Will elections posters still be smiling at us when load shedding hits again?

It really is quite a relief now that the elections have come and gone and we can all return to normal.

All the results have been analysed, the winners interviewed, the losers ridiculed, news reports and columns written, and a general round of handshakes and hugs exchanged because of the success of the whole exercise.

And so it should be, because there’s no denying that our elections are free and fair.

All that remains is for the president to be officially rubber-stamped by the National Assembly and then for the Cabinet to be announced. I know many of my fellow countrypeople are anxiously awaiting news of the “new” Cabinet.

The names of those individuals who will be finding themselves within arms’ length of the pap pot, is not just a minor detail in the greater scheme of things.

Look what happened last time round when the wrong ones ended up there. They feasted alone.

But hold on a second. I’m not sure if countrypeople is the politically correct gender-term when referring to what used to be my countrymen. Why does it now sound as if we are all countryfolk?

Maybe with the focus on the land issue, we might all become country barons before the next round of elections.

I wish I could refer to you all as my fellow voters, but no, the majority of you don’t bother registering or voting. But be that as it may. Let me stick to countrypeople.

As I was saying, it’s time to return to normal. Unfortunately, sky-high fuel prices, extremely low economic growth, a spiralling crime-rate, and out-of-control unemployment, remains the normal that we have to face daily.

No, no, I’m not pessimistic, just stating the facts – and the challenges that those closest to the pap pot will have to face and find answers for.

A promise is, after all, a promise.

Of course, the campaign posters also have to be removed and hopefully that will be done sooner rather than later, because it would be a terrible shame if the promising politicians are still smiling at commuters from every lamppost when the next round of loadshedding kicks in.

Danie Toerien.

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