Written by Julie Bayley, in response to our call for readers to submit their thoughts on the devastating development in the Ukraine on the 4 March 2022. 

This is what our lovely reader had to say. 

In much of our daily life we rely on the good intentions of others. One mundane example is traffic on a two-way street: oncoming cars have the capability of swerving into my lane and hitting me head-on, I trust that they do not intend to do so. There are a whole host of similar examples, for good reason, societies that trust each other’s intentions function much more smoothly and efficiently. No one wants every single street to be built with concrete dividers between traffic.

International relations works the same way, and there is an argument that much of the prosperity of the last few decades has been driven by the sort of increased trust and interconnectedness that comes from assuming the good intentions of other countries, leading to increased economic efficiency for everyone engaged in global trade. In this arena, though, the question of good intent by Russia for South Africa is never far from the surface.

A case in point is the nuclear build negotiated directly between Jacob Zuma and Vladimir Putin. The intentions by both parties were beyond that of rectifying our energy crises. Clear evidence suggests that SA’s nuclear build program sought to directly enrich Zuma and his cronies, as well as Putin and his energy oligarch; Igor Sechin by bankrupting South Africa. All parties sought to use good intent as a smoke screen.

Under Putins rule the Russian people live permanently in this propaganda fog.

Current members of our current SA government seek to use this same soot. That Russia, by annexing its neighbours through force, ultimately seeks good intent for them… Again we are not fooled.

Thank you Julie for bearing it all. We hope you enjoy your perfume Discovery Set!