I believe in magic, so I believe in the upcoming 2020s

Admittedly, the 2010s were terrible.

We kicked it off with the Fifa World Cup, but from there it was mostly downhill.

State capture, a limping economy, credit agency downgrades, a rand that lost almost half of its value against the dollar, Eskom, SAA, unemployment … But the 2020s will be far better.

I know it, because I believe in magic.

Most people scoff at the idea of magic, as if we have already evolved into an intelligent, advanced species with a grasp on science and logic.

Which, of course, is nonsense – if there isn’t a mythological world connected to our own, why are so many of the people I know trolls and witches?

The three-year-old Egg is a great exponent of magical thinking. She believes Santa will visit on Christmas Eve and bring her a singing pony.

(He will, and we’ll all be happier for it, thanks to her belief in magic.)

With that same childlike belief in the magic of positive thinking, allow me to share my wish list for the next decade with you.

I want Uncle Cyril to attract enough investment to create real, sustainable growth, job opportunities and prosperity. I want a health system that looks after all our citizens and a world-class public schooling system which does not only prepare children for exams, but for life itself.

I want the Boks to win the Webb Ellis Cup, as they did in each of the last three decades, but I also want to see Bafana shine at the World Cup. I want to see our athletes excel at the Olympic Games and I want to see a South African heavyweight boxing champion.

I want far fewer snouts in our civil service trough, I want to see our bloated police service turned into a crime-fighting machine and I want to see a booming economy.

In my own life, I want to have a balanced, healthy marriage despite the lovely Snapdragon being Snapdragon.

I want to be a good, caring father and I want professional success.

And for you, dear reader, I want good health, enough money, happiness and, above all, electricity.

May the 2020s go down in history as one of the best decades. We deserve it after the 2010s.

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