Questions flying all over
Harare- A picture of Tendai Biti, CCC vice president, seated together with former military ruler of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo and short lived South African President Kgalema Motlanthe is doing the rounds on social media.
That the three are pictured seated together is half the story.
To the woke, put in the name and owners of the hotel they were pictured in, a fuller story will emerge.
The three were guests at the exclusive R61 000 per night Tswalu Kalahari Reserve which is owned by the Oppenheimer family.
Introductory words on the front page of its website reads: “Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is located in the Northern Cape, and is the largest privately owned reserve in South Africa. This 100 000 hectare reserve in the South African Kalahari can be accessed by road and air transfers.
“Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is an untouched wilderness where an abundant wildlife can be spotted in all their glory. The Kalahari savannas, combined with the dusty sand dunes set Tswalu Game Kalahari Reserve apart from the other reserves in South Africa.”
What these three gentlemen were doing “in an untouched wilderness,” can only be left to the imagination, but it is not that difficult to come to logical conclusions.
Twitter user by the handle, @tshepo_kgadima wondered; “Will #Mkhuluwa Kgalema Motlanthe have the courage and honesty before the #ANC55 to come clean on what is the exact nature of his relationship with Nicky Oppenheimer?? What was the meeting at #Oppenheimer’s exclusive R61 000 per night #TswaluKalahariReserce about?”
Another user, @DZumaSambudla seemed to have the answer and tweeted; “That land where Tswalu Kalahari is belongs to a certain community which was forcefully removed during apartheid, some of the families were working in the same game reserve for Oppenheimer. I worked there & that’s were some of the deals with politicians are made.”
It is common knowledge that the Oppenheimer family, through the Brenthurst Foundation runs a number of puppet political leaders in the Southern Africa region in their quest to entrench white monopoly capital.
Armed with such knowledge, @tshepo_kgadima suggests the following; “The timing is right and opportune for publishing on a #WallOfShame a full list of all the #African sell-out leaders who have been hosted by #Oppenheimer at his #TswaluKalahariReserve to sell #Afrika for a proverbial bowl of lentil soup!!!”
Going by @tshepo_kgadima’s suggestion, we produce supporting evidence of why that list is necessary.
Tendai Biti
Also known by his moniker, the archbishop of anger because even when it’s a happy occasion he is always in a bad mood, Biti is no stranger to doing the bidding of white capital.
While campaigning for this year’s by-elections Biti challenged the police to arrest him, bragging that he has very powerful friends backing him that would make life difficult for Zimbabwe if he was arrested.
“I am angry now, arrest me again and see what I will do. I have powerful friends. I have offices I go into where they call me Mr Bhiti, Mr Bhiti (an adulterated way white people pronounce the surname Biti). Arrest me again, I dare you, I dare you to do it.”
In December 2017, Biti was again part of a crew comprising Nelson Chamisa and the late Dewa Mavhinga that travelled to Washington to speak in front of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee where they urged the then Trump administration to maintain its sanctions regime on the country.
He followed this up by a pledge to ensure that western funding does not find its way to Zimbabwe after his party lost the 2018 Presidential elections.
“The international community is not going to be fooled by this madness. We will make sure they don’t get a cent.”
How?
“I can’t tell you how but I can tell you we have done it before,” said Biti then.
From the above, one can safely conclude that whatever business Biti was up to at the Oppenheimer’s Reserve it can only be of no good to Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans.
Olusegun Obasanjo
Obasanjo, who reigned over Nigeria both as a soldier and civilian, is also heavily involved with the Oppenheimer family.
While he is entitled to dealing with them as a private citizen, it is his attempted use of his elderly African statesman title to play political godfather that has caught the ire of many across the region.
Mostly because most analysts contend that he lacks the moral standing to play such a role given that he did not cover himself in glory when he ruled the West African country.
In fact, according to 2018 data published by Transparency International the perception of corruption in Nigeria was worse under former President Olusegun Obasanjo than under any of his successors.
Countries are scored from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
After almost two decades of military rule, Nigeria became a democratic nation in 1999 with Obasanjo sworn in as the democratically elected president.
But, in the eight years that Obasanjo was President, Nigeria’s corruption perception index (CPI) averaged 16 per cent, while under his immediate successor, Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigeria averaged a CPI of 25 per cent in three (2007 to 2010).
Under Yar’Adua’s successor, Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria averaged a CPI of 25.8 per cent for the five years he was in office (2010 to 2015), while current President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, so far, has the highest average score with 26.6 per cent in five years (2015 to 2020).
Need we say more?
Kgalema Motlanthe
Catapulted to the Presidency in September 2008 following the recall of incumbent Thambo Mbeki by the ANC, Motlanthe served until May 2009.
Apart from being linked to a few scandals, including the Land Bank loan scandal in which he was allegedly set to profit from an R800 million loan advanced to a company that he held interests in but was cleared of after an investigation, Motlanthe has always kept a low public and political profile.
He is seen as holding broad respect in the ANC, and is frequently characterised as one of its preeminent “left-leaning intellectuals.”
Known by his moniker, Mkhuluwa (The Elder), Motlanthe is also known for his restrained and measured demeanour, which many in the ANC consider an asset.
It is therefore a wonder why he is keeping such company?
Perhaps it is apt to remind him of what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians; “Bad Company corrupts good character.”
