THE season has changed and, while I don't know if you've noticed anything in your neck of the woods, here in the fishing village there is a definite sense of activity in the air. It's not exactly urgent but there is a nonetheless determined flurry all about us and we are reminded of the words of William Boot, the great nature columnist: "Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole. . ."

The bustling is uncharacteristic. Granted, the holidays remain a full two months in the offing but there is still an unseemly haste and purpose in the identification of priorities which could otherwise have all been comfortably put off until next year, or maybe even dropped altogether.

We are, of course, referring to this business of the ANC and its allies not only rallying behind President Jacob Zuma but taking care of the frightful mess he's landed in and removing from his presence all manner of irritations that have bothered him of late.

In Durban, two groups have come to Zuma's defence over Nkandla. One of them - a bunch of "business people . . . and popular musicians", it says here - believes the President has been "humiliated" enough and has kindly offered to pay his bill in this matter. 

In his letter to Parliament, the group's leader, one Vumelani Mchunu, said, "We as members of the public are now putting an end to this issue by saying (that) once the public protector [Thuli Madonsela] finalises every report that is needed, including that amount of money that they are saying the president should pay back, we as public members' unit team, we will then take it from there, and we as the public members' unit team we will pay that money back on behalf of President Jacob Zuma."

The letter was read out in the ad hoc committee meeting on the upgrades at Zuma's country pile. Mchunu is not a wealthy man. As he later told the Mercury, "My business is not worth much, but personally I am worth gold because of my heart." He would however work tirelessly to raise the money to pay for whatever the President owed. Which was sweet of him to say that.

The Concerned Lawyers and Educationalists for Equality Before the Law also wrote to Parliament. If idiocy was the measure of anything, then this lot would be twice as precious as Mchunu. They want Madonsela fired. Among other things, her "flawed" report, they charged, "may have contributed to South Africa's downgrade by international ratings agencies."

They have two leaders - one from each profession. Attorney Comfort Ngidi is a well-known Zumarite and has had a serious jones regarding Madonsela and her work for some time now. 

In March, he threatened legal action to nullify her report and compel her to do the job again but this time to his satisfaction. He told the Daily News that this had nothing to do with the ANC or Zuma. "We are not doing it on behalf of anyone," he said. "We are just a group of lawyers who studied the report and felt it could not go unchallenged." 

Thus like a frightened horse nearing a Belgian abattoir, the old chestnut about lawyers, lies and lips moving leapt uppermost into our minds once more here at the Mahogany Ridge.

And speaking of which, the other leader in this group is Mbuyiseni Mathonsi, the KwaZulu-Natal secretary of the SA Democratic Teachers Union, whose lips are always moving. Furiously.

It has proved impossible, over the years, to photograph him at the podium with his mouth closed. That's because he never stops shouting, and is the sort of teacher that would leave a history class drenched in phlegm if the subject matter got a bit too European.

It remains to be seen whether anyone on the ad hoc committee would be taking Mathonsi, Ngidi or even Mchunu seriously. I feel not. Although it was now rid of opposition MPs, who wanted no part of what they felt was a whitewash, the committee certainly didn't need further distractions as it set about to convince us that Zuma had no idea what was going down, literally, in his own back yard.

Which brings us to the disciplinary hearings against the 20 Economic Freedom Fighters MPs who disrupted the President's question and answer session in the National Assembly in August. The hearings resume on Wednesday and there is considerable speculation that the EFF MPs are going to be dealt with severely, and may be suspended without pay for a month.

That means nothing, ultimately. The EFF, I suspect, will be with us for some time to come. Like the mess at Nkandla.

This article first appeared in the Weekend Argus.

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