Dangerous times, it's no wonder South Africa is broken, pivoting firms and that outdated sharks board. Readers write in. . .
These are dangerous times that we live in
Iran, or the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Core, has never been more vulnerable than right now, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows this. The window to finish Iran off completely is closing rapidly.
US President Donald Trump's tactics of trying to secure some sort of diplomatic nuclear deal with Iran, goes against what Netanyahu and his men need to do: Strike at the head of the Iranian snake and deal with their aggression once and for all. Iranian leader Ayatolla Khamenei has succeeded in enriching enough uranium for 16-24 nuclear bombs.
Given the extremist nature of this ideology, the world at large, we should be hoping for an Israeli attack on Iranian soil sooner rather than later. Can Israel do this alone, or do they need Trump's help? We will have to see.
But one thing is certain to me: The 'free world' and Western civilisation owes Israel huge gratitude for standing up to the Middle Eastern bully.
No-one can say for certain how the radical IRGC might react once it successfully enriches enough uranium to blow up all of Israel. As we all should know by now, the Ayatolla's main goal is to eradicate the Jews, and to then go after the US. In his own words, they aim to destroy the 'little Satan' first, then the 'Big Satan'.
Do not be fooled people, this is a very dangerous ideology which seeks to destroy and replace Western civilisation.
The well-co-ordinated pro-Palestine protests that we see all over the world have been carefully crafted to make a huge statement.
Islamo-Marxism is on the rise and if Israel and the US don't act soon, we will see very aggressive behaviour from Iran in an attempt to avoid being completely humiliated. We have already seen the likes of the Sinwar brothers, Ismail Hanniyeh, Mohamed Deif, Ebrahim Raisi, Hassan Nasrallah and other terror Masterminds being eliminated by Israel and the Mossad.
Gaza has been flattened and terror-infrastructure has been blown to pieces, including Iran's air defences, leaving them vulnerable. Let's hope that whatever the outcome, peace will follow.If Iran is allowed to further their nuclear programme, we risk having a massive war. If Israel attacks swiftly and soon enough, their show of power might just be the key ingredient to reshape the Middle East and free the Iranian people from its evil regime! | L Oosthuizen Durban
Cause of the broken state of SA is obvious
Political analyst Rob Hersov frequently refers to South Africa as 'our broken country.' While evidence of that is ubiquitous, recent reports amplify just how broken things are.A letter by DA MP Tim Brauteseth on the state of municipal finances reminds us that only 41 of the 257 municipalities have clean bills of health. Service delivery is at 20% in one municipality after exceeding its total budget by 13%; another manages a 32% service delivery after spending 100% of its budget. R220 million was spent on consultants whose 'advice' has been a total waste of time and money.Reports of eThekwini facing critical staff shortages in infrastructure units is no surprise. It's a situation that has been haemorrhaging for the last 15 years to the point that the critical water and sanitation unit has 58% of its posts vacant.
'Why does a city as large as eThekwini struggle to attract and retain the skills required to maintain its infrastructure?' asks Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke. The answer is because of the elephant in the room. Inflexible labour laws prioritise demographic quotas ahead of skills capacity. Socialist labour unions ring fence their own regardless of skills. Ideology has driven out institutional memory and caused skills to migrate overseas.
Unless that elephant in the room is bluntly identified and decisive measures taken to end the obvious cause of the broken state of the infrastructure, the hand-wringing of opposition parties like Action SA is futile and evasive.
Of course, abetting the shambles is rampant corruption which flourishes when institutional memory is lost and replaced by politically connected appointees. Another article highlights one more broken aspect of our once functioning country: KZN Education Department is in financial collapse.
Again, the cause is just another elephant in the room, namely, the Marxist trade union Sadtu. It is common knowledge that this outfit actually runs the Department. Calls for a summit meeting of stakeholders, like the consultants summoned to 'fix' broken municipalities, means a lot of hot air and further unaffordable expenses which succeed only in applying a bandaid to the broken status quo.
The cause of South Africa's broken state is as clear as daylight. It's because of kleptocracy, corruption, ineptitude and blind adherence to a failed totalitarian ideology. | DR DUNCAN DU BOIS Bluff
Get rid of outdated sharks board
They are here, the sardines. And tons of them. Chased by sharks, dolphins, gannets and other hungry predators, the sea is literally boiling with them.
And waiting on the shore with their boats and nets are greedy fishermen.
Attacked from the sea, air and land, it's a desperate struggle for the little silvery fish to survive as everyone wants to gorge on the bounty from the sea.
The first haul of sardines was at Port Edward. Even though the surf conditions were rough, scene netters hauled in two nets of sardines together with 21 angry sharks.
Thankfully the sharks were released back into the water to continue their feeding frenzy.
Just on Saturday they were at Port Edward. By Tuesday they had moved up to Warner Beach and Amanzimtoti where several crates were caught.
The frantic sardine run has forced the sharks board to remove the shark nets along the coast. How very kind of them to think about the sardines and the sharks. But who are they are deceiving? For 70 years the Sharks Board has been killing sharks with its nets and baited hooks to protect bathers along our coast. It's time we removed the outdated Sharks Board.
The sea doesn't belong to us; it belongs to the sharks and other marine life. | T Markandan Kloof
Firms must pivot to meet tech challenges
Traditional marketing channels such as call centres, SMSes and emails are being put on mute by consumers.
This is because customers are tired of being spammed incessantly.
Business strategies must be realigned to developments in technology that have changed customer behaviour, and while convenience is expected, it must always be on the customer's terms and time. Businesses need to put the customer at the centre of the organisation and build an ecosystem around them.WhatsApp AI-powered smartbots have been at the frontline of the wave of innovation that has revolutionised sales into the digital century.
Besides demanding more convenience, the digital century customer is also demanding instant gratification. Customers are more likely to abandon their efforts if the call-to-action function on your businesses's Facebook page links them to a call centre or email address.
The thought of waiting on the line for 'the next available agent' or not knowing when they will get a response to their email is demoralising. Research shows that 87% of customers are unlikely to move from a Facebook page to a website through the call-to-action function to browse for further answers.
The opposite happens when potential customers are linked to a WhatsApp smartbot with the capabilities to provide answers to any of their questions almost immediately, just like one would have a conversation with ChatGPT, and where the customer has control of the pace of the sale process.
Embracing new innovations not only meets the customer's expectations for speed and convenience but also redefines sales strategies for higher lead retention and smarter conversions. | Jonathan Elcock Co-founder and CEO at Rather.chat
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