{"id":24190,"date":"2023-01-18T11:04:27","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T11:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-maliba-of-racism"},"modified":"2023-01-18T12:01:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T12:01:57","slug":"the-maliba-of-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-maliba-of-racism","title":{"rendered":"The Maliba of racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>MALIBA Lodge, that overhyped compound of chalets, is accused of racial discrimination. A guest complained that whites were separated from blacks in the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Their group of blacks, she said, were hidden in a corner near the kitchen. Muckraker is not in the business of sprinkling salt on festering wounds and will never attest to what she didn\u2019t see or experience.<\/p>\n

What has been proven beyond reasonable doubt is that Maliba Lodge\u2019s management is hopelessly incompetent at public relations and media crisis management.<\/p>\n

That much is clear from the audio of Stephen Phakisi, the managing director, responding to the racism allegations. The audio is only useful in teaching managers and business owners to keep away from assignments beyond their qualifications and experience.<\/p>\n

Public relations is something Phakisi should never attempt because he sucks at it. In the audio Phakisi peppers his whining with arrogant statements that reveal his contempt for those who have dared to add their voices to the debate.<\/p>\n

He insinuates, without much prodding, that most of those talking about the incident have never been \u201cpaying customers\u201d. He misses the point by miles. You don\u2019t need to have spent a cent at Maliba Lodge to have an opinion about the incident.<\/p>\n

Nor do you have to understand the issue or know where the lodge is. You can say what you want even if you believe Maliba is in Mafeteng and offers day rest services for M100.<\/p>\n

Phakisi also moans about the unfairness of the allegations as if that matters. What matters is what people think about the allegations of racism. More importantly, it matters more how the complainant interpreted their treatment.<\/p>\n

Maybe they felt they were being hidden in the corner because of the colour of their to avoid tainting the lodge\u2019s reputation as an exclusive white corner of Lesotho.<\/p>\n

They could have thought they were being punished for just rocking up at the lodge as if they were buying makoenya and litapole at Mamas\u2019 Cafe\u0301. They probably thought they were put near the kitchen for the management to give their white guests the impression that they feed their employees well.<\/p>\n

Phakisi doesn\u2019t acknowledge these and other possible feelings and perceptions yet they are the possible causes of the fiasco he is trying to manage. Muckraker thought Phakisi\u2019s embarrassing performance would have been because he was ambushed with questions.<\/p>\n

But no. The lodge\u2019s statement is equally scruffy and dismissive of the complainant and general complaints. It breaks the first rule of dealing with a crisis: humbly acknowledge the feelings of the complainant, customer or victim \u2013 whether real or perceived \u2013 before anything else.<\/p>\n

From the opening line, the management says it\u2019s deeply pained by the accusations of racism. It says it feels \u201cinsulted\u201d and \u201cdisappointed\u201d. The guest\u2019s pain and dissatisfaction are not even acknowledged.<\/p>\n

Nor is the \u201cmisunderstanding\u201d that caused the mess explained and contextualised. The only evidence that Maliba Lodge is not racist is that they \u201clove the beautiful country of Lesotho and Basotho people\u201d.<\/p>\n

The statement sounds like it was written by a white person. If the author is black Muckraker will bet her last kobo that a white person was looking over their shoulder and dictating the words.<\/p>\n

You know a statement is written or influenced by a white person when it says \u201cBasotho people\u201d. How many legs does that animal have? Basotho are the people and the people are Basotho. No need to qualify, unless you are just uninterested or ignorant of Sesotho.<\/p>\n

In case you are one of those \u201cBasotho people\u201d who keep moaning about racism, Maliba arrogantly reminds you to calm down and be grateful because they \u201cstrive to help empower local Basotho\u2019s (sic) through employment and our community trust\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maliba Lodge doesn\u2019t have any problem mentioning its jobs and donations in a statement dealing with allegations of racism. As for the guest and others who might be primitive enough to ambush the restaurant with a food order, Maliba\u2019s management has an answer: Don\u2019t just rock up or we will roast you in the kitchen heat.<\/p>\n

We are told that the complaining guest now understands that they \u201cjumped to the wrong conclusion\u201d. The lodge is saying it looked like racism but it was just procedure.<\/p>\n

More like a confused Mosotho who likes to whine about procedures they don\u2019t understand. An oversensitive blabbermouth, if you like. This is the same \u201cprocedure\u201d another guest endured five years ago when a white chef allegedly told her to f*** off for complaining about their shoddy food.<\/p>\n

She followed the booking procedure but was still told to go hang. The statement stinks of a superiority complex. It says those complaining are beneath Maliba Lodge\u2019s target market.<\/p>\n

Phakisi hinted the same when he said the local market, Basotho to be precise, are the burger and chips diners. That might be true but not something a trained communicator would say.<\/p>\n

Muckraker\u2019s only wish is that the management of the \u20185-star\u2019 Maliba would at least learn to spell. They think they are superior but spell severely as \u201cserverly\u201d. They say \u201cBasotho people\u201d instead of Basotho. Superior people who are hostile to commas and full stops. Phew!<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. MALIBA Lodge, that overhyped compound of chalets, is accused of racial discrimination. A guest complained that whites were separated from blacks in the restaurant. Their group of blacks, she said, were hidden in a corner near the kitchen. Muckraker is not in the business of sprinkling salt on festering wounds and will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":24189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[233,246,343,245],"class_list":["post-24190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-basotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Maliba of racism - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MALIBA Lodge, that overhyped compound of chalets, is accused of racial discrimination. 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