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Category: Acumen News

#PresidentialImbizo Tanks Ramaphosa’s Sentiment

Date: 03.28.2024

Written By

Tonya Khoury

An Acumen Media Report 3rd July 2020 (Seven Days)

 

Bulelani Qholani is his name, say his name #BulelaniQholani, this is the name of the man who most media houses referred to as “naked man”.  Bulenani  was forcibly removed from his shack (not house – shack), he was naked as he was in the middle of washing himself, when he was dragged out into the local street, beaten viciously by SAPS, without a warrant, and then his shack was burnt to the ground in the same manner that his dignity was crushed by what can only be described as the most heartless and outrageous story this week.  #HisNameIsBulelaniQholani.

During a time when the country is fighting to eat, let alone find a suitable living environment, South Africa, well Cape Town decided it was time to pull down illegal dwellings, in the harshest of winters.  What is wrong with us?  Did they need the land to build a hospital, because that is not even justification for the treatment of this human being?  How dare you #CityofCapeTown how dare you practically sentence this man to a life on the street after stripping him of every ounce of human dignity?  In my opinion it’s time for #CapeTownMustFall (sorry my nice CT friends and there are many of you but can you step in here?)

My most annoying story of the week? The #PresidentialImbizo, I want to know who organised it because I would like to bill them for the nation’s time please?  When I read the idea of a virtual imbizo with #Ramaphosa I was elated.  The President finally heard us, we need to talk to him, my mind rejoiced!  I stopped watching Fawlty Towers (yes, I’m at that stage, I need to laugh desperately) and picked up my phone to make my comments known.  And then, the pure shambles and waste of time hit my screen, what a shocking attempt at virtual radio.  That’s all this was guys – a virtual radio station.  If you have any idea of the media houses (and you shouldn’t really) they are SLICK.  Taking questions and answers and debating content is what they do for a living. How is it even possible that the media houses were nowhere to be found at this catastrophic attempt at a dialogue with the President?  They said they couldn’t get them on the line!

Listen, let me tell you a little secret, I’ll let you into the backroom of media for a second, indulge me.

Every single radio and television station in the world work with these basics.  You have a showstopping guest! Yay.  The guest is happy to answer the nation’s questions. Double Yay! First step, you put out a call on social media (at the very least) to say it’s happening and ask the nation what it would like to ask this attention-grabbing guest.  A flood of questions come in, the lines light up in studios and a PRODUCER and CALL SCREENER or a SOCIAL MEDIA MODERATOR takes down the content – that bit never goes on air. EVER.  There are many reasons for this:  one is doesn’t waste the guest’s time (he’s an “Ace” card remember?),  two, you get to the point for the audience, three, there are nutters out there who would probably have shouted all sorts of hate on air and we don’t want that, we just want answers.  You see the genius of this working mechanic is at the end you have a handful of questions, no need for repetition and then you add to them a competent anchor who can dive deeper into the issues raised and has a sense of what the nation is about, I can name literally twenty off the top of my head, but I don’t know the anchor’s name that was on TV.  That’s how it works.  Now in stark comparison this is what you don’t do.  Put this prime guest on air and then make him (and your audience) wait six minutes for just two questions to be delivered to the jock’s ear, that are then poorly relayed to the President, so poorly that a woman raised an issue of rape and the host could not convey the question properly so the President banged on about how bad femicide is for ten minutes.   I did laugh though as @NewzroomAfrika (aren’t they a treasure of a station by the way) put up a live twitter stream using the #PresidentialImbizo as the search term.  Every single post was about the #CigaretteBan (being a competent news station they took down the feed because repetitiveness doesn’t make content – see? smart!).  The #CigaretteBan was the first question raised to the President, he said ciggies would be back, we didn’t believe him, we lit an illegal cigarette to lament. The entire imbizo lasted an hour and, if I’m kind, we got about 7 questions and 6 minutes of time with our President.  Can you please give me this job, I’ll get it right, what a wasted opportunity and embarrassment to the nation? Oh and in case you were wondering, we aren’t bringing back the #DeathPenalty, cause the crimes are not heinous enough see and we are a humanitarian nation.

As I mourned for my nation, #NigeriansMustFall stormed my timeline, I mean really guys, do we need #Xenophobia right now?  We really are all saturated with hate.  This story comes off the back of sixteen girls being found in a human trafficking bust where Nigerians were using them as prostitutes and fed them drugs instead of food via a lure of work. That is a crime, make them serve the time.  In fact, if you want my honest opinion #HangEmHigh, but it’s not time for #Xenophobia it’s time for the law to actually work! Yes, illegal immigrants should go home, but right now, you are home guys.  This is it, this infected, horror movie is all our home, and humans are being attacked, when will you see that we all bleed red and that some people are good and others are pure evil regardless of the box you keep trying to keep them in. #NoToXenophobia #StopFemicide #AllMurdersMatter

#AlexBurns and the homeless increase and no one cares to be fair because you see Gauteng is in a #PerfectStorm, with #CoVod19.  The epicentre moves to the business capital of SA and the hospital beds are full.  Why did we lockdown again, wasn’t it to build hospital facilities, I must have been dreaming right? And then a man dies from HUNGER while under hospital care, what am I reading?  If you think that was unbelievable, a whole bunch of tests have been dumped on the side of the road and #Lancet is giving out odd results.  The taxis move at max capacity as they show #MinisterFF the middle finger all the while the commuters are our bread and butter and lead the most vulnerable and unCovid friendly lives because of the government, because we never cared.

You want to know what cheered me up?  My favourite series is back, #StateCaptureInquiry and #JudgeZondo, strangely, makes me feel normal.  It’s about season 142 episode 3 and it’s as lit as ever.  #PopoMolefe (don’t you just love him?) dropped more files than #Agrizzi and this time the big bomb was detonated, the current President is implicated in the #PrasaDebacle. And what a debacle, talk about a cesspit of corruption and maladministration.  Then enter #DennisBloem saying, without ceremony that #Ramaphosa lied about #StateCapture.  #Netflix sure has taken a dip this week as you can’t get more interesting than the #ZondoCommission.

According to #NoseWeek (superheroes), #Ramaphosa sold a section of Limpopo to China for 90 years. And then, as if the President didn’t have enough controversy, his sister-in-law #BridgetteMotsepe (yes, it’s the same Motsepe) has had a bit of a run in with Botswana that is turning into more of a soap opera than a Trump Rally.  The Acumen Media report shows 100k results about the president this week of which 43% were negative, his net sentiment has dropped to -58.8%.  Check out the graphic, stats back my statements.

The good news is #Pleasecallme inventor #Makate has won another step in the battle against #Vodacom.  I’m so proud of this David’s relentless attack on #Goliath.  It’s a triumph of human spirit and the #GoodFight.  This and #MaxHurrell’s remix of the ridiculous #EatTheVirus airplane technology by Min. Mbalula were good cheer me ups this week.

The #RulingParty have been under fire all week with a myriad of stories, #ThandiModise didn’t bother to appear in court in the case of animal cruelty raised by #Afriforum, is this a new trend set by #NDZ, you just don’t worry about those court whatwhats?

#BhekiCele took a tough(er) stance on selling illicit cigarettes while #SACP district secretary and his #SixYearOld daughter were gunned down, priorities? Has this assassination got anything to do with the #VBSScandal as the SACP now breaks ranks with the #ANC over reinstated #VBSAccused, read #AceMagashule – can someone tell #Karen who is charge please? We would all like her to #SpeaktotheManager.

UIF money has dried up and no one I know got the #R350?  What about you, anyone, anyone?  Schools: put your left leg in and then take it out.  That’s basically the story of schools.  #Angie doing a dance that is completely unrehearsed and the stage is filled with sick children and teachers and 9 million children that won’t be fed.

The SIU (we all know how effective they are) are investigating corruption on the #Funding for #CovidRelief, what a laugh hey?  Have we moved forward at all, didn’t JZ set up the SIU to investigate corruption?

Annexations are the order of the day internationally it seems, as Israel steps into the West Bank with posters of Trump and Justice #MogoengMogoeng (he has broken my heart actually) forgot that Christians are Palestinians too.  #FreePalestine. Then China just took Hong Kong, remember those #HongKongprotests a while back, well the agenda didn’t change and the rage remains the same.  I have no words for these stories just a very sad heart. #FreeHongKong

Trump tweeted a #WhitePower tweet and then took a round of golf.  Then the US #DeleteFacebook started and #Zucks took about a $7bn kick to the jaw.  It’s about time, I cannot tell you how many times I have report vile racism to #Zuckerberg’s crew and they’ve said I should just block the user or unfollow.  If you’re going to fact check me, can you also work within the boundaries of the law or is racism legal in Facebook world? Iran issued a warrant of arrest for #Trump, I’m booked in for that series of events, I think the world is.

The best news all week is that #GhislaineMaxwell was arrested, now make sure we have LIVE streams into her cell please.  No staged exit here. #JusticeForOurChildren #PizzaGateStopsHere.  Almost forgot, #SwineFlu is back.  Just stay home, in fact just go and hide under the bed and watch #FawltyTowers, it’s racist by the way, sigh. I’m trying.

 

President

 

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