🇿🇦 His Excellency President
@CyrilRamaphosa
in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom HE
@BorisJohnson
, on the margins of the
#G7
Leaders’ Summit in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany.
#BetterAfricaBetterWorld
🌍
Had dinner with a foreign friend this week. He made a very prescient remark regarding SA politics.
“SAis a place with lots of transparency, but limited accountability”
Don’t miss the 3rd instalment of our trilogy of South African leaders
@jsteenhuisen
, head of the Democratic Alliance
Thursday on BBC News at 0330gmt, 0930gmt & 2130gmt
Bok win and parade, Sho Madjozi meeting John Cena, KFC proposal. Sometimes we have feel good weeks in South Africa, hey? And don't @ me with Eskom what what.
Unfortunately SA has become a useful idiot in this great power competition. It is completely overstating its level of clout and influence, without deriving any real strategic benefit. Positioning is either ideological, naïve, malicious or (prob) a combination of the above.
EFF struggling to remain relevant post-ANC conference so resorts to perpetual political grandstanding. That's what happens when you're all about political theater and soundbyte policies.
Voting ANC because of Ramaphosa is all well and good, but what happens if he gets hit by a bus or eats a polonium sandwich? DD at the wheel - no thanks!
Historic day for Zimbabwe. Historic day for Africa. Africa's face-lift generation beware - there is no longer any room for complacency. The road ahead will be bumpy and chaotic for Zimbabwe - but it now has an opportunity to chart a new course.
#zimbabwe
#mugaberesigns
Average wake-up time:
🇿🇦 South Africa - 6:24 AM
🇨🇴 Colombia - 6:31 AM
🇨🇷 Costa Rica - 6:38 AM
🇮🇩 Indonesia - 6:55 AM
🇯🇵 Japan - 7:09 AM
🇲🇽 Mexico - 7:09 AM
🇦🇺 Australia - 7:13 AM
🇺🇸 United States - 7:20 AM
🇸🇪 Sweden - 7:21 AM
🇩🇪 Germany - 7:25 AM
🇵🇭 Philippines - 7:28 AM
🇧🇷
Cultural differences between the UK and SA clearly evident in response to corona virus.
SA response - memes, jokes and general tomfoolery. "Voetsek corona"
UK response - "We shan't go out at all. Let's keep a low profile and take the necessary precautions. Health and safety!"
Some personal news: I'm delighted and deeply humbled to have been selected as a 2019 Tutu Fellow.
Thank you for this remarkable opportunity
@TutuFellows
. Hopefully I can use it to make a positive impact on the African continent. 🙏🏽
Shout out to SARS in Rissik street today. Friendly, efficient service and even a bit of banter. I noticed that Ramaphosa's pic had replaced JZ on the wall and asked when it happened-the lady helping me said I should rather concentrate on who on the wall would be replaced next! :)
Some good news - I officially have a Masters degree! MSc Finance (Economic Policy) from
@SOAS
! Working and studying is not joke, but glad its all worked out in the end!
Signs you are in your mid-30s:
-Body corporate issues are a legitimate topic of conversation
-If you don't stretch, you injure yourself
-10 pm kick-offs are simply not worth it
SA private sector needs to catch a wake up. Unequal societies are both unstable and unsustainable. Inclusive growth IS the business case. Ignore at your peril.
The rules are always different for Africa. We are being asked to:
-democratise and industrialise simultaneously
-do so in a context of premature deindustrialisation
-but growth must be green, not brown
-oh, and just btw, we won’t let you have vaccines either
Tsek man!
Today I was taught abt the modern 'holiday bonus'
Employees who a) did not respond to emails/take calls on hols are rewarded w/ a 5K bonus by their employers.
The idea/value behind it: to teach you 1) to handover properly 2) trust your teammates c) learn to chill
Love this!
Is
#Clicks
apologising good enough?
@ShahanR
reckons there must be accountability, especially when it comes to
#racism
. He also calls out some people who are only focusing on the protests and not the hurt caused by the advert.
#ShutDownClicks
#eNCA
#Dstv403
Exactly 10 years ago I was nervously interviewing for my first job in investment banking. The decade since then has surpassed my wildest dreams+expectations. So grateful for the opportunities, platforms + learnings I've been blessed with. Still need to pinch myself sometimes 🙏🏽🙏🏽
As a nerdy kid obsessed with current affairs, financial markets + global politics, it was always a dream of mine to study at the
@LSEnews
. For various reasons it never materialised, but I'm delighted to now have the opportunity to teach two seminars
@AfricaAtLSE
SA friend just moved to London. We gave him a quick crash course of the tube stations that will show you flames 🔥
Marylebone - you don’t say Mary
Southwark - don’t pronounce the W
Holborn - L is silent
Islington - you say the s
Grosvenor - we’ll let him butcher this one 😂
Trying to explain the concept of a ‘portfolio of careers’ and working remotely to my aunts and uncles.
Just as I think I’m getting through to them, one uncle responds with “so you freelance?”
🤣🤣🤣
Taught my first
@GIBS_SA
MBA elective over the weekend and couldn't have asked for a better class.
They were fun, thoughtful, engaged and brought 🔥 and humour to the debates yesterday.
After 3 days, I'm exhausted but also energised by what I've seen. The future is bright.
Remember that time SA had a finance minister who a) went to the World Bank/IMF meetings dressed like he was attending Joburg fashion week and b) quoted Kendrick Lamar to reassure us.
Ya, we’ve come a long way
Just got asked by a random guy in the park if I‘d take a pic for him. I said “of course”.
He then whispers, “actually can you do a video for me, I’m going to propose but she doesn’t know yet”
He proposed on the snow w/ the Mosque in the background.
All warm and fuzzies 🥰🥰🥰
Spoke to someone who deliberately sets aside "thinking weeks". The logic? This is the stuff that adds real value, not directing "communication traffic" with "digital pacifiers".
Clear you diary to read, walk, relax and ideate so that you can see the wood for the trees
BREAKING: The UK is planning for several days over the winter when cold weather may combine with gas shortages, leading to organized blackouts for industry and even households
South Africans love framing things in binaries. It’s always Good vs evil, heroes vs villains, saviors vs victims, regardless of the complexity of the issue at hand. This either or approach is both superficial and counterproductive.
Woke up to the news of our very own Tyla winning the Best African Music Performance for her song ‘Water’ at the
#Grammys
. She is the youngest African to win such a prestigious award, adding herself to list of eminent South African artists and musicians who have made an indelible
Thank you
@LSEPfAL
@AfricaAtLSE
for the honour of allowing me to deliver the graduation speech at your ceremony last week.
As a political economist, speaking at The London School of Economics is the holy grail of my profession - this will go down as one of my career hilights.
1 thing I love abt SA is the basic humanity of ppl. In the UK,when u make a booking/ask ppl how they r,they act like ur a telemarketer. V transactional. In SA,from cashiers to gym staff ppl take time to greet/engage. Trivial? Maybe, but the impact is huge
“South Africa lived by refusing to die. By shifting shapes, by adapting and learning, by taking every edge and giving every last drop of water in their bodies. By never forgetting who they were or why they were here”
Sensational writing
@jonathanliew