Epstein and the collapse of the empire
Image: Mike Segar / Reuters
JEFFREY Epstein is a particularly unique individual. In his rudely interrupted yet controversial life, he has been associated with so many impactful episodes of our contemporary history that have conspiratorially, if not fortuitously, led to the occupancy of the White House by the most divisive political figure, Donald J Trump.
And there is no convenient starting point.
In 1975, Epstein was looking furtively at His Excellency, Al Hadji, Big Dada Idi Amin Oumee, the Conqueror of all Beasts on Land and in the Seas, at a press briefing at the United Nations (UN) saying things about the illegality of Israel's creation in 1948, the wholesale murder of Palestinians and a two-state solution.
It must have been Jeffrey in the shadows of the pictures or persons who subsequently gave him and his friends the instruction to promote Zionism in France, the United States and everywhere else besides.
To the question of whether or not Epstein can collapse the most violent empire in the 21st century, Epstein himself has not disagreed. He is busy spending his money in the British Virgin Islands, or so it seems.
A whole $800 million has been spent from his bank account by last Friday since he was declared dead. He spends a lot of dough for a dead man, or at least for a guy who is said to have committed suicide in prison, where cameras seldom work.
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He and his Italian friends, at least those he gratuitously introduced to Trump, were selling atomic munitions to Libya. But Hillary Clinton, the war-mongering lady, angered by a beret-wearing intern having sex with her husband in the Oval Office, had to murder Gaddafi, no matter who was in the White House. And live on technicolour, the Lion of Sirte was violated with a sword, prompting her to declare chivalrously, that 'we came, we saw and murdered him' to her derisive laughter.
Big Dada Idi Amin and Gaddafi were wondering, who was Jeffrey Epstein, and why was he doing all these things? Neither of them could rationally cohere his designs. They were already dead. But before Ronald Reagan could interject and give a full address on his knowledge of Epstein's machinations and Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine's father, in the entire Iran-Contra scandal, Trump couldn't wait to interrupt.
His friend, Epstein and Flávio Briarote were busy organising Bunga Bunga parties for the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, with underaged girls who were trafficked from modelling agencies owned or facilitated by those implicated in the ring.
But Epstein had no stomach for arms dealings in the former Soviet territories or Iran, nor was he competent in said respect, Mossad operatives claimed. Rather, he chose a somewhat unique intelligence facility. Sex for political blackmail.
There was a lot of sex organised by this non-descript circle, so much of it resembling the 1926 Traumnouvelle translated into Stan Kubrick's last epic movie starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman titled Eyes Wide Shut.
The plot was simplistic in its objective more than it was simple in its operandum. It is to organise sex orgies for the powerful and thereafter 'remind' them to do whatever it is that was required for the purpose. This was a powerful instrument at Epstein's disposal, as old as Methuselah. You know, Suzie Wong style!
It is not certain that during his reign, Epstein had Afrforum and AWB in contemplation. But the method of his operation and the gruesome death of Eugene Terre Blanche, especially associated with targeting Zimbabwean male farm workers on his North West farm, are not dissimilar.
As for Afriforum, which regularly jets into the US for consultations with Trump, Epstein's major associate and his allies or both, they may find that at the hands of acute historic analysts, their relationship with such characters will forever burden their conscience.
And for those who need reminding, relying on the US is a terrible gamble. In 1975, Washington DC instructed the apartheid regime to attack Angola, turning them into a Ukraine-like facility against what they called Soviet expansionism into Africa. When misadventure turned deadly and became the most epic military defeat in modern African warfare, South Africa and all the young blood and treasure that was lost could not be replaced. Ask Elon Musk!
Again, in 1988, in a secret meeting in Washington DC, apartheid South Africa was instructed to open a forward assault front in Cuito Cuanavale in Southern Angola. They lost at great cost to men and material. The US simply shrugged in exasperation and told them to surrender to the Cubans, in what is now known as the Washington Agreement. Namibia got its independence, and so did the South Africans a few years thereafter.
Pity our home-bred neo-Nazis and other Ossewa Brandwag leaning Afrikaner far-right parties! Now they have been promised something even greater than Angola and Namibia by the same people. ANC Regime change! Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on apartheid! Is this thrice?
But Epstein had a lot of secrets. Small wonder the billionaire who made him a billionaire, bothered about a girl called Virginia Giuffre. With all those peccadilloes lingering carelessly around, the free billions launched a brand called Victoria's Secret. Lord, mother of God, whatever Victoria were they hiding?
Trump came into power with a secret. The empire had to go. He had powerful friends to help him out, Epstein and Netanyahu. It is possible to imagine that these two were obsessed with sex, or Monica Lewinsky for that matter. But so many things point to the contrary, however.
Probably JP Morgan as a bank and Ehud Barack, former Prime Minister of Israel and former Israeli Defence Minister, or most of the billionaires who entrusted their money to Epstein, had no inclination towards the secrets of the undergarment. This may be the reason for Kash Patel, the CIA head, to declare that there is no Epstein list.
Patel may be responding to a different enquiry. Sad though that hitherto, nobody had let him into the secret yet. Whitney Webb has the list. The quintessential question is which one? But in the terrifying circumlocution of the scandal and the preoccupation of the White House to arrest Barack Hussein Obama, Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, cannot find Whitney's phone numbers.
Yet, Epstein, dead or cash lavishly alive, speaks with a voice of the dead. He is beyond the reach of mortals and speaks with impunity. When Jean Luc Brunel got arrested for Epstein-related crimes, he too is said to have committed suicide, much the same way the New York Post came with the scoop of Epstein pics on his deathbed.
Have pity for the New York Post. If they had the scoop on Epstein's death, they are struggling to come up with the scoop on Epstein's funeral.
Trump is worried, however. And President Emmanuel Macron of France knows it. For reasons which Candace Owens has shared with the world, Trump knows what Macron is worried about. Trump wants the Epstein story to go away. And Macron, for his part, wants the Candace story to go away, also.
Both men are convinced that filing litigation, meritoriously or otherwise, may yield miraculous results. After meeting at the White House, Trump announced on Truth Social that he will be suing the Wall Street Journal. And Macron, in his irritation, serves legal notice against Candace Owens from the state of Delaware. But that is just the quid. The pro quo is a whole 'nother story.
Both leaders may win if they were to somehow skip the pre-trial discovery obligation. Court process or not, both leaders imagine that no court will compel them to reveal facts material to the facts in issue, especially because they are world leaders. And there is a reason why.
Discovery will undress both Trump and Mrs Macron. That's a lot of balls, one would imagine. Simply, it would be ugly.
South Africans keep wondering, however, what Epstein told Donald Trump about them? No matter the gods, South Africans pray too, whether the real ones or the ones referring to some Palestinian fellow of immaculate conception, the sanctions are coming. Harsh. Deep. And escalatory.
First, President Cyril Ramaphosa and his top six in the people's liberation movement may be targeted. So would be Julius Sello Malema. They would be barred from going anywhere, also. This would include all the places where uncle Johan Rupert would not be able to negotiate their entry without them being arrested.
The only hope is that Jacob G Zuma would not be included on this targeted sanctions list, especially if Israel's proxy, Morocco, would seek his absolution from the Donald on his behalf.
The Nigerian senators, for their part, are wondering in silence. They were probably right all along that there are hundreds of offshore accounts hosting laundered proceeds from MTN operations in Nigeria. Eric Holder, former US Attorney General under President Barack Obama, convinced them otherwise.
So did Muhammadu Buhari. May His Soul Rest in Peace. Epstein knows about all that laundered money in all those offshore accounts, but so does the CIA. The sooner such money moves and the accounts are closed, the better!
The South African story keeps unfolding. The Donald's reign will soon disintegrate, brought down by a Schrodinger cat called Jeffrey Epstein, which is both dead and alive at the same time. The South African neo nazis and their leaders in the GNU will meet their ultimate US betrayal. The only victors who will savour the taste of triumph will be the South African people.
* Ambassador Bheki Gila is a Barrister-at-Law.
** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ It is one of the worst-kept secrets that the Rwandan government, led by President Paul Kagame, is the principal of the M23. Reports by the United Nations have confirmed that the Rwandan government is not only funding but also sending its forces to fight alongside the M23 in eastern DRC. 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The lack of trust and the mutual hatred between the leaders of the two camps will be an issue that will undermine compliance with the terms of the deal. Previous ceasefire agreements have not been able to stop the two sides from attacking each other. There are no assurances that this one is going to be an exception. Importantly, the latest developments beg the question as to why Qatar, a small state in the Middle East, was able to accomplish what the African Union-sanctioned Luanda process and the East African Community-sanctioned Nairobi process found frustratingly elusive. Why is it that the DRC government and the M23 were willing to sit around the negotiating table in Doha and not in Luanda or Nairobi? How was a continental body with 54 member states representing 1.5 billion people upstaged and outshone by a country of less than 3 million people? These questions make this development a bittersweet moment. While the prospects of real peace in eastern DRC are certainly a cause for celebration, it is troubling that the AU seemingly has less gravitas than Qatar. * Dr. Sizo Nkala is a Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Africa-China Studies. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
