After the May 29 demolition work by the octogenarian by the coast who refuses to ride his horse into the political wilderness, it is now time for the nation to pick up the pieces and rebuild the country.
The election cookie has crumbled, leaving many without a seat at the table, while at the same time also placing a huge responsibility on those gathered to do what is best for South Africa, and in particular the vast majority who have no doubt been largely left out whenever it was time to eat.
The news space has for days now been pregnant with how political parties, many with heavily bruised egos after the heavy losses of the election day, must now find each other and work out a workable settlement from which to form a government of the seventh administration of a democratic South Africa.
The air is also littered with speculation and rumour of what is unfolding behind closed doors as those hankering after political power are dealing with the hand May 29 dealt them. It will all come out in the open eventually.
But if there is one thing that we as Sunday World will hold out for and advocate at every opportunity is that in the midst of the smokes and mirrors show currently unfolding, the dreams and aspirations of the black African child are not put on the back burner.
There is no doubting leaps of advances made on many fronts since the liberation of April 27, 1994. It was the dawn of an era also heavy with hope and belief that long-held dreams for this land will finally come true.
Despite the aforesaid advances, much needs to be done still if this country is to shed for good the dubious tag as the world’s most unequal society. After 30 years of democracy, many still go to bed on an empty stomach in a land of plenty such as ours.
It can’t be that in a sea of such abundance, the vast majority have to make do with almost nothing yet those hoarding everything pretend it shall all end well. Right now as you read this, dear reader, 42% of us are surviving on the pittance that is social grants. Even such grants will eventually be in danger if the tax base keeps shrinking in the manner that it has over the past decade or so years.
It is in this spirit that we implore those doing the horse-trading business of -forming coalition governments that they never lose sight of what the Struggle was, and is to all intents and purposes still, about. This should ring true for former liberation movements and parties to what may be termed the left of our political landscape.
Very few will argue that 1994 just opened the door of possibilities for the African child but there has been forces, especially in the economic space, that sought to have that door slammed shut in their face, thus relegating millions to the periphery of an economy that could yield much more for all; only if it was allowed to do so.
If ever there was time that those -mandated by that African child to do their bidding started thinking not with their stomachs, this is it.
