Well done, LNDC

I’m currently reading a fictitious book named, How to dislike Kaizer Chiefs. It is more in-line with the one I’ve just finished reading named, How to un-love Arsenal FC. You see, if you want to have constant heartbreaks and headaches, be a fan of those teams. The thing that I’ve realised with Kaizer Chiefs is that it suffers from internal conflicts or mixed role-playing. On one hand, you have Ntate Kaizer Motaung as the Chairman of the football team. Then you have his son named Bobby Motaung serving as the CEO of the team. Then on the other hand, you have the newly appointed coach named Gavin Hunt. So, Gavin Hunt found the team at its lowest point after it narrowly missed winning the 2019/2020 league title after Mamelodi Sundowns snatched it at the very last minute. Literally at the very last minute and that got the previous Kaizer Chiefs coach, Ernst Middendorp, fired. Was Middendorp to blame? In my view, certainly not. The team lost momentum during the hard-lockdown and got complacent. As complacent as the ABC. But you see, someone had to take the blame and Bobby Motaung thought, “yes, here’s an easy target” and fired the coach. So, the problem with Kaizer Chiefs is that you have a team that is family-owned and roles are so intertwined and overlapping to an extent where the manager is also playing the role of a coach. This is one headache that Gavin Hunt has. He can’t perform his duties with autonomy or without interruptions from the “family”. This is unlike the free rein given to Benni McCarthy by the new owner of Amazulu FC. The owner of Amazulu FC, Sandile Zungu, told Bennie McCarthy that, “hey man, I know nothing about soccer. Do your thing but make sure I don’t lose my investment”. Guess what? Bennie McCarthy is on a winning streak. Doesn’t the situation at Kaizer Chiefs resonate with a situation that we’re all familiar about in Lesotho? Most certainly! Unless Dr Majoro is given autonomy and liberty to perform his duties without interruptions, the whole country would win. But because we have the so-called big-headed political veterans that are always going into affairs of running government, Dr Majoro’s hands and feet are tied up and we all expect him to run and win the marathon. Elections will be due in about twelve to fourteen months time. Literally next year! So, we have a party that is busy fighting and eating itself from within instead of preparing to win the elections. Well, I have one piece of advice for the ABC. Start window-shopping for a coffin and tombstone because the jam is over! Now, let’s talk about something positive for a change. Some good news for a change! Wow! Finally, the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) has done something totally unexpected. Whilst going through one of the local newspapers, I saw an advert requesting prospective investors to buy a stake in Loti Brick (an RFP). This felt like a dream because sanity has finally prevailed. I’ve written about this possibly a million times and my editor can attest to this. We have state owned companies/entities that are in a state of distress. In fact, they are not only in distress but in ICU. However, I never understand the rationale of keeping ownership of those entities in the hands of the state/public sector instead of simply transferring them to the private sector. This is what the LNDC is finally doing with Loti Brick. They are calling on the private sector to buy shares or even to buy a majority stake in Loti Brick in order to transfer ownership from public to the private sector. This is excellent and long overdue! The only sin committed by the LNDC was not to advertise the Loti Brick advert in thepost newspaper. This is a bold move in the right direction. This is an act that will revolutionise the “tiny” economy of Lesotho by opening up opportunities for the private sector. This is how Batswana citizens got wealthy because they own the economy. The economy is in their hands. This move will also open up thousands of job opportunities more especially for the youths. I hope and pray that Loti Brick finds a buyer in order to save the entity and most importantly to save jobs. I also pray that evil politicians won’t interrupt the process of transferring the entity to the private sector. Haai! We are tired of these evil politicians. I further pray that the LNDC will also look into relinquishing control and disposing assets such as the LNDC shopping centre, the Development House, Basotho Canners, Devcort Flats, Avani and “millions” of idle commercial sites in Lesotho. Those assets are best kept in the hands of the private sector and this is what we constantly learn in Economics. Land and property are best kept in the hands of the private sector. Let’s take a look at the LNDC shopping centre for instance. The LNDC has proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is incapable of running/operating the LNDC Centre. The shopping centre is simply in a state of decay and would simply be better in the hands of the private sector. The tenant mix is terrible, toilets are in a shocking state with leaking taps, the centre is always dirty. On the contrary, take a look at how successful Pioneer Mall is. Well after ten years of operating. The shopping centre is always clean. But let’s start with the fallen fruits. Not only the low hanging but also the ones on the floor. In my honest opinion, Basotho Canners needs to be sold outright to the private sector. The potential that the factory holds can unleash thousands of jobs for the youth and generate millions in tax revenue. We just need to run the factory well but it can only be run effectively by the private sector. Hopefully, this will also inspire the government to re-look at other entities. I mean the potential that could be unleashed if some of these are to be sold to Capitec Bank or even ABSA Bank is immense. I bank with both ABSA and Capitec and the technology offered is miles ahead and nothing compared to what local banks are currently offering. All in all, well done LNDC, this is a bold step in the right direction. This is the best news ever. ‘Mako Bohloa