EDITOR’S COMMENT

From our desks to yours, here’s wishing you and everyone in your ambit, a happy, healthy, productive, and successful 2022!

Starting 2022 with a bang

It would be an understatement to say that the new year has started with a bang (and I’m not talking about Catherine Wheels and other traditional fireworks). In South Africa, we’ve seen Parliament burn, the Constitutional Court physically attacked, some of our judges verbally attacked by a sitting minister, and the handing over of the first of the three reports into state capture by Judge Raymond Zondo to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The controversial AARTO (Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act) has been ruled unconstitutional and invalid by the Pretoria High Court, there have been two more Constitutional Court judge appointments, all provinces are alleged to have peaked in terms of the fourth wave of Covid-19, and the Moti family – whose four sons were kidnapped and then thankfully returned physically unharmed – have reportedly relocated to Dubai. We also buried Nobel prize winner and anti-apartheid activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, the British prime minister has come under fire for partying during hard lockdown, apologising to the country’s beleaguered monarch who is also dealing with the fallout from court cases linking one of her sons to sexual assault. Tennis champion Novak Djokovic has lost his fight to play in the Australian Open as a result of his refusal to champion Covid vaccinations, concerns are rising that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, Beijing has pretty much locked down in its bid to attain a zero-Covid rating in time for the February Winter Olympics in China next month, Meta (Facebook) is facing billions worth of fines if it’s found guilty of exploiting user data, YouTube’s also come under intense fire on the back of allegations of disinformation, and former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to end his corruption trial via plea bargain. People are taking to the streets in their thousands globally to protest against mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations, Nigeria, Somalia and other countries are reeling from unending violence, and North Korea has reportedly been testing railway-borne missiles.

A mixed bag with key takeaways

It’s a mixed bag of news – some good, some saddening, some alarming.

For me, the key takeaways are that every country in the world is winning some battles while losing others, and the importance of legacies and accountability. ‘The Arch’, as he was popularly known, left a huge legacy of compassion, grace, and humour. Others will leave legacies of corruption, criminality, abuse, and selfishness. We all get to choose our legacy, the end result of the way we live our lives, conduct ourselves and treat others.

Major events in SA

In his 17 January 2022 ‘From the desk of the President’ missive, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke of South Africa’s entry into the new year as being confronted by two major events “that reminded us, in different ways, of what brings us together as a people. On the first day of 2022, the nation gathered in spirit to bid farewell to Archbishop Desmond Tutu at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. It was a moment of great sadness as we recalled the life and contribution of a beloved compatriot who was, in many ways, the moral conscience of our nation. At the same time, his funeral was a celebration of the values he stood for. It was a celebration of the great unity and diversity of our people, and a reminder of the sacrifices made by so many to achieve our democracy.”

And then, on 2 January 2022, continued Ramaphosa, “the country watched on in horror as a huge fire engulfed Parliament, just a hundred metres from where we had gathered the day before to pay our last respects to Archbishop Tutu. Apart from the close proximity of St George’s Cathedral and Parliament, what connects these two events is that each reminds us of what brings us together as South Africans: our democracy,” he said. “Just as the fire in Parliament was finally being extinguished (in my opinion, a third major event), Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo submitted the first part of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. This part of the report details how several public institutions were infiltrated, looted, and severely damaged. These include state-owned enterprises like South African Airways (SAA), the Government Communication and Information System, and the South African Revenue Service (SARS).”

The report, while painting a ‘deeply disturbing picture of how key institutions of our democracy were compromised and undermined with criminal intent,’ he said, will hopefully result in better controls around state entities, jail terms and fines for those found guilty of criminality, and a visible improvement with regard to protecting our democracy, our constitution and our judiciary.

That it’s going to be another challenging year is a given — as is its potential for personal and business growth. It’s anyone’s guess as to what’s going to happen with the global and national economies, Covid, crime, politics and other events, but we do have control over some significant areas, including the way we embrace change, how we treat people, how we manage stress as well as our mental and emotional wellbeing, and how we use the lessons of the past to build our futures.

It’s a new landscape, to quote our MD Malcolm King who, in our first editorial meeting of the year, emphasised the importance of ‘letting the main thing remain the main thing’. Despite the many, many predictions floating around, no one really knows what the future holds. We do know, though, where our core business strengths lie, that advertising pays and that the retention of top employees has never been more important. We know, too, that hybrid work models are gaining traction as employees rethink their priorities, and that with this comes growing cyber risk. These, however, can be managed, even triumphed over, with the right attitude and focus. In this, our December 2021/ January 2022 issue, our feature article focuses on expert advice with regard to the challenges we’re likely going to face, both on the personal and business fronts. There is also a lot of really good advice in the article.

“Problems and challenges are everywhere,” said President Ramaphosa in his eulogy at the Arch’s funeral service, highlighting poverty, racism, inequality, homophobia, gender-based violence, crime and corruption. There were times when Tutu felt let down, and yet he never lost hope, he continued. “The most fitting tribute we can pay to him, whoever and wherever we are, is to take up the cause of social justice for which he so tirelessly campaigned.”

Here’s to not only surviving but thriving this year.

Be safe, be kind.

Ingrid Olivier, Editor

ingridolivier@idotwrite.co.za