PALI LEHOHLA | So much self-praise, so little fanfare for Eskom at the big 100
The two books all over the news, on Mashaba and De Ruyter, reveal some things about the audience
In Sesotho idioms are crucial to shaping behaviour. One such is “Ngoana khoale ‘na o ipolela motho o motle a boleloa ke batho” — “self-praise is no recommendation”. Idi Amin of Uganda once said of Tanzania’s Mwalimu Julius Nyerere on Radio Kampala: “If he were a woman, I would marry him,” and challenged Nyerere to a fight in the boxing ring. Amin was once the heavyweight champion of Uganda. Mwalimu had long dismissed Idi Amin as an incorrigible buffoon. In 1979 Nyerere’s army supported Ugandan rebels to topple the dictator. Another interesting gaffe was when Amin asked Mwalimu Nyerere to say some good things about him...
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