Here’s to Jacob Zuma’s legal bills and the mining charter

SINCE it’s the weekend and pay day for some, let me start with what some will be doing – drinking the weekend away.

But in the coming months, beer guzzlers in Tanzania will probably take that a notch further by saying they drink beer only on days ending in y.

This is because President John Magufuli’s administra- tion has announced that global brewer AB InBev will invest $100 million (R1.2 billion) in a new beer plant in the capital city of Dodoma.

About 11% of alcohol consumption is said to be of beer in the east African country. AB InBev, which has more than 500 brands including Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Castle, Castle Lite, Hoegaarden and Leffe, merged with with SABMiller in a multimillion-dollar deal in 2016.

This week started on a good note as far as newsworthy events were concerned.

Retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke stopped short of calling for the arrest of the Gauteng health department senior officials who presided over the Life Esidimeni tragedy that killed 144 psychiatric patients.

He ordered that each family receive R1m for constitutional damages, R180 000 for trauma and shock and R20 000 for funeral expenses – all to be paid within three months.

The patients died after being moved from Life Esidimeni facilities to various unregistered NGOs.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has been described as a media darling in some quarters, announced that the deal struck between the state and former president Jacob Zuma regarding the payment of his legal fees was legal.

He said the state attorney had decided it was appropriate for the state to pay Zuma’s legal fees after he made the request and legal options had been explored.

This meant the state would continue to pay Zuma’s fees until he is found by a court to have acted in his personal capacity.

Thepresident said the agreement was subject to the fact that Zuma agreed to pay back all the monies spent on his legal fees if he was found to have acted in his personal capacity and own interest when he allegedly committed the crimes he is accused of, pertaining to fraud and corruption.

However, Zuma’s nephew Simphiwe Zuma insisted that the state should pay Zuma’s legal bills, whether or not he wins as the allegations against him were brought while carrying out official duties.

State-owned freight rail and logistics company Transnet signed a R10.4bn contract with resources group South32, in a deal that will see Transnet transporting 2.6 million tons of export manganese per annum over seven-and a-half years.

On the mining front, one of the backbones of the South African economy, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said that the contoversial mining charter would be finalised by the first half of the year.

He said of the two task teams set up to deal with the matter, one would focus on transformation and the mining charter and the other on growth and competitiveness.

@luyolomkentane