S. Africa's Ramaphosa Says He Asked DA for New Deputy Minister
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he asked the leader of the second-biggest party in the country's coalition to pick a replacement for one of its officials that he fired from his executive as a deputy minister.
The Democratic Alliance is 'entitled to a deputy minister as agreed,' Ramaphosa said in an emailed statement Friday outlining his decision to remove the DA's Andrew Whitfield as deputy trade, industry and competition minister.
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News24
20 minutes ago
- News24
Fly away, Dick Foxton; your work is done
When someone passes away, there is a line that gets trotted out during tributes that it has largely lost meaning: 'He/she touched a lot of lives.' Then there are those times when it actually means exactly that. And more. This was the case with Richard Foxton, more commonly known as Dick or by the fun nickname Foxy. Foxton passed away at the weekend at the age of 82 after a life lived to the full. A veteran media man, he managed Newsweek's operations for nearly a decade during the early days of African independence. He shuttled between his beloved Nairobi and Johannesburg, the city he would later learn to love more than any other. Although born in India, he spent his formative youth years in Kenya, a period about which he had warm memories. Moving to South Africa in 1971, he joined the famed Group Editors, a public relations firm made up of some of Johannesburg's newsroom veterans. It grew to be one of the country's most influential communications companies, boasting blue chip clients who wanted the brains and experience housed under that roof. Ever the consummate networker, he was ready to branch off on his own by 1981 and launched Foxton Communicating. This lowly newspaperman often reminded him that the reason the business became so successful was that it was started in the year the great Tottenham Hotspur won the 100th edition of the FA Cup in a classic victory over Manchester City. It was in this role as the founder and head of Foxton Communicating that Foxton's larger-than-life persona became legendary. The business model was innovative. He represented chairmen (yes, that's what they were called), CEOs and most of the deputy CEOs as well. The uniqueness of the model was that he would connect the company leadership directly to editors so that they could get a picture of the state of play first-hand. Over long, liquid lunches, editors would also share their perspectives on how they saw the respective companies. At results time or when a crisis hit, a direct line had been established. Moreover, the editors had a better understanding of the headwinds and undercurrents affecting the business climate. But there was an added benefit for the CEOs: they were interacting with individuals who had the pulse of the nation and could get insights that would be useful in their strategic planning and in future interactions with government policymakers and decision-makers. Everybody was the winner: the editors and industry leaders got inside each other's heads and the facilitator obviously got his cheques. But, for Foxton, it was not just about a payday. He genuinely enjoyed connecting people and relished the conversations he was privy to, and he appreciated it even more when they were no longer dependent on him. His connections extended to the political sphere, stretching to the highest offices in the land, where he proffered his services and advice on a pro bono basis. His generous pro bono work also extended to causes he believed in, touching the lives of many. But it wasn't just his work that made Foxton the person who filled up the room with his personality; it was the gregarious, humorous raconteur in him that made him irresistible company. In a tribute to him in Business Day this week, the newspaper's former editor Peter Bruce fondly recalled that 'he was a fabulous name-dropper and he had really been around'. And around he certainly had been. If you have lived the life that he lived, you can be given a free pass on that so nobody begrudged the stories, which were often on repeat and delivered with such panache. Many were serious stories, some were cautionary tales and several were hilarious takes. The 'name-dropping' consisted of encounters with heads of state, ministers, sporting legends, religious leaders and corporate titans. Not many of us can regale others with stories from dinners, lunches or just audiences with figures as diverse as Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Mother Teresa, FW de Klerk, George Matanzima, Harry Oppenheimer, Donald Bradman, Middle East royalty and global music stars. There would be jokes galore, also often told on repeat. But each time they were told, it would be just as funny as the first time. The liquids would flow forever, with Foxton encouraging willing and reluctant participants to have another, another and yet another. He colourfully encouraged his lunch partners to 'drink like monks at the end of Lent' or to 'drink like there's an army of bloodthirsty terrorists marching up the road'. Foxton would always talk about his children and grandchildren, and made a point of keeping up to date about yours. Close friend Khulu Mbatha wrote in City Press this week how he had always had stories about Lelo 3, Lelo 4 and Lelo 5. This was in reference to a little grandchild who updated her name according to her age. As anyone who interacted with Foxton would attest, no conversation would be complete without an ode to Thuli Madonsela, his life partner and absolute love of his life. To the rest of the world, she was the courageous former public protector and social justice activist, but, to Foxton, she was the summer rain that made his life verdant. Foxton never held high office in the public or private sector, but the life he lived had much impact on South African society. Most importantly, however, he was just a blerry nice guy. As we bid goodbye to this amazing South African, it is worth sending him off with the words of Bob Marley and the Wailers' song Rastaman Chant. 'One bright morning when my work is over Man will fly away home One bright morning when my work is over Man will fly away home Say one bright morning when my work is over Man will fly away home.' Your work is over now, Dick. You may fly away home to that sweet place called Paradise.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Supreme Court Curbs Nationwide Blocks in Birthright Fight
A sharply divided US Supreme Court limited the power of judges to block government policies nationwide, but left a fight over President Donald Trump's restrictions on automatic birthright citizenship unresolved. The 6-3 ruling said Trump's restrictions on birthright citizenship won't take effect for 30 days. The justices returned the cases to the lower courts to let judges consider whether to again block the rules — at least in part of the country if not the whole nation — in challenges pressed by a group of states.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Dem governor's decades-old political persecution claim over alleged cocaine use disputed by bombshell memo
FIRST ON FOX: Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has for years dismissed an investigation into her alleged cocaine use as politically motivated, but a newly unearthed memo obtained by Fox News Digital contradicts her decades-old claim. In early 1990, the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) in Maine, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Maine's Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement (BIDE) investigated Mills, then a sitting district attorney in Maine, after a drug suspect accused her of using cocaine. The investigation was eventually dropped without charges being filed, but Mills has maintained that the investigation never had any merit and that she was politically targeted for her Democratic affiliation and criticism of BIDE. In 1990, she and two other district attorneys in Maine criticized BIDE for inflating arrest numbers through excessive enforcement of low-level drug offenders. "It's scary," Mills told the Portland Press Herald in November 1991. "Maine apparently has a secret police force at work that can ruin the reputation of any who opposes it." A March 1995 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility (DOJ/OPR), addressed to the Deputy Attorney General, of whom Merrick Garland was an associate serving as the principal associate Deputy Attorney General, unearthed by Fox News Digital, refutes Mills' claim, revealing there was no misconduct by federal or state authorities investigating her case. According to the DOJ memo, WCSH-TV reported in December 1990 that Mills was being investigated by a federal grand jury for drug use, citing law enforcement sources. Mills later sued that reporter for libel and slander. The report also prompted Mills' attorney to demand a grand jury investigation, arguing that "the press received leaks from BIDE law enforcement officials." The results of the libel and slander suit are no longer available. The docket for the case showed that the records were disposed of in 2015 in accordance with policy. However, a 1991 Lewiston Sun-Journal article appears to state that the effort to "end drug probe rumors" was thrown out by a judge. In January 1992, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., stepped in and requested the DOJ/OPR investigate allegations that Maine's USAO had "refused to investigate the grand jury leak" and that attorneys had engaged in "intimidation and coercion of witnesses" during the investigation. Those concerns were initially raised by Patrick Paradis and N. Paul Gauvreau, the House and Senate chairs of the Judiciary Committee of the Maine Legislature, in a letter sent to then-Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine. The letter suggested that the allegations involving Maine's USAO "go far beyond the state agency involved." Ultimately, no charges were filed against Mills for her alleged cocaine use. But the Department of Justice also found that all of Mills' claims were "unsubstantiated," including allegations that she was politically targeted, that investigators solicited false testimony, that witnesses were coerced or threatened and that BIDE agents leaked grand jury information to the press. "The USAO in Maine conducted a proper investigation of serious allegations; no misconduct of any kind can fairly be attributed to any member of that office," DOJ/OPR concluded in 1995. While the Justice Department debunked Mills' claims, she dismissed the allegations against her as politically motivated throughout the investigation. According to the memo, Mills "announced publicly that she was the victim of a smear campaign" in 1991. "I'd say it's awfully coincidental that this investigation started and was leaked to the press shortly after my public comments about the lack of accountability at BIDE," Mills said that same year. Mills also claimed it sets a "very bad precedent when a prosecutor has to look over his or her shoulder every time you put somebody in jail and wonder whether that person is going to find an audience down the street in the BIDE office or down the road in the U.S. Attorney's Office to say dirty things about you." Fox News Digital reached out to Mills's office multiple times for comment but did not receive a response. Earlier this year, Mills accused President Donald Trump of leading a "politically directed investigation" into Maine's Department of Education. During a National Governors Association (NGA) meeting at the White House in February, Mills and Trump publicly sparred over biological men playing in women's sports. Trump said Mills should comply with his executive order preventing transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, or "you're not going to get any federal funding," to which she replied, "We'll see you in court," which is exactly where the issue has been tied up. Longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026, and with Mills' governorship term limited next year, she would be a competitive Democratic candidate to challenge Collins. Mills indicated in April that she did not "plan to run for another office," but admitted that "things change week to week, month to month," leaving the door open to a potential Senate bid.
