Have we returned to the dark ages?

Remember when you were a kid and your mom would take you to the supermarket? There were always those moments when you'd throw your favourite candy or chocolate into the shopping basket, only for your mom to consistently put it back. The child's reaction in those moments always amused me. The well behaved child would just accept the mother's decision; the normal kid would beg and plead for a while before giving up and conceding defeat. But then there is the immature terror child who would throw an absolute fit and trash the entire store hoping to get their way. 

To me, this represents a proxy sliding scale for maturity in the world. 

Child 1) The SA government was adamant that South Africa would avoid recession until the last minute, but earlier this week when they were proven wrong, they gracefully admitted their fault and decided instead to focus on a solution. 

Child 2) During the recent Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, Chelsea players spent 50% of the game yelling, begging and pleading the referee for a penalty on several separate occasions. It almost got ugly, but in the end the Chelsea players begrudgingly conceded defeat.

Child 3) Maphatsoe again threatened militant action: “Should Zille not immediately cease the racist tendencies that bring pain to all military veterans of SA, MKMVA will not hesitate to implement a militant programme of action to take back the streets and our communities.”

I must admit that I find that last bit slightly amusing and highly disturbing. When did we return to the dark ages where people would unrightfully demand to get their way and threaten with force in order to get it? Or has the American culture of acting like 10-year olds spread to SA? Have we not evolved at all? And you have to love the new catch phrase in SA politics, commonly used by groups such as the ANCYL, COSATU and MKMVA: 'we will render it ungovernable'. Can you imagine if everyone approached their problems this way?

Boss: Paul I want those reports completed by Friday please.

Paul: No, I refuse. And if you insist my mates and I will make this office ungovernable. Additionally, I require a raise and a car allowance.

Teacher: Greg please stop pulling Sarah's hair.

Greg: No, you can't make me. And if you try I'll make this class ungovernable.

I could go on... But then again, we should ask ourselves what do we really expect from leaders whose education is limited to this:

(a low blow I admit, but I just couldn't resist)

This is not London or Geneva—this is Africa!

"This is not London or Geneva - this is Africa!" - that's a quote from a Newsweek article I read in September about JZ and his inevitable rise to the presidency. 

I'm no expert on politics, I'm not gonna pretend to be but I think it's the first election I've ever bothered caring about (no, i wasn't a saffer hooked on obamamamamania) and decided that I must start paying more attention to SA politics.

Well election results are slowly coming in, the ANC's sitting at exactly 67% at the moment... 

We all knew that the ruling party was gonna do it again, it's just a  question of 2/3rds or not.

Anyway, I read the Newsweek article again and I think it's worth a read. The gist of it is that despite the negative perception of jz (for many reasons), chances are that he will be able to do a good job (and he's preparing pretty well for his new role). 

Now whoever reads this must understand, I'm not sitting on the fence on this one, I registered to vote and if I was in SA, I would have, and chances are that it wasn't gonna be ANC. 

But I'm one of those people who are always optimistic for SA. (I've met some haters who are not willing to give SA a chance, looking for the first door out, but c'mon! its home! I also keep meeting saffers in aus who cringe at even the thought of SA, this makes me sad, but alas, I guess everyone has their reasons...)

Regardless of what any of us stand for politically, we must embrace the fact that SA's come a long long way in 15 years (besides Juius, he's just speshul), and i think - no, i BELIEF! that things will get better and that future is in the hands of the ANC (this isn't blind faith, if u read the article and listen carefully u'll probably see that there's method to the perceived madness of jz). I hope he proves all the haters wrong, and justifies the faith his supporters (about 7 in every 10 south africans) have in him.

 

erm, viva! :P