Editorial Column: The alien invasion

(UPDATE: Please note this column was written before Dr Mamphela Ramphele pulled out of the deal with the DA)

What has happened to the plain, old simple – the days when we knew exactly what the price of bread and milk would be and we could with certainty say: “This is how much it will cost me”; the time when we were able to get through the month without having to cut back on the basics, just to get by?

It is almost as if we are left waiting at the gateway of heaven, just hoping that we would be let in, because our sins of the past was so great that we might get punished for our indiscretions, no matter how hard we believed in the afterlife.

Certainly, the afterlife of Apartheid hasn’t provided us with much to go on with a better life – the poor are getting poorer, and even the rich are starting to wonder where their hard-earned cash is going to.

With absolute truth, we are left puzzled by what we can expect from our political parties for which we have voted for every five years, hoping that change would come.

Our country’s President is living a lifestyle cut off from the rest of the country in his haven of bliss, Nkandla, and simply refuses to speak to his nation about the choices he has made.

Thinking of the choices he’s made, when last did the President really speak to the nation without it being for political campaigning?

People are left uncertain to what his thoughts are on basically anything since he took office. Just once, it would be nice to see our country’s leader take to the stage and speak to the nation frankly about the issues we are facing – corruption, crime and the struggles to make ends meet.

But, no, he’s off in Nkandla, sleeping it off in his safe haven – protected from the aliens invading his personal space.

Then we have the DA taking to the chess board and throwing its pawn at the nation right before elections, and introducing a new Presidential candidate from another political party, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, from Agang SA, and making her their King. But what’s happened to Hellen Zille, the Queen of the DA? Is she still making all the moves?

DAgang has completely confused the nation – who are we voting for, and who will be the one actually ruling the party, or the country if they succeed in the elections?

Within all of this confusion, we can look at philosopher Confucius’s wisdom, when he says, “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of”. So, where do we fit in? Somewhere in the middle, I believe – take what you want from that.

It is enough to make you feel alienated from the world, and uncertainty persists as we try to fight for our freedom from being told what our nation should be or look like, or what we should spend our money on, such as E-tolls, which, quite frankly, seems to be hated by the masses, but no one is listening. Is anyone listening? Are you there?

So, people take to the streets, marching for their rights, fighting for their rights, and plainly taking over and creating their own rights, which we can see happening in Reiger Park and the rest of Boksburg, with dagangs taking over, drugs, weapons and crime being the choice of the day.

This is where we call out to our local authorities, “Where are you? Is anybody listening?”

Our country is crying out for help, but the chess board is too important, and silently, but violently, our nation is being invaded by the aliens hovering over us, leaving us confused and scared, and making us attack back. But if our leaders are making their chess moves it should be done with the people in mind, right?

If they think in terms of a year, they should plant a seed; if in terms of 10 years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people – Confucius.