When the going gets weird

ELVIS Ramosebudi appeared in the Johan- nesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of plotting to murder prominent South Afri- cans who he allegedly believed had benefited from state capture. There were 19 people on his list, apparently, ran- ging from cabinet ministers to senior managers of state-owned enterprises. He was arrested after going about to find sponsors for his awkwardly named Anti State Capture Death Squad Alliance. The timing, the naming and the planning (or lack thereof) are so deeply flawed, so obviously contrived and, quite frankly, so absolutely bizarre, that cynics are wondering – now that the expensive and discredited Bell Pottinger PR firm has dropped its Gupta family contract and fled – if this isn’t a cheaper, far more basic bid to deflect attention from our increasingly beleaguered president, Jacob Zuma, and the Saxonwold family which drags like a millstone around his neck. Even magistrate Vincent Ratshibvumo was suf- ficiently taken aback by what was being placed be- fore him that he was moved to ask Ramosebudi if he had even been treated for mental illness. Obviously, in this day and age no threat of terror can be taken lightly anywhere in the world. South Africa, like other countries, has a record of lone wolves of dubious mental stability and even intelli- gence wreaking havoc: Dimitri Tsafendas, Barend Strydom and Johann Nel come to mind. On the other hand, our country has rather too much experience of conspiracy- mongering and spies juggling with smoke and mirrors ahead of politically sensitive conferences. One thing we can be sure of is the courts will as- sess this seemingly bizarre case on its merits. We look forward to hearing the truth about the alleged hit list as well as the equally oddly named Anti White Monopoly Capitalists Regime initiative.