Lalee

Unbothered. 🦋

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@Strohberrry 😭😭🤣

[Timothy Maurice @timothymaurice]

Hey Guys, remember the Thabo Nedbank story?  Here is an incredible update since he got the job. In this photo - Thabo, the CEO of Nedbank (Jason Quinn) and myself.  We are in Malaysia!  The reason we are here is because Thabo won one of Nedbank’s top Achiever awards…

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@kimheller3 💔💔💔

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@UnaT_Bex @chuluwillie 😭😭🤣🤣

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@moanerleaser Sana!!

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@Kinetio_xyz @siyabulelatonon 🤣😂

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@ChrisMescudi @untando__ Lol 😂 hayi lulwimi etywaleni

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@untando__ Qala uyiva, brand new mtasekhaya

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@keoveey @mawuse_ee @Britney_Tachie 😭😭🤣

[Phumzile Van Damme @zilevandamme]

I have thoughts. I wish I didn’t have any and continue to expend mental bandwidth on this, but I’m intrigued. So. I’ll bite. ✍🏽

To, what, end, my, very, good Sir?

What does he think condemnation will achieve? Will the EFF suddenly stop singing KTB? Will the courts suddenly declare it Hate Speech? No, and no. It will change exactly nothing about the legal status of KTB. Nothing.

If anything, Ramaphosa’s condemnation at the pressure of a foreign government will have the exact opposite effect: hardening KTB’s political significance, turning it into a symbol of resistance to what is seen as regulatory imperialism, beyond its history as resistance to apartheid. KTB will be martyrised as a chant for sovereignty and gain new voices for its choir.

Does Bozell understand that what he wants could turn him into KTB’s Pied Piper?

Perhaps that is the intention, were I to choose the less generous interpretation.

But I choose goodwill.

And in goodwill, I’m very sorry to say that these do not appear to be sound and well-considered foreign policy positions. They look remarkably like parroted talking points from local interest groups. That’s a diplomat cribbing his homework from a student who has all the answers wrong.

That’s not sound diplomacy.
That’s not sound foreign policy.

That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of South Africa. That betrays little effort to understand it, and to find the route of least resistance to achieve one’s diplomatic objectives. That betrays little strategic and political nous in pursuit of those foreign policy objectives.

Sound foreign policy would have asked why those talking points of local interest have failed to achieve their objectives in South Africa, and why repeating them does not magically make them more effective. It would have considered the second-order consequences.

It would have understood that Presidential condemnation, delivered under foreign pressure, will make the KTB problem considerably worse: making it louder, giving it new voices and expanding its political significance when, at present, it remains largely confined to a relatively small part of South Africa’s political landscape. Presidential condemnation will not contain it. It will amplify it.

Unless, of course, that is the intention.

But, goodwill. Hand to heart.

Look. I happen to think Ramaphosa once had nothing to lose by condemning KTB. He does now that the US is demanding it. South Africa does.

Take the time to understand South Africa.

South Africa is not some strongman state where a President’s pronouncement determines what the public may say, what political parties may sing or what courts will find unlawful. It is a constitutional democracy.

Freedom of expression and political participation are protected rights, hard won and hard defended, not just by the courts but by the people of South Africa.

South Africans are very much “don’t sh*t on my lawn” people. Tell them what they can and cannot say? Very good luck. The best of luck.
Godspeed. All of the best.

That is some realism.

Now, political consequences.

Once you accept the premise that an external government can demand that South Africa’s President publicly condemn particular political expression, the question becomes: where exactly does that principle end? Is that what South Africa is being asked to accept right now?

Today it is KTB. Tomorrow it is something else.

And perhaps the most remarkable thing about all of this is that the people making these demands seem not to understand that.

South Africa has bigger fish to fry. A lot bigger.

Fin.

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@SabeloChalufu Happy birthday 🥂🎉

[Catherine Biyela-Bhebhe @Bi_Catherine]

Guys, sizani bo!My son was suspended indefinitely from a special needs school up until “he’s behaviour stabilises / medications. We’ve approached several medical professionals who all agree he doesn’t need medication.Just accommodations to be done in the school environment( cont)

[Mat(ter).of.fact @Matiase01]

Give the Prof a Bells 🥃 … waze wayithetha inyani uTata…
#MadlangaCommission

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@lerrykins_ Myeke sanalam

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

Interesting read Maduna 🤌🏾

[Maduna kaNokhala @ta_kweila]

I’ve just finished an assignment trying to marry two things we often study separately: organisational innovation management and strategic branding.

And I keep coming back to one South African example.

My musings?

Pantry by Marble is coming for Woolies Food.

Thread

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[SABC News @SABCNews]

NATIONAL WILLS WEEK | Zola Mbatha, Fiduciary Attorney and Founder of Legacy Yezibaya, is urging families to discuss succession planning early to help prevent disputes.

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@Iam_Astra 😭😭😭

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@agi_moche @DrLungi_Mashele We’ve been chronically online for way too long 🤣😂😂

[Lalee @lalee_mag]

@zanele_matome 🤣🤣😭

[News24 🇿🇦 @News24]

Court sets aside HPCSA ruling on Joburg EFF mayoral candidate’s Netanyahu post
https://t.co/usCyiQHjiI