he says. “I love women. Show me that I am raping women or beating them up.”

There is one special lady in his life. But he won’t say who it is. “I don’t like going into very private things, but I will say every woman in my life is special to me.”

He doesn’t like talking about his philanthropic efforts either because that’s what everyone wants him to do – like he’s justifying his lifestyle – which he won’t, but, together with business partner Gayton Mackenzie, Kunene runs business mentorship programmes. He visits schools to talk about the dangers of crime and drugs. He shares his personal experience and story of upward mobility with the pupils who can relate to and are inspired by him.

Highly critical of local media, Kunene has had his fair share of bad press. Now he runs his own website, which he expects will rival newspapers. “Every journalist in this country will check my website for news because it will carry news that no one else will have – and about everyone.”

“Media in South Africa do not have balls. Some people are considered too powerful to write about. Media in this country is so biased. My website will have information about these people. News that will shock this country. I have given the team one mandate: to get the website up and running. I want to see a million views by the end of 2012.”

So who is Kenny Kunene in his words? “I’m a normal guy who stands for the truth. In everyone’s life there is something that can inspire you – we can learn so much from each other. Take what is good from each and every person that you meet – even if it is a hobo or a madman – there is something to learn from everyone and don’t judge.

The luxury cars and whisky existed before Kenny Kunene and will last long after he’s dead, he laughs.

Yes he’s a wealthy man with a dark past and penchant for pleasure, but he’s also just a dad worried about his daughter falling pregnant and a grandson who never meant to disappoint.

carlyr@thenewage.co.za

Kunene still has taste for controversy

2012-03-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

Kunene still has taste for controversy

By Zama Nene

SUPPLIED
The King of Sushi, businessman and entertainer, Kenny Kunene, celebrates with VIPs and media at his first screening of his second season of So What, a reality programme on e.tv, at a Durban club.
Kenny Kunene was in Durban on Monday night – but there was not a naked girl, much less a serving of sushi, in sight.

The controversial businessman did, however, raise eyebrows when he provided miniature chocolate penises and vaginas in the press kits he doled out to his media guests.

Kunene was in the city for the launch of season two of his hit reality TV show, So What.

With him at the launch at Bellagio nightclub in Stamford Hill was his business partner, Gayton McKenzie, and some members of the show’s cast.

But all eyes were on Kunene, who was dressed in a grey ensemble with a pink bow-tie and his signature Louis Vuitton shades. Ever the showman, he took the opportunity to downplay rumours that he was broke, declaring: “I’m a hundred years from being broke ... and I will never apologise for celebrating my success.”

Kunene has come in for censure in the past for his his conspicuous consumption, including parties where sushi was served off the bodies of semi-naked women.

Two years ago Cosatu general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, blasted Kunene for throwing a R700 000 party, saying he was spitting in the faces of the poor.

An unrepentant Kunene on Monday night said although he lived an ostentatious life, he was charitable, but not in front of the cameras, and that giving should not be a showpiece.

Kunene promised So What would be different from season one. “The business side of our life will come out, you will see our international travels and mentoring sessions,” he said.

The first episode, premiered at the club, saw him being driven in a Rolls-Royce, throwing a tantrum over a small helicopter and eating traditional food on a private jet.

Same old 'So What' mumbo

2012-03-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Same old 'So What' mumbo
ANDILE NDLOVU |

With the second season of Kenny Kunene's reality TV show So What, premiering tonight, nothing about the first episode suggests that the second season will be better than the first.

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The high life is still on show - drinking expensive champagne straight from the bottle, being driven around in the best cars and flying around in private jets - but is far from being original.

The opening sequence shows unfavourable TV headlines and newspaper clippings screaming: "Has Kenny's cash run out?", "Kenny's last sushi dinner" and "Zar to shut down".

He then spends the next few minutes fretting about an accident on the road to Lanseria Airport, where he has to catch his private jet to Durban to give a talk as part of a mentorship programme he runs with business partner and friend Gayton McKenzie.

Even though he loses his temper because he is late for the talk, he still has the time to turn down the first helicopter they find to take them to the airport because it's not big enough.

"For us, it's a normal arrangement. It's the same as a guy being left by his bus and then takes his car," Kunene says.

Once in the more spacious chopper, Kunene and hip-hop artist Hydro (signed to Kunene's record label, Nu Money) indulge in tripe, sheep's head and dumplings while McKenzie and his daughter Moloko have a vegetarian meal.

"Some will say I don't have class. What is class? If your class is defined by food, then you have a problem," Kunene explains.

He adds that when black people move to the suburbs they "start insulting our food".

From then on in, the episode is McKenzie and Kunene giving a bunch of teenagers gathered at the Bellagio Hotel in Durban a talk on "making it" in life.

Channel spokesman Matlapulana Ragoasha said this season would see Kunene undertaking more international business trips.

So What, whose first season was, according to the SA Advertising Research Foundation, watched by 1.4million viewers on average, moves to e.tv's 8.30pm slot on Mondays, which used to belong to Hlelo and Ntando Masina's reality TV show, Blame It On Fame.

Confusion as 'Sushi King' Kenny Kunene probed for fraud

2012-03-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Confusion as 'Sushi King' Kenny Kunene probed for fraud
GLYNNIS UNDERHILL Mar 23 2012 00:00
7 Comments and 23 Reactions

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Allegations that former convicts Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie defrauded poor Sowetan communities by persuading them to participate in a mining rights application for Central Rand Gold in Johannesburg are being investigated.

However, there is widespread confusion over the status of the police investigation.

The Mail & Guardian was reliably informed that the National Prosecuting Authority initially declined to prosecute the matter, although it denied the claim this week. The Hawks have conducted their own investigation into the accusations, but the NPA said it had not seen their docket.

"No one seems to know about this matter," said NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga.

But the NPA's asset forfeiture unit has now also initiated a probe, according to a source who is familiar with the details of the case. If the unit finds there is a case to be made against the two men, it can apply to the high court to seize their assets, which include a number of supercars.

This week Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela told the M&G that the unit had investigated accusations against Kunene and McKenzie involving the Central Rand Gold mining deal.

"We have done an investigation. However, our protocol doesn't allow us to give updates on ongoing investigations."

Sushi King is well-connected
Kunene, who served six years in jail for fraud, is well known for his ZAR nightclub in Cape Town -- the one in Johannesburg closed recently. He is regularly seen in the club and gained notoriety for eating sushi there off scantily dressed models, earning him the title of South Africa's Sushi King. His friends include members of President Jacob Zuma's family and influential ANC politicians.

By contrast, McKenzie, who spent seven years in jail for two counts of armed robbery, is a professed family man and prefers the quiet life, although he drives a Porsche and gives motivational speeches. He became friends with Kunene in jail.

CONTINUES BELOW

The communities involved in the mining application are not going to let the matter rest. They believe they were defrauded because the two men solicited their participation in the gold prospecting and mining application with promises of jobs and contracts, which failed to materialise.

Godfrey Makomene, the leader of one of the communities, said they were on the verge of raising the money to hire lawyers to take their case to court. They had heard nothing about official investigations.

"The police have never interviewed us," he said. "We have not heard of any developments.

"We were offered a 10% stake in Central Rand Gold, which is recorded in its application for mining rights and the memorandum of understanding between us. We were promised jobs and contracts. But we got nothing."

Company raises billions
Thirteen communities signed the memorandum of understanding with Central Rand Gold as part of its mining licence application, which was accompanied by a social labour plan. The company raised more than R1-billion after listing on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges in 2007.

Central Rand Gold is currently embroiled in litigation over financial disputes with its empowerment partner, Puno Gold Investments.

Makomene said that, because the communities were poor, their complaints were being ignored.

Among the key allegations Makomene made was that community members were encouraged to open companies to make procurements and gain tenders. What happened to these companies should be of interest to the police, he said.

Kunene was given the title of executive of communities by Central Rand Gold and was put in charge of procurement, Makomene said.

McKenzie apparently held the title of chief corporate strategist for Central Rand Gold.

They were both reported to have earned huge salaries and were apparently given a R4-million bonus in 2009 for securing the mining rights quickly. The men have not worked for Central Rand Gold for the past 18 months.

Makomene said that since then 100 companies had been deregistered. He claimed they had been used for money laundering.

Locals haven't seen of social labour plan
Mark Diggars, a community leader who lives across a freeway from the Central Rand Gold mine, said the local people had not even seen the social labour plan, although it was said that it had been signed by community members without their knowledge.

"We are still waiting for our 10% shareholding," he said. "They are all just bluffing."

Neither Kunene nor McKenzie could be reached for comment and they did not respond to emails.

But both responded at length to emailed questions from the M&G last year about how they had acquired their wealth after leaving prison.

McKenzie said he had access to "investor capital worth millions of dollars".

"I am working towards my first billion. I will let you know when I get there."

McKenzie said he had gone from consulting on security concerns at Central Rand Gold -- "after all," he said, "who better to spot security weaknesses than an ex-bank robber" -- to advising the board on how to approach both the government and communities if they wanted to mine in Johannesburg.

Kunene said they had both become involved at Central Rand Gold as key executives. "The two of us played a strong role in the process of that mine applying for its mining rights."

Gold company 'going strong'
In late September last year, gold prospecting and mining company Central Rand Gold was forced to halt operations because of a decision by the minister of mineral resources, Susan Shabangu, to cancel its mining right.

According to the department, the company had violated two conditions relating to the mining work programme and its social labour plan.

This month, however, Central Rand Gold said the decision had been set aside by the court.

The company's chief executive, Johan du Toit, said it ran a "transparent operation", as a listed company was forced to do.

He said he was content with Central Rand Gold's progress, because it had increased its production by 60% in 2011, despite the temporary cancellation of its mining right. The company mines under Johannesburg.

Du Toit said Central Rand Gold was in the process of employing 225 people and the situation for the company had stabilised.

"Last year was a real tough year for us."

Du Toit said Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie had done "a great job" for Central Rand Gold in coordinating its social labour plan and he was not aware of a police investigation.

Du Toit confirmed he had lent Kunene R1-million to start up his ZAR nightclubs. But, he said, the "Sushi King" had repaid the money. -- Glynnis Underhill

Surprise!

2011-12-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

Mantombi Makhubele
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Even her best friend was kept in the dark as 'Generations' star walked down the aisle to tie knot with bishop

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A party fit for an emperor

ACTRESS and wedding planner Sophie Ndaba sprung a surprise at her Thanksgiving lunch on Tuesday that would have made her scheming TV character proud.

I was one of more than 200 guests invited to her annual soirée at Johannesburg's Summer Place.

But, instead of just a luncheon with friends and family, Sophie, known to most as Generations' Queen Moroka, exchanged vows with man of the cloth Bishop Keith Harrington.

And it was evident that religion plays a big part in the new couple's lives. The ceremony featured gospel music and sermons by several pastors.

Pastor Solly Mahlangu was the master of ceremonies, and we were treated to performances by Judith Sephuma, The Three Afro Tenors and Keke, to name a few .

Sophie deliberately kept herself scarce for the first half of the proceedings. Eventually she was heard on the loudspeakers telling guests how grateful she was for everything in her life.

Then the cat was let out of the bag when Keith and his best man walked to the front in their smart silver suits.

Guests gasped in delight as they realised they were actually there for a garden wedding. Sophie's teenage daughters, Shallon and Rudo, said they were told to come along as their mom was short of ushers for the "lunch".

No one seemed more shocked than talk-show host Penny Lebyane, who loudly exclaimed that her BFF had kept the wedding a secret even from her.

The bride walked down the aisle in a Gert Johan Coetzee gown as songstress Brenda Mtambo delivered a wonderful rendition of Jennifer Hudson's Giving Myself.

Keith, who is the founder of Keith Harrington Ministries and has a "healing centre" in Limpopo, took out two sachets of salt and handed one to his bride.

''Salt is also an antiseptic. When you came into my life, you healed all of my wounds and changed my entire life," he said.

Sophie's matron of honour was the ever elegant and beautiful Connie Ferguson. I was sitting behind her husband, Shona, and could not help noticing the two stealing looks at each other. It's obvious they're still very much in love after 10 years of marriage.

Other lovebirds among the guests were comedian David Kau and his wife, Thalia, who wore a stunning peach dress.

I felt a bit sorry for Penny Lebyane, who, had made a speech during the thanksgiving ceremony about how tight she is with Sophie. But she got over her shock soon enough and led the ululations with Sephuma and actress Rami Chuene. It was a nice touch to add some township spice to the northern suburbs.

Former Miss South Africa Bokang Montjane looked regal in her long floral summer dress.

I have to say well done to Ndaba's fellow actress from Generations Nambitha Mpumlwana, who was the chief organiser. She marched around the venue like a drill sergeant with a walkie-talkie in hand.

Uyanda's big bash

FASHIONISTA Uyanda Mbuli's All Things Fab Birthday Bash at ZAR Lounge in Sandtonon Wednesday night got off to a slow start, thanks to a broken lift.

I was just chuffed that I did not wear high heels.

Uyanda had a five-tier, red velvet cake decorated with lots of gold icing . I'm told it cost R12000 and was made by Linda Lipschitz of Belle's Patisserie.

Uyanda wore leather hot pants matched with a pair of gorgeous Christian Louboutin Daffodile shoes. The 16cm heels made her the tallest person in the room.

Her mom, Refilwe Makhapela, was also there, along with her sisters, Khosi Nyezi and Phumzile Mogodi. I never knew the always pleasant Uyanda had a cheeky streak. Annoyed at people chatting while her mother gave a speech, she grabbed the mike and ordered everyone to "Shoosh!"

Others there included model Jena Dover, comedian David Kau (he seems to be EVERYWHERE these days), actresses Rosie Motene and Faye Peters, and former beauty queen Augustine Chuene, who is married to lawyer Bally.

I hear the Chuenes will be holidaying in New York and Disney World in the US.

The venue's owner, Kenny Kunene, I am sorry to report, was well behaved. There was no sushi . He arrived with a Mafioso-looking guy in a grey suit and dark glasses who drank French champagne straight from the bottle. The cheek!

A happy and extravagant New Year

2011-12-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

UK singer Cheryl Cole caused a buzz at tycoon Preston Haskell's New Year bash in Cape Town last year when she was spotted in public for the first time with squeeze Derek Hough
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SPLURGING millions on his New Year's Eve bash is nothing new for US billionaire Preston Haskell, who will again host the most exclusive party to ring in 2012 at his Fresnaye mansion in Cape Town.

Haskell has in the past hosted royals and A-list celebrities such as Princess Caroline of Monaco and her brother, Prince Albert, and Madonna and Elton John were also rumoured to have flown in to attend.

Last year his party made world headlines - it was the first time UK popstar Cheryl Cole was spotted in public with her then-boyfriend, Derek Hough.

So how will he top it this time round? Rumours have it that the property and mining magnate will fork out R12-million for a 1920s-style "Casino Haskell" theme.

Those lucky enough to get invited to the party - so sought after that organiser Sarah Cort is often offered thousands of rands for a ticket - have been promised an entertainment extravaganza with DJs from St Tropez and Greece.

Cape Town will also host the New Year's Eve Music Festival rave at the Cape Town International Convention Centre as well as a bash at the city's newest club, Bungalow . It opened last week and is owned by Chris Coutroulis, the owner of Sandton nightclub Taboo and husband of former Miss South Africa Vanessa Carreira.

Johannesburg nightclub owner Kenny Kunene has promised "fireworks" at his club, ZAR.

Kunene said he would have a display of "never-seen-before fireworks", whereas nearby Taboo will host its annual snow party.

East of Johannesburg, DJs Fresh and Euphonik will be at Nicci Beach at Wild Waters in Boksburg, where they will be joined by 25 other DJs on five dance floors.

In KwaZulu-Natal, a flood of international tourists and local holidaymakers booked suites, villas and grand ballrooms at some of Durban's five-star hotels and resorts.

Wayne Coetzee, general manager of the Oyster Box Hotel, said all three ballrooms - the Grillroom, Ocean Terrace and Pearl Room - were fully booked. Guests will fork out R1200 to eat fine food and have a good party.

Guests attending the New Year's Eve party at the Fairmont Zimbali Resort, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, have splashed out R1100 each for a feast of seafood and live entertainment at the "Miami White" party. - Additional reporting by Sunday Times reporters

'I do' Zizi and Zama tie the Kodwa knot in style

2011-12-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

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PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma's communications adviser Zizi Kodwa's nuptials had all the trappings of a fairy tale wedding: celebrities, powerful politicians and a giant white marquee set up in Durban's picturesque Botanical Gardens.

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Ex-youth league money man seals it with a kiss
Zizi Kodwa to tie the knot in sumptuous style

A carpet of peach and cream rose petals created an aisle to a gazebo on the banks of the lake where Kodwa, 42, and Zama Ngubane, 26, exchanged vows in front of more than 500 guests.

They included President Jacob Zuma, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj, Eastern Cape Social Development MEC Pemmy Majodina and ANC funder Roy Moodley.

There were interested glances when suspended national police commissioner Bheki Cele and his wife, Thembeka, arrived.

There was an army of police officers, and the presidential protection unit carried out security checks throughout the morning.

The media, seated in designated areas, were given just 10 minutes to take pictures of the couple and decor.

Other VIP guests included Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, former speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete, suspended ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, and a host of cabinet ministers, including Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale. Socialites Kenny Kunene and Khanyi Mbau were also on the list.

Kodwa arrived in a white Porsche Panamera shortly after Zuma's black chauffeur-driven 7-series BMW, which was accompanied by armed members of the presidential protection unit.

Ngubane arrived in a white Rolls-Royce Phantom.

The former model wore a white and silver gown by award-winning designer Ephraim Molingoana.

Her six bridesmaids wore pink cocktail dresses.

The groom's entourage and best man wore grey suits with pink pocket handkerchiefs. All the outfits were designed by Molingoana.

The service was conducted by ANC chaplain the Rev Vukile Mahana and guests were entertained with traditional Xhosa songs.

When the couple exchanged wedding bands, Kodwa gave his bride a tanzanite and platinum ring.

In the marquee, the tables were covered with peach rose petals and sported centrepieces that included miniature crystal chandeliers.

Siyanda Mwandla, one of the wedding coordinators, described the ceremony as "simple yet elegant".

The menu featured a variety of traditional dishes. Caterer Gary Clayton said Kodwa had wanted a simple but "scrumptious" menu.

"The menu included a lot of Zizi's favourite dishes ... including roast beef served with gravy, samp and beans with tripe, and traditional Durban mutton curry," he said.

The menu also featured lasagne, roast chicken served with paprika, potato salad, Mediterranean vegetables, and a simple Greek salad.

The dessert included a variety of fruit salad dishes.

Kodwa and Ngubane had kept details of their wedding secret beforehand as, they said, it was a private affair.

Central Rand Gold reprieve rockets share price

2011-12-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

DMR says no formal settlement yet.

JOHANNESBURG - Much beleaguered and controversial miner, Central Rand Gold (CRG) (JSE:CRD), said it had come to an agreement with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to set aside its decision to cancel the company’s mining right.

The company’s share price rocketed upwards of 200% during the day on the news.

DMR spokesperson, Zingaphi Jakuja, said that there was “no formal settlement” and that “DMR lawyers and CRG lawyers are speaking and we cannot at this stage reveal further details.”

The final decision ratifying the agreement reached between the DMR and CRG is to be made on December 22 in the High Court by way of an unopposed consent order CRG said.

CRG said it will continue to discuss its social and labour development plans with the DMR in order to agree a plan that is more appropriate for CRG's revised mining plans.

Patrick Malaza, CFO of CRG, said its revised mine plan makes provision for a much smaller scale mine and expects production to increase from 1 500oz per month to approximately 6 to 7 000oz per month by 2013. The operations are currently producing around 1 000oz per month Malaza said.

The original mining right application assumed more than 50 000oz per month.

The DMR cancelled CRG’s mining right in September citing non-compliance to its social and labour plan, mining work programme and environmental management programme. This was subsequently suspended in October pending the finalisation of review proceedings allowing it to resume mining operations.

CRG committed to expenditure of R32.9m in the first two years of its social and labour plan (SLP) but only spent R18.8m citing lower staff numbers and unavailability of suitable land. The reduction it said was due to a change in mining plan concomitant with acid mine drainage issues.

Malaza said “Our reason for not fully complying with our SLP programme was because we were forced into a corner due to unrealised mine production. Our original plan foresaw production of 4.2moz over five to six years but this has not been the case as most of our resources are under water.”

Malaza said “the water was always there but we thought that a solution could be found”.

The situation worsened substantially in November 2008 when there was a fatality at another miner’s pump station and it was shut down. The effect has been that water levels have increased from 1 000m to 500m below surface Malaza said.

Malaza said a solution is expected by August next year as the pumps purchased to remove the water would take six to seven months to install. Malaza confirmed it has taken delivery of the pumps and is busy with a tender process to appoint someone by January or February to proceed with installation.

Godfrey Makunene, a director for the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE), said that the potential setting aside of the cancellation of Central Rand Gold’s (CRG) mining right is not welcomed and would be a bad decision.

Makunene said “the interest of management is to misuse investors’ money for their own benefit” and “people have lost confidence from a community point of view.”

“The company has failed to honour their commitments and they come up with all sorts of plans that are unproductive” Makunene said.

CRG’s dotted history includes reports of excessive expenditure, bearish production forecasts, and associations with renowned sushi king Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie. An ongoing dispute with its BEE shareholder (Puno Gold Investments (Pty) Ltd) and local community dissent are also part of the controversy surrounding the company.

The miner said last month that there was still no resolution to its dispute with Puno Gold and it had filed court papers. The dispute relates to funding provisions in terms of a shareholder agreement.

The filing seeks to discharge an interdict that prohibits CRG from calling on an option to acquire Puno's entire shareholding. Alternatively, CRG requested permission to proceed with arbitration.

If the application is unopposed, the hearing is expected to commence tomorrow.

Malaza said “We are waiting for confirmation but think they [Puno] have responded, in which case it won’t take place now but only in January or February next year.”

A vision betrayed

2011-12-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

When Pixley ka Isaka Seme placed advertisements in African newspapers such as Tsala ea Becoana in late 1911, urging all “sections of our native people ... to send able representatives to that conference of the races” scheduled for January 8 1912 in Bloemfontein, he proposed the agenda for the gathering. It included the following:

Setting up the SA Native Congress ; writing a constitution for the new organisation; electing office bearers; installing elected officials to their positions; and taking a vote of confidence in Louis Botha, the prime minister of the Union of South Africa, and Henry Burton, the minister of native affairs. Part of the meeting was to be devoted to a general discussion. This would be followed by a concert and a farewell reception.

The topics for the general discussion were: “Native customs and usages , native marriages and divorce, native beer — is it a national beverage?, native schools and churches, the black and white peril, native lands and reserves, native courts civil and criminal, and native labour.”

It is not known how faithfully the 60- odd delegates who gathered in Bloemfontein that January to found an organisation we today know as the African National Congress (ANC) adhered to Seme’s proposed agenda. We do know, however, thanks to historian Andre Odendaal, that there was spirited debate among the delegates over the organisation’s original chosen name: South African Native National Congress (SANNC).

Sol Plaatje, editor of Tsala ea Becoana and one of four newspaper editors present at the conference, wanted a more African-sounding name, something that would have meaning in both the Nguni and Sotho language groups. Plaatje’s motion failed; the delegates voted to stick with the SANNC. The name was changed in 1925 to the ANC.

But expect more than the agenda to be different when the ANC celebrates its centenary in January as the oldest liberation movement in Africa, and then holds its 53rd annual conference in Bloemfontein, called Mangaung in Sotho, in December next year. For one, the ANC will meet in Mangaung as a ruling party, one that will have been in power for 18 years by then. Two, expect the profile of the organisation’s leadership and membership to be both different and much bigger: whereas the ANC had about 60 delegates (all African) at its founding, the Mangaung conference is likely to have more than 2000 delegates, a (very) small number of them white, Indian and coloured and many of them women.

More importantly, whereas the men who founded the ANC were colonial subjects and part of SA’s tiny but modern African elite, the men and women who will gather in Mangaung next year will all be modern citizens, bearers of rights that only a few of the ANC’s original founders enjoyed.

For example, one reason there were so few delegates at the ANC’s founding conference is that colonial officials made it difficult for Africans to travel. Speaking at a meeting with JW Sauer, the railways minister, shortly after the ANC’s establishment, Sefako Makgatho, the ANC’s first vice-president, complained about delegates who had been hurled off the train in Brandfort, in the Orange Free State, while en route to the Bloemfontein conference.

People like Makgatho, Seme and Plaatje were called in the official parlance of colonial SA “exempted natives” — meaning they did not have to live under such restrictions as, among others, the pass laws. As a (largely self)-educated and property-owning resident of Kimberley and citizen of the Cape Colony, Plaatje was among the few Africans who actually could vote in colonial SA .

So, Mangaung 2012 will mark a significant advance on Bloemfontein 1912. The conference next year will be testament to the ANC’s success as a political organisation.

That, however, is the positive side.

There is a negative side to Mangaung 2012.

When Seme called for the establishment of a national political organisation for Africans, he wanted Africans to slay the “demon of tribalism”. Seme said “the aberration of the Xhosa-Fingo feud, the animosity that exists between the Zulus and [the] Tonga, the Basothos and every other native must be buried and forgotten, it has shed among us sufficient blood. We are one people!”

Seme believed that lack of unity among Africans was making it impossible for them to speak with one voice when confronted with the depredations of the colonial state.

The ANC was not the first organisation founded by Africans in colonial SA to fight for their political rights. The Transvaal Native Congress and the Cape Native Congress, to give just two examples, were much older. But the ANC was the first national organisation to bring together Africans from around the country. It was the first organisation to try to speak with one voice about the concerns of Africans. If its early success is to be measured by whether it succeeded in slaying the demon of tribalism and forging African unity, the answer must be a guarded yes. The ANC survived years of colonial disdain and apartheid repression by speaking for Africans in particular and for freedom- loving South Africans in general. It was able to win power in 1994 as a truly national organisation — despite its general lack of support among white South Africans of all classes and, to some extent, working-class Indians and coloureds.

It could be argued, however, that, contrary to slaying the demon of tribalism, the ANC merely tamed it. One only has to listen to stories about tribal cliques in exile to know that the demon never really went away. There is certainly no doubt that since the beginning of President Jacob Zuma’s troubles with the law and with his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, it has made a forceful comeback inside the ANC. We saw it in Zuma’s “100% Zuluboy” campaign, where Zuma sought to portray his aborted and failed prosecution for corruption and rape as tribalist persecution, part of a conspiracy driven by dark forces to prevent a Zulu from becoming ANC and SA president.

The return of the demon was definitely confirmed in 2009 when, in Zuma’s first election campaign as ANC president, the party lost votes in every province except KwaZulu Natal. The 100% Zuluboy slogan scooped up the Zulu vote in his home province, largely at the expense of the hapless Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), previously the cultural and political home of conservative Zulu nationalism. The ANC’s decimation of the IFP helped the ruling party hide the fact that only a substantial Zulu vote had allowed it to keep up its national share of the vote. The ANC under Zuma has in fact become a more Zulu party, if by that we understand nothing more and nothing less than that Zuma’s ANC has increased its share of the vote of people who identify themselves as Zulu while dropping support from those who do not .

What happens, then, when the ANC elects a non-Zulu as its next president? What is going to happen to the Zulu vote that flocked to the ANC in 2009 for no good reason except that Zuma was 100% Zulu and a homeboy? Where are those votes going to go? Will they go back to the IFP or, worse, will they find an outlet in KwaZulu Natal’s secessionist streams, which have always been stronger than those in other parts of the country?

This, in short, is the challenge that confronts the ANC. But it is by no means the only one. Led by a president with no obvious interest in ideas or their power (despite his years in the leadership of the SA Communist Party — the supposed party of ideas) the ANC is today an organisation bereft of them. It is a party without collective imagination. How different that is to the ANC in its early years.

The men who founded the ANC were not angels. Neither were they democrats in the full sense in which we would understand and use the term today. They were colonial elites who believed in a qualified franchise. They took for granted the imperial claim that Africa was a land of darkness and that Africans were at least 2000 years below Europeans on the ladder of civilisation. They adhered fervently to the so-called civilising mission of the imperial and colonial enterprise. Above all, they were loyal subjects of the British Crown.

But they were men of ideas. They respected knowledge and fought for the education of Africans. Through their campaigns for the extension of the qualified franchise, the education of Africans and against segregation, they were able to shame the imperial government and the colonial state.

This does not mean they succeeded in their campaigns. Despite sending numerous deputations to London, for example, to plead with the imperial government on behalf of Africans, they did not succeed. But they were able to hold the British up to their much-vaunted belief in fairness. They were able to show up the hypocrisy of the colonial enterprise. They did this by presenting their own ideas, by asking why it was, for example, that the British were failing to live up to the claims of the civilising mission, which had promised acceptance into the colonial political order of any African who could show, by means of education and industry, improvement and civilisation.

These men were the forefathers of the ANC activists who proclaimed in 1955 that SA belonged to all who lived in it, black and white, and that no government could claim legitimacy unless it was founded on the will of the people.

It is easy to forget, 17 years since SA became a democracy, just what a radical claim that was at the time. It was radical precisely because it offered a vision of the future vastly different from that offered by successive apartheid governments and the colonial state before them. That inclusive vision of the future sustained the anti-apartheid movement and helped give the ANC and the freedom movement in general the moral victory it scored so decisively . Remember that a moral victory against apartheid was the only victory available to the ANC and its allies, none of which had the military means to take on the SA Defence Force.

The moral capital that accrued from the ANC’s righteous fight has been frittered away in corruption scandal after corruption scandal, and in a bitter, low- intensity civil war in the ANC .

The ANC may argue that, far from being without ideas, it has produced a slew of them: RDP (the reconstruction and development programme), Gear (growth, employment and redistribution), Asgisa (the accelerated and shared growth initiative for SA), cadre deployment, transformation, the national development plan, the new growth plan, and so forth. The only trouble with these plans is that they have what in township Zulu we might call a bamba-yeka — clutching-at-straws — quality about them. Compressed into an alphabet soup, these ideas read more like recipes that are constantly being changed, all because the kitchen staff does not know if it is coming or going (the chef, Zuma, is Awol). SA deserves better than this.

Come January, there will be birthday parties galore all right — many involving the corrupt use of public funds. Some of these celebrations will be tacky affairs organised no doubt by the likes of sushi king Kenny Kunene, a convicted and celebrated criminal (at least within certain circles) who helped organise the wedding of one of Zuma’s daughters not so long ago. Kunene’s qualification for the job ? None other than that he can do tacky like no one else among the class of tenderpreneurs whose ostentatious display of easy wealth and conspicuous consumption have come to stand, sadly, for black success in Zumaland.

Will next year’s celebrations of the ANC’s centenary be the beginning of the end of the ANC? Seme and his colleagues founded the ANC because they could imagine a better world, albeit one in which there was justice for all with certain qualifications. This vision was enriched and broadened from the 1940s onwards. It would be too easy to resort to cliché at this point and claim that Seme and Plaatje must be turning in their graves. Easier still is to point out that Zuma is presiding over an ANC with neither imagination nor ability to think of a better world. That is the greatest betrayal of them all.

Jacob Dlamini

A box of treats

2011-12-15T00:26:00.000-08:00

December 15 2011 at 09:39am
By Debashine Thangevelo and Munyaradzi Vomo
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DRAMA

It’s so hard to say goodbye… to the Walker family, but we did. After five fantastic seasons of Brothers and Sisters, we couldn’t help but be completely immersed in the family and relationship woes of the tight- knit family from Pasadena, with Nora (Sally Field) being the glue as the meddlesome, albeit endear-ingly so, mother. With a stellar cast of Rachel Griffiths, Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe and Patricia Wettig, among others, delivering such sterling performances in what was arguably one of the most engagingly pertinent family dramas of our time, it was difficult for fans to let go.

This show should have come with a defibrillator… as the intense plots of Grey’s Anatomy certainly left aficionados strug-gling to breathe. One of the most-talked about episodes was centred on a heavily pregnant Callie after her car accident. The Glee-twist struck a chord with viewers. Although the drama, at times, bore the stamp of a soap, it was a captivating seventh season. By the way, season eight airs on M-Net on January 16. And, just so you know, Patrick Dempsey isn’t leaving the show – he was apparently misquoted.

Fighting the good fight… is veteran actress Kathy Bates as criminal defence lawyer Harriet “Harry” Korn in Harry’s Law. After being fired from her top-level post, Harry, operating from a rundown shoe store, offers legal help to a needy community in Cincinnati. Bates’ trademark chutzpah bolsters the appeal of this show. The script is razor-sharp, with character quirks thrown in for good measure.

While on the subject, the fourth instalment of Damages, with Glenn Close as Patty Hewes, was lapped up by TV buffs because of the underlying elements of danger and deception, combined with the high-stakes as Patty goes all out to take down some of the most influential figures in the US.

Making history… were The Borgias and Game of Thrones. The former, spearheaded by Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander V1, was lapped up by viewers. The story documents his rise to power, with the help of his family, and is imbued with sex, bribery, backstabbing and an ambition that borders on destructive.

Meanwhile, the first season of Game of Thrones boosted audience ratings. This medieval fantasy drama was addictive. Featuring a captivating cast, the story, set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, follows the power struggle for the throne. The pervading debauchery intertwined with incestuous affairs and homosexuality proved too titillating to miss. Now we anxiously await the follow-up series.

Down and out… and utterly Shameless about it! That’s William H Macy in his new role as Frank Gallagher, who is in a constant drunken stupor and leaves his six children to care for themselves… and him.

While this show debuts on the small screen on Tuesday, it has already received rave reviews. A dramedy that is most intoxicating.

ACTION/SCI-FI

To serve and protect… that’s the foundation of the Reagan family of police officers in Blue Bloods (pictured). While crime dramas abound, this show ingratiated itself with viewers by merging the perso-nal and professional worlds of one family.

There is no denying that Tom Selleck was a big drawcard, but that isn’t discounting the nimbly written script and the sterling efforts of the supporting cast.

The mystery deepens… in the Canadian TV series, Haven. Loosely based on Stephen King’s book The Colorado King, this story looks at the strange supernatural events that transpire in Haven.

The investigation is lead by Nathan, the new chief of police, and Audrey, a former FBI agent. Simply put, Haven is as captivating and hair-raising as Supernatural and Fringe.

Corruption runs supreme… in Boardwalk Empire. Quality programming abounds in this series (with Steve Buscemi cast as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the crooked treasurer of Atlantic County), which is co-executive produced by Martin Scorsese. It is a stylish saga that explores the fraudulent underbelly of the city during the Prohibition era. This critically acclaimed series has been renewed for a third season.

Remakes are on the rise… and sure-fire hits. The two that come to mind are: Hawaii Five-O and Nikita. In the former show, with Alex O’Loughlin cast in the lead role as Steve McGarrett, a former Navy Seal and the Lieutenant Commander of the Five-O task force, he left viewers weak-kneed. And he is a damn brilliant actor too. As for Maggie Q, our renegade agent in Nikita, she is sexy and lethal – a powerful combination. Unlike V, which should have never been resurrected, these remakes have won over fans of the originals as well as a new generation.

You want to sink your teeth… into Vampire Diaries. The Salvatore brothers, Damon and Stefan, may have chalk-and-cheese personalities, but they are a united front… and they happen to be in love with the same woman – Elena. And they are seriously hot! The plot unfailingly leaves viewers on tenterhooks, waiting to see what curve ball the writers will be throwing their way next. The series continues to gain momentum and has left die-hard fans thirsty for the next instalment.

COMEDY

Just your average dysfunctional American family… meander down a rib-tickling path in the Emmy Award-winning show Modern Family. Centred on three interrelated families, the scriptwriters also tackle several ethnic and homosexual stereotypes. The comical situations that arise from the brilliantly written script make this an all-around winner.

In being boys… The Inbetweeners took viewers down memory lane. This BBC comedy was centred on a group of high school friends as they tried to figure out girls, deal with their raging hormones and, at the same time, also focus on getting good grades. The themes were universal and inevitably left viewers in tears with the side-splitting humour as the friends tried to “fit in”.

It’s dark… but you will like it. I am, of course, referring to The Big C with Laura Linney as Catherine “Cathy” Jamison. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, the teacher and mother of a teenager boy refuses to allow it to get the better of her and tackles life with renewed vigour.

Her family aren’t the only ones who notice a change in her… although they find it a bit strange. In taking a rather gloomy subject and mixing it with humour, and a smidgen of irreverence to go with Cathy’s willfulness, they ensured the prognosis was favourable.

So much so it made it to season three.

On the prowl… Courteney Cox had no trouble finding her prey with Cougar Town as the bait. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of this show, but it is critic-proof. Forget How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Cox offers a more laughable side to rusty dating. Recently divorced, she finds it’s a far cry from what she imagined, despite the help of her “girlfriends”.

A men-acing Sheen… caused one of the biggest TV controver-sies this year when his slandering of producer and co-creator Chuck Lorre saw him lose his job. In calling Lorre a “clown and a stupid, stupid little man”, he was subsequently replaced on Two and a Half Men by Ashton Kutcher. Hullabaloo aside, it is still one phenomenal show.

VARIETY SHOWS

The I Am A Relationship Expert, Yet Multiple Divorcee Award goes to all the celebrities who are invited to The Marriage Ref panel. I used to think there was something about this show until Eva Longoria popped up to give her advice to a troubled couple. We may love to love our celebrities, but not to follow whatever they say.

The We Don’t Have Any Holy Cows Here, Everyone Is Fair Game Award goes to Headlines. So Khuli Roberts is notorious for being crude in her interviews, but every time local celebrities see her at events they hope she’ll come their way and she feeds off that. Having Trevor Gumbi take some shots at the subject in question keeps the show fresh. Well done.

The We Are Unique Shows Offering Never-Before-Seen Concepts Award is a draw between Masters of Rhythm, Step Up or Step Out, Jam Alley: Crew vs Crew and Turn it Out. Seriously, why do these shows even exist? SA might have a great dance culture, but these shows fail to capture that, or remain different from each other.

The You Can Have 90 Days Of My Life In Exchange For Booze, Food And A Little Fame Award goes to all the Big Brother entrants. The question is: where are they now? Only one person won the prize money, but even he fell into oblivion as if the whole thing never happened. As for the rest, all they do now is RSVP to events and sip on free booze.

The You Don’t Have To Be Pretty To Impress Us With Your Talent Award goes to The Voice. Forget that the name of the show sounds like that of a newspaper, it is a great concept. Unlike other talent shows where the “total package” is translated to mean “No Ugly Contestants”, The Voice takes away the vanity aspect and replaces it with objectivity. Two thumbs up.

LOCAL

The We’ve Got Jokes For Days Award goes to LOL (pictured). The previous season of this show was a strange one. When M-Net is stran-ded and needs to air something, it is cringe-worthy to see the so-called jokes that were told back then.

So it is a huge relief that Rapulana Seiphemo’s team have greatly improved the quality of the show, making it more relevant to viewers today.

The We’ve Been Telling The Same Story For Yonks, But Still Got You Glued Award goes to Soul City. Some great shows have come and gone, but few, if any, have thrived as long as Soul City has. We are talking 11 incredible seasons and still the story goes on. Well done to all involved and here’s to 11 more.

The Knock Knock Who’s There? Award goes to Opening Guys, a show that brought young, unknown comedians into the limelight, making them household names overnight. Now people such as Tall Ass Mo, Mo Jack and Mpho have a fan base to talk about. The newbies can be seen doing their own solos and also appear in TV ads.

The Don’t Talk To Me, Talk To My Lawyer Award goes to Sokhulu and Partners. These guys make getting in trouble with the law look so cool. With the team doing thorough research on their stories, some of which are based on true events, the content never gets boring.

You have to wonder why the rest of the so-called local crime dramas do not make for viewing as good as this.

The Reality Check Is Long Overdue Award goes to Intersexions. The deep Akin Omotso narration that goes with this programme is the first thing that sends chills down your spine.

The show sets itself apart from others of its ilk because it has a unique way of approaching the much-dreaded subject of HIV/Aids. You will be shaken up for days after watching it.

REALITY

The I Made My Millions Through Selling Fish And Now I Have My Own Reality TV Show Award goes to flamboyant businessman Kenny Kunene’s So What? Honestly, so you blow a couple of hundreds of thou-sands every weekend and some commissioning editor thinks that’s something worth making into a television show? Kunene is the apt definition of New Money and it’s only a matter of time until he starts hanging out with Mandla Thembu in Brokesville.

The Ugly Girls Need Some Loving, Too, Award goes to Diamond in the Ruff. Okay, “ugly” is a harsh word, let’s try “rejects” from other beauty contests. Kudos to the producers of this show because now the girl who is a little short, or little on the plus side, also gets noticed. Some of us never liked those thin gals anyway.

The I Made It And You Can All Follow Me And See How I Live Award goes to Top Shayela (pictured). First, our artists/ celebrities are poor. Let’s just get that out of the way. So for Top Shayela to try and pull an MTV Cribs on us is actually laughable. And, say, for interest’s sake you do have that money, why would you want to show it off? Does that bring investors, or only attract thieves? The funny thing is, once the money is gone the same people do not want the media to touch them.

The We Are Tired Of Being Backing Acts At Gigs Award goes to Running With the Reps. Who, you might ask? Okay, Vuzu had aired a programme about a bunch of dancers who used to back Jozi and various other hip hop artists. The young dancers then cooked up the idea of a reality show where we see their behind-the-scenes lives. Sigh, and sigh again.

The Sister, Sister Act Award goes to Hlelo and Ntando Masina’s Blame It On Fame, which was not a bad idea and not badly executed either. Like it or not, the girls are famous enough to carry off the show’s title. Let’s just hope e.tv does not pull a fast one on the twins and replace them next season.

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DStv highlights - December 15, 2011

2011-12-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

December 15 2011 at 08:35am

Independent Newspapers
Business tycoon Kenny Kunene
l Redi on Mzansi, Mzansi Magic, 19.30

Dr Shingai Mutambirwa talks to Redi about men’s sexual health. On the doctor’s couch are sushi king Kenny Kunene, DJ Fresh and actor Sello Maake ka Ncube.

l I Faked My Own Death, Discovery ID, 20.00

Brings viewers first-person accounts from individuals who staged their own deaths. Family and friends, thinking they’d never see their loved ones again, received the shock of their lives when their dearly departed were found alive, months, years and even decades after disappearing. Building secret new lives for themselves, they were desperate not to get caught, but would eventually be forced to admit: “I faked my own death”.

l THS Casey Anthony, E! Entertainment, 22.00

For three years, millions stayed focused on this shocking story – how two-and-a-half-year-old Caylee Anthony went missing for almost a month before it was reported, how her remains were found six months later just blocks from her home, how her mother Casey lied to authorities and seemed to revel in the attention as the prime suspect, the sordid facts revealed during the trial and the verdict so few seem able to accept. Found not guilty of the murder of her daughter, Casey became the most hated woman in the US. But we still don’t know much about who Casey really is.

l My Naked Secret, Discovery TLC, 22.50

Follows individuals hiding an embarrassing secret about their body. With the aid of a therapist, they reveal their painful issue to loved ones, but can they come to terms with their body anxieties? We meet Wendy, who is disgusted by her over-hanging stomach and sagging breasts; Colette, who has a vascular malformation birthmark on her face; Sharon, who has extreme facial hair and Kelly, who has enormous breasts.

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CRG shares rocket by 200%

2011-12-12T23:30:00.000-08:00

Much beleaguered and controversial miner, Central Rand Gold (CRG), said it had come to an agreement with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to set aside a decision to cancel the company’s mining right.

12 December 2011 | CHRISTY FILEN

Much beleaguered and controversial miner, Central Rand Gold (CRG), said it had come to an agreement with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to set aside a decision to cancel the company’s mining right.

The company’s share price rocketed upwards of 200% yesterday on the news.

DMR spokesman, Zingaphi Jakuja, said there was “no formal settlement” and that “DMR lawyers and CRG lawyers are speaking and we cannot at this stage reveal further details”.

The final decision ratifying the agreement reached between the DMR and CRG is to be made on December 22 in the High Court by way of an unopposed consent order, CRG said.

CRG said it would continue to discuss its social and labour development plans with the DMR in order to agree on a plan that is more appropriate for CRG’s revised mining plans.

Patrick Malaza, CFO of CRG, said its revised mine plan makes provision for a much smaller scale mine and expects production to increase from 1 500oz per month to approximately 6 000 to 7 000oz per month by 2013.

The operations are currently producing around 1 000oz per month Malaza said.

The original mining right application assumed more than 50 000oz per month.

The DMR cancelled CRG’s mining right in September citing non-compliance with its social and labour plan (SLP), mining work programme and environmental management programme.

This was subsequently suspended in October pending the finalisation of review proceedings allowing it to resume mining operations.

CRG committed to expenditure of R32,9 million in the first two years of its SLP but only spent R18,8 million citing lower staff numbers and unavailability of suitable land.

The reduction it said was due to a change in mining plan concomitant with acid mine water drainage issues.

Malaza said: “Our reason for not fully complying with our SLP programme was because we were forced into a corner due to unrealised mine production. Our original plan foresaw production of 4,2moz over five to six years but this has not been the case as most of our resources are under water.”

Godfrey Makunene, a director of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE), said the potential setting aside of the cancellation of Central Rand Gold’s (CRG) mining right would be a bad decision.

He said “the interest of management is to misuse investors’ money for their own benefit” and that “people have lost confidence from a community point of view”.

“The company has failed to honour their commitments and they come up with all sorts of plans that are unproductive,” Makunene said.

CRG’s dotted history includes reports of excessive expenditure, bearish production forecasts and associations with renowned sushi convicted fraudster Kenny Kunene.

An ongoing dispute with its BEE shareholder (Puno Gold Investments) and local community dissent are also part of the controversy surrounding the company.

The miner said last month that there was still no resolution to its dispute with Puno Gold and that it had filed court papers.

The dispute relates to funding provisions in terms of a shareholder agreement.

The filing seeks to discharge an interdict that prohibits CRG from calling on an option to acquire Puno’s entire shareholding. Alternatively, CRG requested permission to proceed with arbitration.

If the application is unopposed, the hearing is expected to commence today.

“We are waiting for confirmation but think they (Puno) have responded, in which case it won’t take place now but only in January or February next year,” Malaza said.

– christyf@moneyweb.co.za

High and lows of a fab party year

2011-12-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

December 12 2011 at 11:30am

By Therese Owen

Zoopy

We blinked and 2011 was all but over. This year was a non-stop party from beginning to end with stunning events in many corners of our beautiful country. Here are my highs and lows for the year.

The Michael Jackson Award

Mshoza. Like, what the hell are you thinking, chicky? Apartheid’s over and it is now cool to be black.

Worst Event of 2011

The MTN SA Music Awards (Samas), which were moved from Sun City to a tent in Montecasino. Many of the bigwigs and nominated artists were denied access to the tent and media partner SABC1 was forced to entertain clients in a restaurant and watch the Samas on TV as opposed to the live experience. The stage was too wide, so we had to crane our necks, and the after-parties at the different venues were downright dull – except for the Kalawa party, which was great fun.

Event of the Year

Pabi Maloi won the overall SA Style Awards.

The Metro FM Awards in Mbombela (Nelspruit). Although the show was a tad long, it was tight and imaginative. The awards were given to the right artists and Spikiri winning a Lifetime Achievement Award was the cherry on top. Plus, Mbombela’s surrounds are very beautiful.

Best Venue of 2011

The MTV Base tent at the Durban July rocked. It was a black and white dome that included a chill garden, cool bars, endless food and great entertainment by SA musicians. The stage was moveable and folded out into a dance floor when the DJs played. All the coolest people in the music industry were on the guest list, including AKA, who is my favourite musician to hang with at parties.

Most Imaginative Launch

Winchester Mansions in Sea Point relaunched its four-star hotel status and revamp with exclusive tours of the hotel. The tour included industrial theatre and installations which added to the fun.

Irritant of the Year

Kenny Kunene wins the most irritating person of 2011 award hands down. His queen number at the Feather Awards was unbearable. He was surrounded by cameras and lights, and had a little drag queen running around like his own praise singer. Then there was the silly pink traditional Indian outfit.

Babe of the Year

Cindy Nell became a mother for the first time recently. But she has bounced back with an even better figure than before. She is glowing with happiness.

Coolest Moment At An Event

This is a tie between Pabi Moloi winning the overall SA Style Awards and Spikiri winning the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Metros. Pabi was genuinely surprised and Spikiri was so sweet in his little kwaito way. They are deserved winners.

Most Fun Person To Hang Out With At An Event

Shugasmakx is funny, caring, affectionate and genuinely has a good time at an event.

Best Dressed Celebrity

Anyone dressed by Gert-Johan Coetzee. He is thriving creatively with designs that understand and enhance the beauty of his clients, from Bonang to Cindy Nell.

Worst Dressed Celebrity

Channel O’s Dineo presented the station’s annual awards. But at some stage she thought it was a great idea to wear a pink shiny slacks suit that gathered around her crotch area in a most disturbing way. Oddly enough, it was designed by Gert-Johan.

Most Overexposed Celebrity

A three-way tie between Bonang and the YFM Twinz. Bonang has her own clothing range, a television show, a radio show, a huge Twitter following, is a constant tweeter, has her own internet reality show and is seen at all the right parties with all the right people on all the right social pages. The YFM Twinz are also the darlings of the magazines, have their own reality show about nothing à la The Kardashians, their own radio show, their own...

Booze sales trickling along this festive season

2011-12-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

December 10 2011 at 02:19pm

By Sihle Mlambo

Alcohol retailers in Durban are experiencing mixed fortunes this festive season as the consumption of expensive liquor dwindles in some areas.

“Our high-end expensive items are not selling as well as they did last year, and our expensive whiskeys, Champagnes and wines are moving slowly, but, if you look at the rand value, we are doing far better than we were doing last year,” said Mervyn Govender, Liberty Liquors on Argyle manager.

“People are buying less expensive alcohol, but they are certainly spending on alcohol.

“Gift packs are flying off the shelves, but I think people just buy it for themselves.”

Liberty Liquors has also extended its working hours. It will now be open at 8.30am and close at 6pm for the remainder of the holidays.

The most popular items, according to Govender, are Bell’s whisky, JC Le Roux sparkling wine, Smirnoff vodka, Skyy vodka, Hunters Dry, Savanna and Castle Lite beer.

Meanwhile, at Ultra Liquors in the Tollgate area, whisky seems to be back on the agenda of alcohol consumers this December and stockists say it has been flying off the shelves since the beginning of the summer months.

“We have entered into the silly season now. People want to spoil themselves, and premium and gift-packaged drinks are extremely popular,” said an employee.

He expects people to flood into the liquor store from December 15.

“Right now our fastest seller is Chivas Regal whisky. It comes in a gift set with two free glasses in the package,” he says.

Other whisky selling well is the Johnnie Walker range, with the reasonably priced Red and Black labels selling for R134.99 and R229.99 respectively, and the Blue Label selling steadily at R1 399.

Champagne consumption, which had soared since Kenny Kunene’s Champagne-bathing exploits on national TV, is selling surprisingly slowly,.

“Champagne is not really selling fast, but when they do buy, it is usually Moët & Chandon or Veuve Cliquot, which sell at R399,” he said.

And at Makro in Rossburgh, good old Smirnoff 1818 is still a winner.

Other vodkas selling well there are Skyy vodka (at R149) and Gray Goose (at R259), but their biggest seller is still Smirnoff, which people buy all year round, said a salesman.

He said people were already buying alcohol in quantity, but could not say which was selling more, premium or low-end alcohol. - Independent on Saturday

The very best (and worst) of a year of jolling

2011-12-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

INLSA

Kenny Kunene

We blinked and 2011 was over. Well, actually I blinked and the noughties were over. Anyway, the year was a non- stop party from beginning to end with stunning events in each corner of our beautiful country. Here are my highs and lows for the year.

The Michael Jackson Award

Mshoza. Like, what the hell are you thinking, chicky? Apartheid’s over and it is now cool to be black.

Worst Event of 2011

The MTN Samas. They moved it from Sun City to a tent in Montecasino.

Many of the bigwigs and nominated artists were denied access to the tent and media partner SABC1 was forced to entertain clients in a restaurant and watch it on television, as opposed to the live experience.

The stage was too wide, so we were craning our necks and the after parties at the different venues were just dull. All, except for the Kalawa party, which was great fun.

Event of the Year

The Metro FM Awards held in Nelspruit.

Although the show was a tad long, it was tight and delivered with imagination. The awards were given to the right artists and the fact that they gave Spikiri a lifetime achievement award was the cherry on the top.

Plus Nelspruit’s surrounding areas are so very beautiful.

Best Venue of 2011

The MTV Base tent at the Vodacom Durban July was rocking. It was a black and white dome which included a chill garden, cool bars and endless food and great entertainment by SA musicians. The stage was moveable and folded out into a dancefloor when the DJs played. Plus, it had all the cool people in the music industry on the invitation list.

This included AKA, who is my current favourite musician to hang with at parties.

Most Imaginative Launch

Winchester Mansions in Cape Town’s Sea Point relaunched the venue’s four-star hotel status and revamp with exclusive tours of the hotel. The tour included industrial theatre and installations, which added to the fun.

Irritant of the Year

Without a doubt, Kenny Kunene was the most irritating person of 2011. While I managed to avoid him at most events, his queen number at the Feather Awards was unbearable. He was surrounded by cameras and lights, and had a little drag queen running around like his very own praise singer. Then there was the silly pink traditional Indian outfit. Perhaps it’s time to leap out of the closet, sweetie darling.

Babe of the Year

Cindy Nel became a first-time mother recently. But she has bounced back with an even better figure than before. She is glowing with happiness.

Coolest Moment At An Event

This is a tie between Pabi Moloi winning the overall SA Style Awards and Spikiri winning the lifetime achievement award at the Metros. Pabi was genuinely surprised and Spikiri was just so sweet in his little kwaito way. They are both deserved winners.

Most Fun Person To Hang Out With At An Event

Shugasmakx is funny, caring, affectionate and genuinely has a good time at an event. When I see him entering an event and lurching towards me with his googly eyes behind those glasses and his friendly smile, my heart skips a beat. I know we’re gonna have a great time.

Most Overexposed Celebrity

A three-way win between Bonang and the YFM Twinz. Bonang has her own clothing range, a television show, a radio show, a huge Twitter following, is a constant tweeter, has her own internet reality show and is regularly seen at all the right parties with all the right people in all the right social pages. It must be so exhausting being her right now. The YFM Twinz are also the darlings of the magazines, have their own television reality show about nothing – à la the Kardashians – their own radio show, their own... Thank goodness I am going to Durban for the holidays where their reach isn’t as strong.

Best-Dressed Celebrity

Anyone dressed by designer Gert Johan. He is thriving creatively at the moment with designs which understand and enhance the beauty of his clients, from Bonang to Cindy Nel.

Worst-Dressed Celebrity

Channel O’s Dineo presented that television station’s annual awards.

But at some stage she thought it would be a great idea to wear a pink, shiny slack suit that gathered around her crotch area in a most disturbing way.

Oddly enough, it was designed by Gert Johan. - Saturday Star