Unity in diversity



The Heritage month: South Africa embraces it's diversity.
souce: (www.sahistory.org.za)



The Heritage month is celebrated in September every year in South Africa. This marks the day of having different cultures in our country and where we come from as a nation. Heritage day is however on September 24.

In every workplace, there people who have different backgrounds, different beliefs, different cultures and so on. Every person wants to embrace their culture by speaking their own language if possible or wearing their cultural clothing.


Organisations like the University of Johannesburg have an Annual International Festival which is the biggest event hosted by the Division for Internalisation. The event embraces the different cultures, or lifestyles within South Africa but especially for international students or stakeholders read more. Lotus FM will be also celebrating its heritage month at Ukhahlamba Drakensburg Park World Heritage site. This will be done to encourage South Africans to come together to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and unite against rhino poaching read more.

 It is a very good thing to see companies or organisations celebrate the diversity in our country. The only question posed will be whether they are doing it for the right reasons or just to gain publicity. Employers know that if they make their employees feel welcomed and accepted, they will surely gain their trust and the relationship will always be there. It seems that these days every holiday needs an event but is it an ethical one, that is done to meet the goals and objectives? Or is it done all for the sake of having a good image in the public eye?

Our new notes - the image of Mandela



To our suprise: Nelson Mandela is a man
 that will be honoured through the SA bank  notes.
(www.news24.com)



It came to my surprise when I saw the South African notes having changed from the “Big Five” animals to the former President’s image, Nelson Mandela. This is supposed to be a celebration for a country but there are a lot of critics which I seem to agree with.

According to News24.com read more, the rand dropped by 2.5 percent against the dollar. The announcement came as a surprise to many officials as it was said that, there would be an announcement of ‘national importance’ without giving details except that, President Jacob Zuma, Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan and Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus would be present.

The announcement was made by President Jacob Zuma at the Reserve Bank in Pretoria, the day also being the anniversary of Mandela’s release from prison.



On Sunday Independent the governor commented that “We have changed currency before. It is not a big thing”. The governor’s comments are due to the people’s negative reaction… But do you blame the people. I believe that the changing of the notes should have been announced during the Nation State to emphasise the reasons behind it and for people to expect what is to come.

Comments such as “Everything is called a Mandela something, “South Africa will become Mandelaville”, “This is like play -play money or monopoly money”, were broadcast on the News24 online medium. The thought of thinking about the money being used to buy drugs does bring dishonour to Mandela.

The new design cost an estimation of 2, 5 to 3 million and will be introduced before the end of the year. The Mandela notes will also have newly developed security features. Gill Marcus said so far the R500 note has not been implemented.

Yes, Nelson Mandela is a man of great honour and importance but the way this was done and introduced seemed dodgy. I mean why the secrecy? The Rand also dropped which indicates miscommunication within the government and the market. A publicity campaign could have been done to support the announcement. Perception is always a factor to consider.

Image is everything

The new IPhone 5: Nicknamed the Glass phone, you just
have toouch. (sauce: www.apple.com )

The new Apple IPhone 5 featuring a large screen and boosted computing powers was introduced in San Francisco on 12 September of 2012. Pre-orders open on September 21. “IPhone 5 is the most beautiful consumer device that we’ve ever created”, said Phillip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing read more .

The features of the new IPhone:

·         IPhone 5 comes in either white and silver or black and slate

·         8 megapixel with image stabilization and panorama (different aspects of a picture)

·         The IPhone 5 is said to be 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the IPhone 4s

·         The phone features a new 10cm retina display

·         It comes with iOS 6 with new features such as an all new maps applications with Apple designed  cartography and turn-by-turn navigation

·         Supports ultrafast wireless standards read about more features .

You can already imagine the outstanding gadget dubbed the “Glass phone.”

Ryan Block wrote, “Great. Use the IPhone 5 for ten minutes and now my IPhone 4S feels tiny, fat and ugly. And that’s how they get me every time.” On the contrary IPhone continues to excel. Who would have thought? After the passing of co-founder, chairman and CEO, Steve Jobs, consumers thought the brand would fall or poorly produce new devices. Some media was beginning to speculate whether the new CEO, Tim Cook is afraid of bringing something new to the market.

I must say that image is everything a company has to keep, it does not matter who is the new CEO or which one got fired standards have to be met. Apple stores show that image is everything as it still communicates with it's consumers and makes sure that they are happy and satisfied with every new product. Steve Jobs once said “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” 

Apple is reminding the industry how important it is to maintain relationships with your stakeholders and at the same time maintain the good perception and standards that people have about you as a brand.