Humility will be key for the RFP

Is arrogance a new measure of success since almost everyone that either becomes a CEO, Minister or even a PS suddenly becomes arrogant the minute they step into office?

The answer is no! Arrogance is such a distasteful character trait.

It’s a thing of the Devil and I don’t know why most people use it as a way of saying, “I’ve made it!”

I really hope arrogance won’t get into the heads of the incoming Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) administration, more especially PS’s. Matla a a hle a ba ferekanye hampe.

I raise this point following an incident that took place this past weekend on Friday, 28 October 2022.

I had planned to attend the inauguration of Sam Matekane. However, my trip to Lesotho got interrupted by an emergency.

As I’ve previously mentioned, the Mrs is an anaesthetist (a doctor that makes people sleep before an operation) with the Medi-clinic group in Pretoria.

As you may all know, Pretoria is still infested by white male racists.

That’s why I strongly dislike Pretoria and Bloemfontein. They are full of racists that are still stuck in the apartheid era. Come on. Move on! It’s 2022.

This past Thursday, there was a white Afrikaner/Afrikaans-speaking gentleman that checked-in to a Medi-clinic hospital due to a recurring headache and a neurosurgeon (a doctor who diagnoses and treats conditions that affect the nervous system) was called in to examine him.

When this white male saw that the neurosurgeon was a black man, he looked at him cynically and said, “Nee!” (Nee means No in Afrikaans).

The old Afrikaner guy looked at this black doctor with a sly-look and kept on saying, “Nee Papa! I can’t be operated on by a black man.” (meaning the ‘K’ word).

“I will wait for a white doctor next week,” he said.

The poor black doctor left the hospital and bear in mind that neurosurgeons are a very scarce commodity.  Very, very scarce! Then, on Friday, 28 October, the white gentleman underwent a few tests including brain scans. Unfortunately, the scans came back not looking good.

There was a huge clot stuck in one of the vessels to the brain and this was an emergency that needed an immediate operation.

Damn! An emergency that stopped me from attending Ntate Matekane’s inauguration because I knew I had to take care of domestic matters.

The doctor in charge of the ward came back with the results and shared them with the white Afrikaner.  The doctor told him that this was an emergency. “There’s is a clot stuck in one of the vessels to the brain. You need to undergo surgery immediately.”

Wow! Panic creeped in. The white man was now desperate. It was a race against time. The white man and his wife pleaded with the nursing sisters to call the black neurosurgeon back, of which they did.

When the black doctor arrived, the white man and his wife were red-faced and in tears (ba retetse).  They wife pleaded with the husband to apologise to the doctor and said, “Frankie, please say sorry to the doctor.”

The white racist man pleaded. “Please doctor, please, I’m sorry.” The black doctor looked back and said, “Nee papa. Nee! I forgive you. But sorry, I can’t help you.”

As we speak, the poor white man is with Nelson Mandela, OR Tambo and Bishop Tutu. That’s if he made it to heaven. He paid the ultimate cost for his arrogance.

I wrote this piece following a very distasteful behaviour I witnessed from two leaders of political parties that lost in the previous general elections.

One of the politicians couldn’t hide his anger towards Ntate Matekane and gave him a very weak hand-shake (e phoqang), on the day of the swearing ceremony in Parliament.

This is wrong. But I couldn’t understand the conduct of these two political leaders.

Didn’t they condition their minds to a possibility of losing elections? It looks like they didn’t and this brings about a very pertinent point.

I think most of these political leaders need counselling (tlhabollo) to prepare their minds before ascending to power.  They also need strong counselling after losing out in the election to prepare their minds for an ordinary life.

And these counselling services need to be extended to CEOs and PSs as well. You know, I really don’t understand what goes on in the mind of a person the minute they are appointed CEO.

They suddenly become larger than life. U fumane motho a kokomohile eka masumu a khanngoe ke khoto. Hao banna!

But I understand. There are only 23 CEO positions in Lesotho. That’s why CEO’s are so celebrated. Ke melingoana.

There’s one gentleman, in particular, that I grew up with in Mazenod. He changed the minute he became a CEO of a certain corporation that I won’t mention by name.

Banna! I’ve never seen a person that allowed arrogance to destroy him like that.

But this behaviour has become a norm in Lesotho. Unfortunately, the All Basotho Convention (ABC) was killed by arrogance of its ministers and PSs.

And I hope and pray that the incoming RFP administration doesn’t fall in that trap because Ntate Matekane is generally a very humble person.

I first met Ntate Matekane in 2016, during the construction of the Mpilo Boutique Hotel.  I found him standing outside the construction site with his architect, Ntate Edgar.

Ntate Edgar decided to give me a tour of the hotel and I introduced myself to Ntate Matekane. He was very cool, replied back and introduced himself and said, “ke nna Sam Matekane.”

I was surprised that he even went as far as introducing himself to me. We met a month later in Mazenod following the passing of Ntate ‘Mile.

He greeted me and still remembered who I was. I found it very surprising knowing how “rich” people, at times, conduct themselves.

The success of the RFP administration will only be determined by its will to be humble towards ordinary people.

Mako Bohloa