Where is The Real South Africa in All This Fake News?

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A street in Johannesburg

South Africa is going through huge turbulence. It reminds me of the words ascribed to a former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. When asked about establishing a democracy he remarked; “In establishing the rule of law and a democratic state, the first 500 years are normally the most difficult.”

There is a lot of truth in this. South Africa has a young and vibrant democracy, but it needs work, constantly. And the Constitutional Court is shouldering a heavy burden in guiding the Ship of State and its Commanding Officer.

As a result of the disastrous and almost criminal presidency of Jacob Zuma, the (until recently) unthinkable is staring South Africa in the face – a catastrophic election failure & blowout for the ANC in the 2019 national elections. This will be, at best, his legacy to the ANC and those who fought for so many decades to bring democracy to South Africa. Tragic.

The majority of South Africans are on the march, literally and figuratively speaking. This is an almost daily occurrence as jobs are lost, economic growth is going south and the Guptas are seemingly all over the place. Fake news, driven by them are fighting a loosing battle to push back the ugly truth of how they have manipulated themselves in a position of control viz-a-vis the president of the country.

There is the fake narrative of Radical Economic Transformation; a pay-off line designed by white foreigners in the UK to prop up President Zuma and his inner circle. There are the fake revolutionaries, being financed to publicly salute the leadership of Zuma and trash anyone who might be able to provide some checks and balances against the theft, lies and abuse ordinary South Africans are subjected to.

Despite the numbing stories of kickbacks, rigging of the Boards of State Enterprises and allowing totally incompetent ministers to continue serving in the cabinet, it is as if a very slight sunrise is already lighting the darkness. One gets the sense that the entire South African society is mobilising itself to find a better way into the future. One that will help the future to arrive in better shape.

Imagine South Africa with real economic & jobs growth, a respected Head of the Hawks, a Minister of Finance with a steady and honest hand on the wheel of state. A new President is round the corner. If Zuma is successful in having his candidate elected at the end of the year, expect the Big Bang Theory of a totally new alignment of stars, and a breakthrough to real renewal and democratic state building as the ANC as we know it today, implodes in spectacular fashion to herald a new dawn.

It is helpful at this time to remember the words of Nelson Mandela; “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Analysis By Frans Roelofse in Cape Town

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