It is often said competition is good for the consumer. The more the competition in any business sector, the better the service or product and the more competitive the pricing. The consumer becomes the ultimate winner.
That may be so. But I will make an exception for Lesotho’s telecoms sector. Granted, our telcos, Econet Telecom and Vodacom, can always do better in terms of both product access and pricing. Just like in any business, there is always room for improvement in their delivery pedigrees.
But Scrutator wholly disagrees with those who see Elon Musk’s Starlink as the panacea to any problems – real or perceived – in Lesotho’s telecommunications sector. It is not.
Unless you reside on Venus or under a sizable rock, you will know that Musk – the First Buddy at the White House – is largely behind his friend Donald Trump’s mission to destroy the world as we currently know it.
To those who have complained that my description and characterization of Donald Trump as a SOaB is way over the top, I am sorry I have to disappoint you again.
As Hollywood star Robert de Niro has eloquently said, Trump (I won’t give him the honorific prefix of Ntate) is a skunk, a dog, an ignoramus and a low life scumbag. I say all this with all humility and with due respect to all the breeds of dogs that are man’s best friends. You (the breeds) deserve better than to be compared to the “Orange One” because you serve a real purpose – to be friends with your masters? You thus deserve better than to be compared to the “Orange One”.
Trump did not only stop at demeaning us Basotho by claiming that no one has ever heard of our country – including ourselves as Basotho who live here. In other words, we are all so dumb (in the eyes of Trump) that we don’t even know of the very existence of our own country? How pathetic of a so-called leader of the free world to make such a silly pronouncement? But Trump has gone further in showcasing his rank madness.
He has falsely claimed that Ukraine started its ongoing war with Russia, that the European Union was created to destroy the US. He has demeaned the brave war hero Volodymyr Zelensky as a “modestly successful comedian”. He has threatened to co-opt Canada as the 51st state of the USA, in addition to seizing Greenland, the Panama Canal and other as yet to be specified pieces of land. He has gutted USAID (though I have no particular problem with that one. African countries must learn to take responsibility for the health of their citizens). But the abruptness of effecting the closure of USAID proves that Trump is inhuman. Trump’s needless tariff war against America’s long-time allies has thrown the world economy into turmoil. More bizarrely, Trump has threatened to sign an executive order banning all women from menstruating.
Yet, this is exactly the kind of man Musk catapulted into power by funding his campaign with hundreds of millions of dollars. If Musk is capable of such an atrocity of supporting such a debilitating moron as Trump, why would any reasonable Mosotho want us to entrust him with our telecommunications spectrum/ airwaves? Just like Trump, Musk is an entitled white man who believes the world owes him itself. Witness how Musk has encouraged, aided and abetted Trump’s war on Musk’s own country of birth, South Africa. Musk has not even winced. How unconscionable can a man be? Look at Musk’s father, Errol. He boasted of impregnating both his own stepdaughter and her aunt. Perhaps Musk’s madness is genetic.
South Africa has its own laws aimed at reversing three centuries of racial oppression. These laws are reasonable. In terms of these laws, Musk must allocate 30 percent equity to blacks if he wants a licence for his Starlink to operate in SA. But alas, he has taken umbrage with that.
Because Musk regards himself as some sort of demi-God, he does not want to share equity in his license, even if it is to be fully paid for. He has told the South African government to “shape up or ship out” and launched a media crusade on his discredited Twitter platform against President Ramaphosa.
Without belaboring the point, we are better off without a character like Musk. His mainstay Tesla company is on a downward spiral. People the world over are dumping Teslas in favour of other car brands run by decent people. Tesla stock has crashed as investors dump it to protest Musk’s madness. So why would anyone want Musk here in Lesotho?
His Starlink is also overrated. Scrutator has been to several countries that have embraced Starlink. The claim that Starlink is the perfect Internet brand and comes very cheaply is a hoax. Starlink is in fact expensive as it is a dollar denominated product. It is also as wobbly, if not worse, as any other network in bad times.
Think of it. Hardly a week passes in Lesotho without Ntate Dennis Plaatjies, the CEO of Econet, announcing a good philanthropic investment by his firm in critical areas like Health, sport, education and welfare. Hardly a week passes without Ntate Mohale Ralebitso, CEO of Vodacom, announcing significant CIS investments in more or less similar areas. These are Basotho executives doing everything they can to give back to their country.
Does anyone there seriously think Musk would be bothered by Basotho children trying to access education without food and shoes? Does anyone honestly think that Musk can take the place of boNtante Dennis and Ralebitso? Does anyone think Musk can replicate or replace the Higherlife Foundation? Does any Mosotho there really think Musk cares for him or her? The answer is simple, Musk simply doesn’t. All he wants is for his team to establish in Lesotho and then repatriate all the profits to him.
The galling result is that if Musk is allowed to dump his Starlink here and finds ways of making it cheaper, he will not only decimate the profits of Vodacom and Econet, and imperil their ability to continue funding vital social projects, he will simply be repatriating Starlink’s entire profits from Maseru to Texas, further jeopardizing Lesotho’s foreign exchange reserves. Musk will not offer to finance anything that Econet and Vodacom are funding in terms of CSI. He is simply not interested in the welfare of others, except for himself and his ever growing brood of children (He now has 16 kids, about 11 official and another five non-official). In a nutshell Musk, like his friend and Best Buddy Donald Trump, is a full circle moron. Musk’s actions in gutting USAID without any notice to enable it to honour its outstanding obligations and, his work at DOGE at which he is announcing the hiring, firing and then re-hiring of Federal workers daily, all prove his madness beyond any reasonable doubt.
We don’t need his Starlink here in our beloved Kingdom. There is nothing that Musk can do that Econet and Vodacom cannot do . We need patriotic companies in our backyard. Musk’s Starlink is not and won’t be one of them. He is a hoax. Let him and his Starlink die in Texas whence they belong. We will also remain and die here in our proud Kingdom. We have been very fine with our Econet and Vodacom for decades thus far. Let’s keep it that way.
Ache!!!!
