Go latlhela tlhware logonyana

In its literal translation it means to throw a stick to a python. Tlhware is a python and we all know how dangerous it can be and I suppose in coming up with this idiom Motswana wa ko ga Lowe studied the behaviour of a python and how one could pacify it. This phrase has its regular use in meetings ko kgotla where issues of importance will be discussed and a person will respectfully stand up and request to voice his opinion. That person would respectfully be given the platform to state his opinion and so the kgotla will continue until a decision is made.

Now in today's multi media world one does not have to ask for permission to voice an opinion, it is at the fingers of your keyboard and that is good.

There is a tendency among South Africans to pass comment and opinions based on newspaper headlines and news bites without necessarily reading or understanding the whole story. This is clearly illustrated by our leaders who have called professionals doing their job all manner of names because they said something they did not agree with without necessarily reading and understanding what that professsional is saying.

As an example people have passed their opinions and views on the Supreme Court of Appeal judgement without actually reading it (even the summary). And this happens in all the other issues. I mean how dof can this be. Is reading that painful such that people can rely on headlines to be informed.

Is it too much to ask to request people to acquant themselves with the facts before they comment. It is Abraham Lincoln who said it is "“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”.