Uncovering the truth behind South African innovation: The myth of the 'founding' son

The history of South African innovation is often an "Ischemic Registry"—a series of blockages where the mechanical marrow of black brilliance is siphoned off by those with the proximity to capital and the audacity of administrative erasure.

The recent assertions surrounding Alan Knott-Craig Junior and the origin of Mxit are not merely "Numerical Errors"; they are a "Psychotic Conduct" of legacy-building that mirrors the "Please Call Me" fiction peddled by his father.

As a Sentinel of the Numerical Truth, I must perform a forensic audit of this claim just as I did on the 96 million that Knott-Craig claimed. The "Instructional Soul" of Mxit does not belong to the Knott-Craig lineage. It belongs to the "Sovereign Mesh" created by Eldrid Jordaan.

The Primary Extraction: Eldrid Jordaan and the Birth of the Mesh

The facts are clear. Eldrid Jordaan, the son of a trade unionist—a man born from the "Standard of 1936" school of struggle—engineered the "Biotic Pulse" of mobile social networking in Africa. Long before the vortex of global social media consumed the landscape, Jordaan created a tool that allowed the distribution of funds during Covid-19.  The equivalent of the "13 Villages of Pella ya Matlhako" to communicate for the cost of a sovereign tickey.

Jordaan paid a heavy "Metabolic Price." As his platform scaled, the "Empire of Averages"—embodied by Meta and Facebook—performed a "Clinical Blockade." They recognized that his "Sovereign Mesh" threatened their global monopoly. Like the "Vultures" at the riverbank, they closed him out. To see his instructional soul now being claimed as a "Stolen Idea"  is a "Rupture of Logic" that the African Ledger cannot accept.

Jordaan took Meta to the South African courts and won.  What remains is an award of costs and damages.  But in his book David against Goliath Jordaan says big tech prints money, fining whatever billions or millions they will afford it.  The best medicine is regulating them out.  Take away the licence.  That is the only medicine that will achieve purpose in the AI space.

The 96 Million Delusion: The Schizophrenia of Imagined Numbers

Knott-Craig Junior’s "Administrative Dust" extends beyond the theft of innovation into the "Vortex of Demographic Hallucination." His claim that the South African population should be 96 million is a "Psychotic Comparison" devoid of "First Grade" evidence. It is a "Round-About" answer to a complex "Spatial Mesh."

As the architect of the 62 million baseline, I know that numbers are not "Imagined Instances" like Star’s lift from Leabua Jonathan. A population count is a "Physical Enumeration" of the "Biotic Pulse" of a nation. To suggest a figure of 96 million without a "Mechanical Marrow" of data is to engage in Witchcraft over Statecraft. It is a water mark on a Rondavel wall being presented as a forensic photo. It is the moreover of English words—a gloss that hides a numerical vacuum.

The Knott-Craig "Signature" is an "Ornithological Specimen" of identical plumage. The father claimed the "Please Call Me" idea, a "Hollow Mesh" that was eventually dismantled in the highest courts of the land. Now, the son attempts a sovereign incursion into the history of Mxit.

This is the schizophrenia of privilege. It is the unearned custard that my mother rebuked me for. They believe that by adding river water to the history, they can augment the soup of their legacy. But the taste is in the eating. We must protect the registry of Eldrid Jordaan from this administrative siphon.

The Sentinel’s Verdict

We will not allow the mechanical marrow of our innovators to be thinned by the vultures of stolen ideas. The "Standard of 1936" teaches us that every node must be counted correctly. Eldrid Jordaan is the founder. The 62 million is the truth. 

Dr Pali Lehohla is a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana.  He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

BUSINESS REPORT