Be the architect of change for a new tomorrow this year

I have a blue toothbrush I cannot seem to get rid of.

It’s been four months. And no matter how many times I toss it in the trash, it magically reappears in the bathroom or even, sometimes, in the garden. True story.

It has become one of my daily haunts, wondering where this thing is going to reappear.

It’s almost as if, no matter how hard you try, there are some things that are simply impossible to rid ourselves of.

And as South Africans, we have an entire production line of ghostly toothbrushes floating around our past, present and likely our future.

It’s bizarre, but it’s the burden of living in Mzansi. Hope never fails us. But maybe it should.

Stress-test the past two decades and the straw has broken the camel’s back a long time ago.

Which other country welcome the new year by sweeping up the remnants of its democracy with a few brooms, as much of parliament was reduced to ashes? Few of us expect a Phoenix rising.

But then again, do we really care, or have we become so used to being our own punching bags that masochism has become the national fetish pastime? Are we resigned to flogging a dead horse while legions of friends and family have spread across the globe in a diaspora which reminds of a permanent refugee-run?

A new year is just a number and a calendar entry. Resolutions are sandcastles which wash away as the shoreline consumes its ideals. But the blue toothbrush of hope keeps returning.

Every time there is another expose on corruption, an act of honesty or efficiency; we celebrate mini victories.

But, just as the photo opportunity of the Zondo commission report handover will likely be the highlight of its existence so, too, do yesterday’s headlines of honourable ministers and digital agency question marks hang forever in incomplete sentences.

Imagine a detective show without conclusion. That’s South African justice.

The year 2022’s first day at work took double-time on the freeway. A police cordon separated a shoot-out from the traffic.

On Twitter, we are entertained by videos of highway robberies, street shootings, violence and the kind of real-life Hollywood screenwriters dream to imitate.

The future is so bright, but I cannot wear the shades. They were hit-and-run thieved from a street-side coffee shop, along with my cellphone. South Africa is all that, but it is so much more.

It’s the blue toothbrush of hope which never goes away. It’s the sunny skies, the people who smile and the kindness we show one another. It’s the resilience of a nation that’s been Muhammad Ali’d to bits but stands up to throw another punch.

It’s about our scientists who have led much of the recent Covid developments. We found omicron, we discovered it may annihilate delta.

Heck, we gave the world Elon Musk, Chris Barnard, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, the Dave Matthews Band and, of course, Lucky Dube.

And we give one another, hope.

We are not victims. Play the victim and you will forever be at life’s mercy. We don’t have to be bystanders, either.

South Africans make hay when the sun shines and spin grass into gold when Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t any more.

There is power in change and the big picture moves sloth-like towards a greener pasture, at home.

But change begins with yourself, your immediate environment, and it ripples outward.

In 2022, be the architect of a new tomorrow. Think before you slip a metro police officer a note, instead of taking the fine.

Change does not have to happen around you. Be the change. Be the catalyst for a truly new South Africa.

Let’s start with being better people ourselves and get the blue toothbrush of hope to wave its magic, and possibly influence a few politicians along the way.