Published in Mail & Guardian on 3 May 2012

120503mg - Richard Mdluli in Gangsta's Paradise Rap

Description & Background

Based on Coolio's well-known Rap song, Gangsta's Paradise, Zapiro re-writes the words to illustrate the "culture of impugnity" in South Africa and especially applied to Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli, who has been accused of crimes including murder and is now back in the top job at crime intelligence suggesting friends in high places.

People in the cartoon

Richard Mdluli / Jacob Zuma / Nathi Mthethwa

Tags

Crime / Corruption / Culture of impunity / Rap song / Minister of Police / President of South Africa / Gansters

Text in the cartoon

I'm Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli
You can just call me General Impugnity
Investigate me?! Better watch how you talk
Or you  an' your homies might be linked with Chalk!
Power an money, Money an power
Minute after minutes, hour after hour
They can charge me with murder an' fraud an' theft
But da charges disappear because I'm da Best

CHORUS:
Keep spendin most lives livin in da Gansta's Paradise
Tappin' phones an' slush funds organised, livin in Gansta's Paradise!

I look after my family an' friends an' cronies
Da Minister an' Da Prez, they my homies
We know each other's secrets, thats how we organise
Cos we da Top Ganstas in da Gansta's Paradise!

CHORUS:
Keep spendin most lives livin in da Gansta's Paradise
Tappin' phones an' slush funds organised, livin in Gansta's Paradise!

General impunity / Nasty Mthethwa / Da Prez

Mangaung

Links

• VIDEO: Coolio Featuring L.V. - Gangsta's Paradise
• Gangsta's Paradise Lyrics
• Mdluli's night of the long knives
• Untouchable Mdluli
• National Prosecuting Authority: Torn between the politics and the people of South Africa - The narrative of events leading to the suspension of the NPA’s Glynnis Breytenbach is scary stuff. Now it’s emerged someone has also been trying to intimidate the prosecutor who refused to drop charges against Richard Mdluli. She’s planning to fight and SA’s culture of impunity is back in the spotlight.
• Friends in high places rescue Mdluli
• Politics of paranoia: How JZ is winning the spy battle
• Alarm sounds over Mdluli's souped-up spy powers
• Mdluli report's shocking revelations
• Call grows for Mdluli action -While parliament's police oversight committee refused to discuss spy boss Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli's fitness to hold office yesterday, pressure mounted on President Jacob Zuma and Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to intervene in the matter.

Related Zapiro cartoons

• 120403tt - Under the protection of JZ, Mdluli re-instated

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