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Understanding the limitations of fines in the Al trade landscape
The Mercury
|October 20, 2025
THE REAL NUMBERS
Johannesburg, Eldrid Jordaan, based on our paths that crossed on this essential question of whose data and data sovereignty deliberated the matter.
In the end it was my considered view that when the President of South Africa assembles his team to meet his counterpart whenever he does, in his information technology munition, he would be advised to take along Jordaan. Why would Jordaan be crucial in that discussion?
Jordaan acquitted himself by taking Meta to court on encroaching the rights of GovChat. The central argument Jordaan made and won is this, "But what they did not understand was that GovChat was a co-created platform.
It was co-created with the South African government, with departments like Cogta, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Development and Sassa."
So, it was not just technology that was brought to the South African government; it was actually co-created.
What Facebook then wanted to do was to off board us, and for [itself] to have a direct relationship with the South African government going forward.
So, it is a business model that they wanted to own directly, and they saw us as a threat because we were succeeding in being able to help vulnerable South Africans connect with these [services].
It is this business model that the North continues not to appreciate and they are again faced by a massive fine. This time around from a lad that cut his teeth as a refugee in the streets of Mafeteng in this a country, which according to President Trump no one knows of - Lesotho.
This story is from the October 20, 2025 edition of The Mercury.
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