EDITOR’S COMMENT

Lead the world in love

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.” — Dolly Parton, singer and actress.

I am constantly astounded by people. If I had my student years back, I’d probably study psychology in an attempt to understand why people behave as they do. Why some default to anger, hate and violence, and why others focus on being kind, positive and compassionate.

After reading the news last weekend, which included crime incident after crime incident in South Africa, as well as the mass shooting of an estimated 13 people – mostly African American – in a New York supermarket on 14 May, by a White teen, I Googled ‘anti-hate organisations’. StopHateUK, HateCrime. Osce.Org, the EU High Level Group, The Community Security Trust, TellMAMA, The Monitoring Group, EACH, Ditch The Label, Doras, ILGA Europe, Racist Violence and Recording Network 9RVRN) Polisen.se and the International Network for Hate Studies …the vast list of anti-hate entities around the world stunned me.

Type in ‘hate organisations South Africa’ and, on the first couple of pages alone, you’ll see SaferSpaces, Hate Crime Working Group, HCWG, Triangle Project, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and Amnesty International. I honestly didn’t realise, until now, the scale of hatred in the world.

The Warsaw-headquartered OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, describes hate crimes as “criminal acts motivated by bias or prejudice towards particular groups of people, and consisting of two elements: a criminal offence and a bias motivation”.

Hate crime, which is reportedly increasing all over the world, according to UNESCO, has the “potential to incite violence, undermine social cohesion and tolerance, and cause psychological, emotional, and physical harm based on xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and other forms of intolerance and discrimination.”

Atrocity crimes begin with words

“History,” it continues, “has shown us that genocide and other atrocity crimes begin with words — there is a collective responsibility to address hate speech in the present day to prevent further violence in the future.”

Some years ago, following the promulgation of South Africa’s equalitycentric Constitution, the government introduced two more protective pieces of legislation: the Promotion of Equality and Prevention Of Unfair Discrimination Act (PERPUDA), and the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill (which, not surprisingly, came under fire from some camps claiming it took away the right to freedom of speech.)

Non-profit South African legal organisation Probono.Org, in an article titled The Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, notes that, prior to 1994, the focus of violence in the country was mainly political. Then, with democracy and the promotion of equality, the focus moved to understanding and preventing violence between individuals and righting social, economic and other wrongs. Calling the rise in xenophobic, homophobic, racist and sexist crimes ‘alarming‘, author Ntandoyenkosi Mkize says that these differ from other criminal acts under existing South African law “because they are motivated, partially or wholly, by hatred towards the victim’s identity”.

While writing this, an article by News24 titled “Stellenbosch University student’s belongings urinated on in allegedly racist incident” pinged on my phone. In disbelief, I read that the ‘varsity is investigating an incident in which a White student allegedly urinated on a Black student’s belongings on the weekend. In my opinion, if the alleged perpetrator is found guilty of this disgusting act, he or she should face the full might of the law. As should the New York supermarket shooter.

Lone shooters aren’t alone

In her article in The Atlantic, Juliette Kayyem makes the point that even when “a shooter acts alone, their ideology is often shared”. While the accused, Peyton Gendron, ostensibly acted on his own, “that lone wolf language fails us in an era when hate and radicalisation now serve as a proxy for the collaborative herd, for the coconspirators and colluders,” she says. “Gendron wasn’t alone. His mission was effective because he was supported by an apparatus that provided the ideology and means for the hunt. Based on evidence from a manifesto that he reportedly posted Thursday night, Gendron did not perceive himself as being alone: He had his people; they were there for him.”

As far as I’m concerned, freedom of speech is not a right at the expense of people’s lives and wellbeing. And to this end, the good people need to find ways of restricting the access of the evillyintentioned to social media and other public platforms. Someone once said (and it wasn’t Edmund Burke, despite the quote often being attributed to him) that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

The 10 leadership styles – which one is yours?

Building on Dolly Parton’s definition of great leadership, I think that this article is worth a read. Titled Ten common leadership styles (plus how to find your own), it was written by the Indeed editorial team in December 2021. “At some point in your career, you may take on a leadership role. Whether you’re leading a meeting, a project, a team, or an entire department, you might consider identifying with or adopting a defined leadership style. Most professionals develop their own style of leadership, based on factors like experience and personality, as well as the unique needs of their company and its organisational culture,” it says, adding: “While every leader is different, there are 10 leadership styles commonly used in the workplace.” Aside from explaining the various styles, it also helps you determine the type of leadership with which you identify.

Don’t forget to charge your lanterns and power banks — loadshedding is back, and who knows for how long.

Stay safe.

Ingrid Olivier, Editor

ingridolivier@idotwrite.co.za