It Was late afternoon on the 27th of November 2014 and Tony Weaver paused and looked back at the Cape Times newsroom which he was leaving after having served as one of its most respected reporters and columnists for close on a quarter of century.
The new editor, Gasant Abarder and his deputy, Aneez Salie, who had worked assiduously to drive out Weaver and other long-serving white staff members, had not organised the farewell party which was customary on such occasions and had not acknowledged his departure.
He heard the ping of an incoming email on his computer and hesitated for a moment, then he turned back. Perhaps it was a message from a wellwisher.
He was already late for his farewell party at the hotel on nearby Greenmarket Square. ANC acolytes Karima Brown and Vukani Mde, who had been appointed by the company’s new owner, Iqbal Survé, and had written an article “Takeover is focused on transformation” in which white staff members were overtly and presciently threatened, were not expected to attend.
Age and infirmity prevented me from attending, but I was later told that Weaver arrived at the party pale and shaking with rage.
He quickly realised that the email – which was sent to him in error – had been addressed by Gasant Abarder to the now-retired deputy executive chairman, Tony Howard.
Denne historien er fra May 2019-utgaven av Noseweek.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 2019-utgaven av Noseweek.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Lennie The Liquidator Faces R500,000 Defamation Suit
After losing his cool when his fees were questioned
Panel Beater De Luxe
Danmar Autobody and its erstwhile directors get a serious panel beating in court papers. Corruption and theft are said to have destroyed the firm chaired by Nelson Mandela’s eldest daughter, leaving 200 workers destitute and threatening to kill.
Meet Covid Diarist Ronald Wohlman
Ronald Wohlman – EX SOUTH African copywriter, author, and actor – never dreamt that his lockdown diaries, written on Facebook and followed by people all over the world – would become his “life’s work”.
A Picture Of Peace?
Beware: Appearances can be deceptive
Flogging A (Battery-Driven) Dead Horse
Why plug-in vehicles are not all they’re cracked up to be– and, likely, never will be
Everybody Drinks Corona
I am hesitant to go Into the pub today. Not because it’s illegal, but there is a crème colored 1985 Mercedes 300D parked behind the pine tree. This means the devil is inside; that’s what we call Dr. De Villiers. You don’t know whether you will encounter the good doctor with the charming bedside manner or the violent, bipolar bully. The problem is, most of the time, you can never be sure which it is, so it’s best to always keep a social distance.
Never Take A Hypochondriac To A Pandemic
From Ronald Wohlman’s New York Corona Diary
The money train
Transnet in court battle with liquidators of Gupta-linked audit firm over R57m in ‘corrupt’ payments and invoices
‘He's no pharmaceutical genius, he's a vulture'
Pharma con seeks prison release to ‘help find Covid cure’
Bush school – A memoir
OUR SCHOOL WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the bush, ten miles from the nearest town in the harsh beauty of the Zimbabwean highveld. It started life in World War II as No 26 EFTS Guinea Fowl, a Royal Air Force elementary flying training school and I arrived there in 1954, just seven years after it became an all-white co-ed state boarding school.
