It's a long time coming!

 

Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema,
 right, and suspandedyouth league secretary-general Sindiso Magada. B.D

Why is that in politics when things are not going according to your way, you suddenly imply that you are being sabotaged? Are people in politics not cautious enough about what they doing? Are they always going to blame their opponents or rivals? Why not pay for your mistakes and get it over and done with? Hence they say what comes around comes around. Juju face the music-it’s a long time coming.  

Julius Malema is facing charges of corruption and all he can say is that he is being potted by President Jacob Zuma. I heard Thibos from Kaya FM asking Julius Malema if he knows about the fact that THE HAWKS are coming for him on charges of corruption and you know he could say was that he is not scared they can come for him. Now on Monday, it was revealed that Juju and his peers form Limpopo are facing charges of corruption for unlawfully laundering government’s R4.6-million and R16-million tax bills.

Come to think about all the things that Julius has been saying in the news regarding corruption and Jacob Zuma in particular, makes me wonder that oh! That’s rich coming from Julius, because he also played his part in all the corruption schemes within the context of the ANC. All this time he has been playing advocate; hiding under a sheep’s skin just to win over the support of the vulnerable South Africans.

It is enough that South Africa has been through a lot; and we sort of need hope that will make us feel that we are at home and that everything is going to be just fine after a rough time that we had during the apartheid years. However all we are seeing and hearing is fights, fights and fights. What better solution do we need to have place or country that our parents and our freedom fighters have always dreamed of?

All in all what I’m trying to say is that everyone who is practicing corruption should be punished and get the punishment he or she deserves, irrespective whether you are a politician or not. One should lead by example and not do things that will jeopardise the reputation of this country, including Julius Malema and his associates. In the practice of PR we are taught that we all need to honest about any information in an organisation, reserving some information simply means you are guilty. Let us pay and make this country a better and secure place for all.

Finally it has gone to rest!

Striking miners dance and cheer after they were informed of
a 22 percent wage increase offer outside Lonmin's Marikana mines.
The Star.



I must say that I am relieved that the Marikana strike has come to an end. Although it claimed the lives of 46 people, left the South African economy sinking and left some people without jobs.

The strikers really fought tooth and nail until they got what they wanted, even though it is not entirely what they were looking for. I guess this is what you get if you are an organization and you do not listen to the grievances of your employees. To me, the workers of Marikana have been trying so hard to reach out to their management and they were probably overlooked. Indeed, against all odds 22% wage increase is a huge achievement. One of the workers’ representatives said that, “No union has achieved a 22% increase before,” Zolisa Bodlani, a worker representative at Marikana, told Reuters.

It got me thinking that somehow South Africa has a lot of work to do regarding labour equality and justice.  Frankly talking, the Marikana strike showed just how much there is a lot of disconnections within our country and much need to be done as a way of correcting the imbalances.  We must really applaud the South Africa Council of Churches (SACC), for it was playing referee in the talks. Indeed they have been there for the families of those who were killed during the debacle. This is what we need in this country; we need solutions and strong leadership qualities.

Now what is left is for the Lonmin mines to come up with a strategy of re-branding itself and come with solutions of changing the bad perceptions that the strike left millions of South Africans and the whole world in shock. In the practice of PR you need to adapt so that you will not perish. The power is in their hands to make a difference.  

IS JUJU POURING SALT ON THE WOUND?



Julius Malema at the Lonmin mines,
addressing them Aurora liquidated mines. Daily Maverick



If Julius Malema could spare us his thoughts and opinions for a moment please! What happened at the Lonmin mines was one incident that left the whole country in tears and yet, one person is making the matter even worse than it seems. How is the Marikana issue going to be solved if Julius is continuously pouring salt on the wound? I was listening to e-news on Wednesday, 5 August in the afternoon and the Minister of labour, Membathisi Stephard Mdladlana was very adamant to solve the issue and she was hoping that a conclusion could be reached by Monday the 10^th of September 2012. However, we still see in the news that the strike is still going on; in fact some miners from other mining companies have also downed their tools News 24.

It is in the open that that the mining sector needs urgent attention to correct the imbalances within the industry, but Juju is hijacking the whole situation and making it his own. I have to say that Juju has got a few valid points but, he is not following the correct protocol to voice them and even worse no one authorised him to go to the Lonmin mines. It doesn’t surprise me that he is now being compared to the deceased AWB leader Terreblanche.

I think that this problem could have been long solved if some politicians didn’t make a fuse out of an already damaged situation. Yes, this whole situation needs the government but it is imperative that they come with good strategic solutions, without any distraction from those who only want to channel their anger. Nonetheless, I really think that an urgent public relations solutions needs to be employed for the revolution of the whole entire mining industry. However, they should have thoroughly done their environmental scanning to check if they are on the right track and people and if people are happy or not. This is how I was taught that environmental scanning is crucial at all times in the practice of public relations.

 We all know that working in the mines is very hard; it’s even worse if you are not being treated with respect and getting what you deserve. I say let it go to rest Julius and let the Lonmin workers fight their own rights and to the owners, please give people what they deserve for the betterment of this whole situation. Otherwise they wouldn’t be striking if they were happy.