You all better recognise ICT’s power

A social activist called Vusi "Old Man" Mahlangu disappears but is able to send a message that he is "either arrested or kidnapped", with his phone about to die. Do the captors of "Old Man" realise that it is easy to trace a cellphone to the physical location of its last connection?

A social activist called Vusi "Old Man" Mahlangu disappears but is able to send a message that he is "either arrested or kidnapped", with his phone about to die. Do the captors of "Old Man" realise that it is easy to trace a cellphone to the physical location of its last connection?

Published Apr 3, 2016

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The power mongers had better realise that the ICT megatrend makes it near impossible to mask impropriety, writes Victor Kgomoeswana.

If you are keen on dominating the world or being influential in any form, at least observe the megatrends or hire a clever scenario planner.

This week came to a frenetic end with the Constitutional Court ruling on Nkandla, with superstar university graduate Julius Malema being the biggest winner of all.

True, South Africans can be proud that their constitution and judiciary can still hold up in the face of a governance lapse and denialism. Let us be honest. He who was a pest 12 months ago, disrupting Parliament and the State of the Nation Address (SONA), delivered this ruling.

We, the so-called ordinary South Africans and plenty of members of the ANC, were happy to suffer in silence and go on living our lives. We were reduced to grumbling about the excesses of Nkandla on social media and at private parties.

Not many were willing to risk being manhandled by parliamentary security or taking legal action for what we believed in. So, perhaps in the absence of solid leadership in Parliament, Julius Malema has been the most consistent figure of late.

Funny that Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta experienced an EFF-style disruption of his SONA.

He was continually heckled by whistling opposition members who were eventually ejected from the house. Talk about a role model!

Megatrends can be defined as transformative major changes. They are sustained over time and are slow to form or to be apparent. That is why we miss them. The rulers of the world, both public and private sector, often overindulge in self-praise and overlook the signs. For example, information and communication technology (ICT) lowered the cost and speed of sharing information.

There are mobile phones where there used to be fixed lines, faxes, letters and photocopiers. This means that by the time an attempt is made to cover up, deny or damage control anything, the whole world might already know; rendering any censorship redundant.

ICT enabled underprivileged communities to transfer money without brick-and-mortar banks and to remotely receive healthcare. Edward Snowden leaked what should have been classified information, leaving the National Security Agency battling to explain how the privacy of so many people was violated.

Those who, as sung by the O’Jays in their song The Year 2000, “call themselves the rulers of the world” continue to behave like they can use apartheid-style repressive methods to manipulate their techno-savvy voters or by simply claiming to have “a good story to tell”.

The power mongers among us had better realise that the ICT megatrend makes it near impossible to mask impropriety.

So, Vytjie Mentor blows the whistle on her ministerial offer from Saxonwold, and the president claims not to recall who she is.

A social activist called Vusi “Old Man” Mahlangu disappears but is able to send a message that he is “either arrested or kidnapped”, with his phone about to die. Do the captors of “Old Man” realise that it is easy to trace a cellphone to the physical location of its last connection?

In Brazil, Joseph Safra, supposedly the world’s richest banker, got bust. Investigators tapped telephone conversations between his executive and tax officers - for attempts to bribe government officials to the tune of $4.2 million to wipe off his tax debts.

All these point to a lack of understanding our cheese has moved, to paraphrase Spencer Johnson.

This failure can be funny when a technophobe like me is ignorant about SnapChat or Twitter. It is not funny, though, when it leaves a head of state with egg on his face because he underestimated the effectiveness of his own country’s institutions - such as the judiciary.

May this Constitutional Court ruling be a potent lesson for us all that the availability of modern affordable technology has given power to those who previously could be manipulated due to their ignorance!

* Kgomoeswana is author of Africa is Open for Business and anchor of Power Hour which is broadcast every Monday to Thursday on Power FM. Twitter Handle: @VictorAfrica

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

The Sunday Independent

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