SizaKancane

“I’m not a politician but a citizen that pays attention to political narratives” Prof Thabo Ditselê #neminemladere

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

High number of human trafficking is them.

Kidnapping their people to work in their spaza shops.

They are also Muslims which means earning interest on their money is haraam in Islamic teachings, making them gain business knowledge that is handed down from generations.

[Sizwe SikaMusi @SizweLo]

Why do immigrant Somali entrepreneurs thrive in South Africa while local SMMEs struggle? I saw a study that found the secret. It’s a great study, but then it suffers a major academic malfunction.

The 2023 research paper titled “An Exploration of the Traits Responsible for the Success of Somali Small-Scale Entrepreneurs in South Africa” set out to solve a persistent puzzle: why do local South African Small and Medium Enterprises struggle to stay afloat while immigrant Somali entrepreneurs consistently thrive in the very same socio-economic environments?

The empirical findings of the study are compelling and grounded in the lived experiences of two dozen entrepreneurs in Pretoria West. The authors brilliantly document an ecosystem powered by deep social capital.

According to the authors’ data, the primary drivers of Somali business success are rooted in an Afrocentric, collectivist worldview of “collaborative ventures”, including pooling resources for bulk purchases, “informal networks” like sharing pricing information and trends, and a profound “sense of community”.

Crucially, the authors observe that this Somali strategy “promotes partnership as opposed to competition”. So, when a new Somali entrepreneur arrives, the community does not view them as a rival to be defeated; instead, they actively raise startup capital or gift assets to ensure the newcomer succeeds. The economic engine here is fundamentally ANTI-COMPETITIVE in spirit. It relies on shared risk, pooled resources, mutual aid, and collective survival.

Yet, and this is the major flaw of the paper, when it‘s time to provide solutions, a very fascinating academic glitch occurs. In the recommendations section, the empirical research findings collide head-on with standard individualist market ideology. The authors write:

“Based on the findings, it is recommended that there is a need to enhance the competitiveness of South African SMEs.” They go on to suggest that adopting these cooperative traits will make local businesses “more adept at navigating global competition”.

Hopefully, you can see the problem here. The paper explicitly suggests that South African businesses should adopt a philosophy of non-competition or collaboration for the ultimate purpose of becoming better competitors.

Here’s the thing, language matters, and I don’t believe this is a minor semantic slip. To me, it reveals how deeply academic training and policy paradigms are trapped within a dictionary that equates economic success solely with competitive advantage.

So, even when the evidence staring the researchers in the face proves that cooperation is what keeps people alive, they lack the vocabulary, or perhaps the institutional permission, to recommend anything other than “enhanced competitiveness”.

To achieve this competition-centric objective, the paper’s authors are forced to contort themselves to and recommend that South Africans need to weaponise collective solidarity to win in individualistic market competition.

This is simply incoherent. True cooperation requires trust, shared identity, and mutual vulnerability, and these are elements that are fundamentally flattened when translated into metrics like market share and profit margins.

If we are to take the findings of this research seriously, the policy implication cannot be to force South African SMMEs into the same hyper-competitive meat-grinder and then pretend to call it “collaboration”. Instead, we must change the objective function of economic policy itself.

So, rather than aiming for “competitiveness”, policy frameworks should focus on first creating support structures like cooperative buying syndicates, shared logistics, and community-based retail trusts.

Second, South African needs to move away from individualistic “entrepreneurship training” and instead support organic, localised business networks and collective mentorship models.

Lastly, the viability of local SMMEs cannot continue to be measured only by individual profit or aggressive market scaling (that whole idea that one should thrive to open several more shops or progress towards opening a large supermarket), but by community resilience, long-term survival rates, and the capacity for mutual aid. This is, after all, what the researchers found made Somali entrepreneurs more successful.

In the end, the problem with mainstream economic thinking is that it looks at a highly successful, collectivist survival strategy and can only see it as a tool to sharpen the knives of competition. Until the economic language catches up with the cooperative realities of grassroots survival, the recommendations will continue to undermine the very solutions the intellectuals claim to seek.

Anyway, if you liked this read, I would greatly appreciate if you subscribed to my Patreon blog, link in bio.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

Kak Praat!

We have a leadership crisis across our political spectrum!

The DA is fielding madam @helenzille that same way the IFP has Prince Buthelezi on their posters…continuance.

[Richard Wilkinson @wilkinsoncape]

No other South African politician has the ability to connect with regular people like this.

She’s going to get record turnout for the DA in Johannesburg. Probably just over 500,000 votes.

I don’t know if it will be enough to get to 50%. Nobody knows for sure.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

Multiple choice exam questions and get the computer to mark.

Outsource lecturing to oversees lectures to bring down costs.

[David (TalkingCents) @talkcentss]

🇿🇦Universities ( collectively ) in South Africa are receiving 40% of their revenue from Government.

And,

🇿🇦More than 50% of their costs are going toward employee compensation.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

“Money laundering”

[Megan S. @SimplyMegszcpt]

The government’s pension fund invested in 15 companies which lost 100% of their money. https://t.co/58YPYHuK85

[Gen Jean-Jacques Dessalines @MxolisiBob]

When some say, we did not critique the Jacob Zuma administration, this is one's unedited critique

[Jacinta Ngobese🇿🇦 @JacintaNgobese]

Can you believe that a Zimbabwean has explained our current crisis better than some so called educated PhD holders??? May God Bless this man because the truth sets everyone Free! So instead of these NPOs funded by Foreign organisations and political parties that benefit from crime call us Xenophobic, they need to address the real issue first

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

Do you identify as a Conservative or a Socialist?

Conservative = Return to STATUS QUO

Socialist = Seeking CHANGE

Not too difficult to subscribe to a political ideology really 🤔

Humour me by choosing one and I will give you the top 2 parties in that spectrum.

[nicola @b3l_Air]

As a South African I have been politically homeless. The @MYANC is a thief. The @Our_DA is a shape changing beaurocrat. The @EFFSouthAfrica is an extortionist for sale. The MK is a permanent family feud amongst foreign family members. The PA sings in the direction of donations. Don't get me started on BOSA and Rise.

As much as I would love to vote DA based on merit: on deeper investigation their policies resemble the American democrat party. They would "pride" our schools and bathrooms before you can say suicidal empathy. Their identity is tied to globalists, the WHO and the UN.

The only two parties I would vote for are parties that reflect our deeper Christian conservatives values and born in atleast one of our incredible identities as South Africans. The Zulus and Afrikaners. FFplus and IFP. They want to preserve our sovereignty, borders and reject foreign interference.

That's my current sentiment.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

They are all over the world 🌍 doing the same nefarious activities and this is the government we have inherited in Africa

[Jackson @jackson_rem]

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, @Ojukwu_Bianca, says the government is considering punitive measures against South Africa over the alleged mistreatment of Nigerians in the country. Possible measures under consideration reportedly include the closure of South African businesses operating in Nigeria and the expulsion of South African nationals.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

#mole

[Newzroom Afrika @Newzroom405]

SIU acting head Leonard Lekgetho says they have uncovered a highly organised syndicate operating inside the Home Affairs Department allegedly selling visas, permits and South African citizenship. Lekgetho says officials were charging up to R40 000 for study visas.

Watch: https://t.co/w9BBjctAG2

#Newzroom405

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

Remember President @CyrilRamaphosa @PresidencyZA cleared a new bill that allowed for employees to be moved to other departments or entities within government even if they have indiscretions on their files and against their names.

Red flag them all 🚩

#fishrotsfromthehead

[Newzroom Afrika @Newzroom405]

SIU acting head Leonard Lekgetho says they have uncovered a highly organised syndicate operating inside the Home Affairs Department allegedly selling visas, permits and South African citizenship. Lekgetho says officials were charging up to R40 000 for study visas.

Watch: https://t.co/w9BBjctAG2

#Newzroom405

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

WE put this man into office twice. TWICE!

Please @MYANC do better

[Sizwe SikaMusi @SizweLo]

Whenever you see terms like “irregular, fruitless, and wasteful” bunched together in a headline alongside R45 billion, it appears like all that money was packed into a suitcase and thrown into a fire, or just outright stolen.

But in reality, there’s a massive difference between “fruitless and wasteful expenditure” and “irregular expenditure”, as I showed six years ago(https://t.co/DWAPxJb6JK)

In fact, the vast majority of the multi-billion-rand backlog falls under irregular expenditure, meaning the city actually did get exactly what it paid for.

As the City of Joburg’s Head of Investigations, Sinaye Nxumalo, points out in the article:
“The work was rendered [and] the city did realise benefit...”

When the city “writes off” or “regularises” these billions, it means they investigated the transactions and confirmed that the money wasn’t stolen or evaporated, the city actually got the roads, the electricity cables, or the services. They are fixing the accounting paperwork because the physical benefit was already delivered.

If it had been pure “fruitless” expenditure, there would be no benefit to regularise, and the city would legally have to try to get that money back from the specific officials who wasted it.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

Halala

[Cllr_Welekazi💜🇿🇦 @African_Spring]

We have Shaka Zulu, the greatest man to ever walk the earth.

[VT @VusiThembekwayo]

Progress is always messy.
Cowards hate messy.

Don’t be a coward: Lean into the mess.

[Gen Jean-Jacques Dessalines @MxolisiBob]

30 June we are on the street against this ANC government, not illegal immigrants, it's the ANC

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

With all due respect Mr President @CyrilRamaphosa our democracy came by way of protest action and rioting!

Nobody condones violence and we are certainly not a vigilante people but @MYANC needs to up their game

It’s in our blood 🩸 in our DNA!🧬
#notdnajustrsa
#FREEPALESTİNE

[Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 @CyrilRamaphosa]

I must make it clear that only the authorised government officials may act against violations of the law, including violation of our immigration laws.

No other person is allowed, for example, to confront someone in the street to demand proof of nationality.

https://t.co/E5bWVf4pTq

[Kashyap Sriram @kashyap286]

Firstly, Ethiopia is under US sanctions while Vietnam is not. And speaking of former French colonies, Haiti was the first to get independence (1804) and is still one of the poorest countries in the world because of the debt they had to take on to gain independence (it took them until 1947 to fully repay it!). Whereas, New Caledonia is still a French colony and is neither rich nor poor.

"If colonialism were the answer to why Africa is poor..."

This line completely ignores the European powers' (and US) post-colonial control over Africa. Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected leader of the DRC, was tortured and killed by Belgium and the US for being a nationalist. His body was dissolved in acid so he wouldn't become a martyr. His legacy is largely unknown even within the continent. Several other such "lessons" were meted out. Google Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso) and Sylvanus Olympio (Togo).

Once you set the example, you gain obedience. The VietCong, on the other hand, didn't surrender even though 3 million Vietnamese died during the war, and several thousand more continue to die to this day (!) from Agent Orange exposure.

As for former French colonies in Africa, France still controls their currency and holds their central bank reserves in France. As Rothschild purportedly said, "permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws."

Third, the borders in Africa were drawn in such a way that conflict was inevitable. At the Berlin Conference in 1884-85, the European powers simply carved up the continent by drawing straight line borders. African leaders were conspicuous only by their absence at this historic event which shaped the next century. This is why Cameroon, a French-speaking country, has a minority English-speaking territory, ensuring it remains destabilized. Likewise for West Asia/the Middle East, where the Sykes-Picot legacy lives on.

@magattew conflates formal colonial rule with colonial control. Vietnam managed to fully kick out both France and the US, reunified the North and the South, and kept its sovereignty. All African leaders who attempted the same have been systematically eliminated (see Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's divisive leader, for a recent example), ensuring Africa forever bears the open wounds of its colonial legacy.

But Ms. Wade is right on one thing: Vietnam owes its prosperity to overcoming colonial rule. Maybe Africa can become prosperous if Africans do the same.

[SizaKancane @ticstrics]

That are NOT the problem, WE are. The enablers

[Fighter Kaya 🇿🇦 @Kaya_TM_]

She apologized South Africans find it in your hearts to forgive her.
She is a single mother

[yu_007 @YVaw123]

A Palestinian Boy In Gaza Paints The South African Flag 🇿🇦 On a Bombed Building Wall With a Message To South Africans Saying : " FROM GAZA Thank You South Africa ♥️"