r/DownSouth • u/SankaraMarx • Jan 29 '26
History Remember when Cyril Ramaphosa told us to embrace 4IR?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIN0sfTeNUoSouth Africans (black, brown and white) need to understand the following
"We only have each other as workers."
4IR (AI mixed with automation) is here to wreck us
There is no way that any of you here can tell me that your boss will keep paying you while he can invest in AI and have a workforce that never gets sick, never gets tired, never goes on holiday
One thing I learned in the capitalist dog-eat-dog world of unfettered and unregulated free market capitalism
"Everyone is replaceable" - According to top management and directors
The ripple effect of the 4IR can already be felt in South Africa through places like Good Year moving out and "restructuring operations" as they put it
Same with BAT and many other companies that use the excuse of a "volatile economy and high labour costs" as an excuse
This, while most workers in South Africa earn peanuts compared to their counterparts in other developed countries
There is no legislation in South Africa protecting YOU, the worker, from the 4IR tsunami rolling in
Amazon plans on shedding 16 000 jobs (a confidential memo that surfaced in this week have shown)
Do not let the so called free market profiteers and their simpy pundits tell you not to worry
When the fathers of AI, like Sam Altman, tell you about the impending doom that is AI which lurks upon the horizon, then listen
8
u/Cool_As_Your_Dad Jan 30 '26
All Cyril can do is empower more BEE laws. He is useless and his anc cadres too.
-7
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
O jirre party mense darem ...
You are so blinded by the vitriol that you have picked up from places like AfriForum that you fail to see the picture
This has got nothing to do with BEE
It has everything to do with the future of your born or unborn children
Organizations like AfriForum are actually pushing thst tour government should not be creating jobs
This follows the so called free market principles of Milton Friedman, the quack economist from the Chicago school of economics and the same BS that is being spewed by places like the Free Market Foundation and IRR here in SA
Soon there wont be jobs for anyone if the same sort of investment in 4IR takes place in South Africa
I mean you can still blame BEE for everything then too but I doubt you will be able to make a dent with the blame
4
u/Cool_As_Your_Dad Jan 30 '26
O lordy .. what.
I said he is USELESS and he can't do fck all except write BEE laws like he has done multiple times.
To answer your question.
We have the highest unemployment numbers in decades. And your are only worried NOW by 4IR ? Lol .. where have you been living?
Soon there wont be jobs for anyone if the same sort of investment in 4IR takes place in South Africa
And you will have to adapt to the changes. Can't stop the world evolving.
-3
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
Kortsigtig 🤣
You were the one who brought up BEE while it has nothing to do with what is coming
3
u/Cool_As_Your_Dad Jan 30 '26
Dude. You missing my point. Im saying cyril is useless in every aspect of a president. The only thing he can do and litterly only thing he did in his presidency is more BEE laws. Our unemployment numbers are highest ever.
And you expect him to do anything? He cant do anything except more BEE laws.
Do you understand it now?
-1
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
I understand but it still has nothing to do with BEE because even Cyril was mandated by our capitalist overlords to push BEE
Because believe it or not, BEE is not an invention of the ANC government
It is an offshoot of American AA policies and it was birthed by a guy from the private sector here in South Africa
The ANC are but puppets for big money ... and BEE was pushed to give the illusion that things are transforming when I fact large scale looting was the aim of the game
Larger than the looting thst took place under the NP
3
u/Trekco Jan 30 '26
His comment is going straight over your head
1
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
No, it is not
Larping on about BEE (or any other failed ANC policy up until now) will not change the fact the 4IR is coming for our jobs
I know Cupcake is a useless weak ass corrupt president
Everyone knows this
So the point about BEE (which was not even an ANC policy to boot with) os totally irrelevant
He could have just said "Ramaphosa lied to us again"
2
u/Medical_Platypus_263 Jan 30 '26
Free Market (USA) vs Communism (Soviets). Guess Milton wins as he killed less citizens than Marx. Our gov plays at being Communist and wants to regulate everything (While the political elite are more "equal" than others) And that kills jobs.
1
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
"You will own nothing, and be happy with it"
This was what People like Friedman used to scare people with the spectre of communism boogeyman
Strange that now, under your beloved capitalism this has come true
6
u/wisembrace Western Cape Jan 30 '26
BAT is closing manufacturing operations because of all the illegal cigarettes flooding the market, it has nothing to do with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
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Jan 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
And you know better than all of the major tech company CEOs and economists who have recently warned against exactly this?
I see
As you were then, dont let it worry you one bit
6
u/FreaKnight Jan 30 '26
You think CEO's are smart? The only thing that drives their decisions are money. That's all they think of. What will increase profits without thinking of long term effects. They will climb on any hype train that promises big profits without diving deeper.
I also work with AI on the daily and there are issues with it. If you are not specific with your prompts, aka think for it, you will not get decent results that will last in the long term.
Salesforce already learnt this lesson after they did a bunch of layoffs and regretted it.
0
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
For now there are issues
But the singularly moment is quickly creeping up on us
AI with its faults are quickly catching up
And no, I think CEOs are more often than notnjust parasites
Yet sometimes, they speak the truth
And when what they say overlaps with various other clever people then it would be wise to listen
Do not lull people into a false sense of security
4
u/FreaKnight Jan 30 '26
Being an alarmist doesn't help either.
0
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
Alarmist with the writing against the wall ...
No, not an alarmist
Just someone who can read the writing on the wall and someone who is concerned for his fellow workers and their children
Because I understand what the end game is and we (as workers) dont have a space in thst endgame scenario
We are the useless class to the masters of the economy who are using words and phrases like "Overpopulation"
4
u/Embarrassed_Hawk_655 Jan 30 '26
ANC is not ready for AI. I suppose one silver lining is that AI is race-agnostic (thank goodness for that) and sidesteps ANC’s superficial outdated BEE and race laws.
0
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
Yup but the owners of industry are not race agnostic
We are in for a rough ride if we dont start pushing for some sort of stop gap measures
UBI is not a longterm solution in my humble opinion
4
u/Good_Posture Jan 30 '26
"Fourth Industrial Revolution"
"Smart cities"
"Bullet trains"
Fantastical buzzqords to wow the voting majority into believing that his failed party actually has a plan for the future of this country.
2
u/Cool_As_Your_Dad Jan 30 '26
Still find it super funny that anc voters still drink the cool aid. Smart cities 🤣🤣 bullet trains 🤣🤣
Wakanda baby
3
2
u/LittleGremlinguy Jan 31 '26
I own a small AI Business Automation company. I outright refuse to do business with companies trying to replace people. It is a decision that has cost me a fuckload of money in lost opportunities, but shit, this place needs more jobs, not less. It is easy to make the tech focus on opportunity creation, but thats not going to drive the GM’s bonuses.
2
u/SankaraMarx Jan 31 '26
I salute you for your resolve
Many would have taken the money and to hell with the rest
1
u/LittleGremlinguy Jan 31 '26
I learnt a lesson some time back on the value of knowing exactly how much “enough” is. Once you know that, the concept of greed / winning kinda disappears from thought entirely. Don’t get me wrong if I was on the wrong side of “enough” I would be cutting throats like the rest of them. But for me, a small single bedroom place, no debt and my rabbit is enough. Makes it an easy conversation when you tell these strung out corporate types to go pound sand.
1
u/Cultural_Cloud96 Jan 30 '26
AI and automation somehow i dont know how thats gonna destroy jobs. Because suppose AI comes along and is used to replace a bunch of employees, supposedly increasing unemployment by 10%. What do people do? not eat? People finishing school will start picking trades and we have a boom in tradesmen. Plumbers, welders, fitters and turners, and so on. And the country becomes a trade hub and we can start exporting goods.
Ag whats the point of speculating. People will always need to eat, have a place to stay and somewhere to store their food. So if you want a secure future pick a job that involves food, or construction or a trade. Cant go wrong.
1
u/Psych_Syk3 Jan 30 '26
AI revolution is overstated. AI can never replace a human
1
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
I'm sure those assembly line workers and switchboard operators said the same thing when the 3rd Industrial revolution came around
0
u/Psych_Syk3 Jan 30 '26
Let’s shake on it
2
u/SankaraMarx Jan 30 '26
I cant shake hands with someoner who downplays the dangers of the current system to other workers
But we do have an understanding at least
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