Today I have a selection of 4 stories that caught my attention:
DAVID MABUZA – The Cat has used his 9 lives and gave South Africa 1.
Previous South African Deputy President has died at the relatively young age of 64. He was known as THE CAT for his uncanny ability to hop from one hot tin roof to another, always landing perfectly and sprinting to greater glory. He was unremarkable as Deputy President and spend a lot of time in Russia for medical treatment. Apparently South Africa’s best was simply not good enough for him.
However, his legacy will be defined by his ONE contribution to our future. In the ANC leadership election in 2017 Mabuza showed very strong support from most branches. He was expected to throw his votes behind Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and so ensure the continuation of the corrupt and incompetent Zuma Dynasty. In a brilliant strategic move, THE CAT instructed his voters at the last minute to support Ramaphosa, who won the election by a mere 179 votes. That action has ensured that we have a Constitutionalist for a President and has steered South Africa back onto the right side of the highway, albeit in the slow lane. This is worth a Salute.
4 BIG MEN - Get ready for Jail.
The Transnet state capture Big Four face 32 charges of corruption, fraud and of being delinquent directors for losing Transnet R18 billion in a fraudulent rail deal and appeared in court this week. CEO Brian Molefe, his CFO Anoj Singh, the head of freight rail Siyabonga Gama and chief engineer Thamsanqa Jiyane are finally being held to account for their lawless reign under – you guessed it; Jacob Zuma.
These former big men should get themselves ready for a very long stretch in jail. One fraud charge over R500 000 can send an accused to jail for 10 years. So do the maths and it is clear that the power of money eventually turned into a dopamine opera for them.
Their arrest and indictment is cause for another Salute.
TRUMPS TARIFF DEADLINE
After Trump’s attempt to humiliate South Africa’s Presidential delegation, complete with real & fake videos and printed media handouts, the hard truth is that South Africa is in need of completing negotiations for a favourable trade deal with the world’s biggest economy. Former South African Elon Musk attended the Oval Office meeting, which now seems light-years away. As all things with Trump there was a vicious fallout between the two and Musk is now threatening Trump with indecent exposures and Republican lawmakers with suffering humiliation in next year’s mid-term elections where he will turn his money-sprouting machine against some hapless Republican Senators and House Representatives.
If the South African negotiators can keep their cool and not confuse the noise for the signal, maybe another Salute will be in order.
90%
That’s the number of WOOLWORTHS customers still visiting its actual stores. In the age of ONLINE, this is a great data point. Woolworths this week unveiled its first “Store of the Future” in Durbanville in the Western Cape.
This store is promoted as an AI-enhanced shopping experience where the latest in-store consumer behaviour is captured and interpreted by AI to improve and better serve the customers.
This is a sensible application of AI, dreaded by so many as the eventual destroyer of the human race. It will be interesting to see if AI, together with the latest in Woolworths designs and product offerings will indeed make an exponential difference. I suspect it will be more of an evolutionary journey, but the sensible employment of AI as an assistant rather than a tool is worth my fourth Salute for the day.
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