Jeremiah 30:7-9
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it:
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it.
For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts,
that I will break his yoke from off thy neck,
and will burst thy bonds,
and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
But they shall serve the Lord their God,
and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
We are at an interesting point in 'post-apartheid' South Africa. We walked through the gates of freedom with Nelson Mandela. We negotiated with caution with De Clarke. We watched with fear and awe as many ordinary South Africans spoke and shared in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We even watched similar committees replicated in the rest of the world. We noticed and took notes as our Friends in the south penned a very well thought out constitution. We were amazed and taken aback when the Admiral chose not to lengthen his term in office even if we would have gladly given him more time. We noted the strides that were made by the African National Congress. The leadership transition that took place with the choice of deputy presidents. Thoughtful and calculating Mbeki has come and gone.
Then came the tough talking but tender-faced Zuma dancing his way to the top, bypassing barriers in Education until he reached the ultimate seat in the land. Now Jacob is troubled and nothing short of scripture can deliver him out of this strange place where he finds himself. His bevy of companions, the jokes we made about him and his spending habits, the closeness with which he seems to approach the precipice.
Further field we quivered at the bold statements made by other challengers named after famous Roman leaders. We waited for the ides of March but there were no prophecies or knives or plots in Rome's Senate to silence the whispers of conniving up and coming opportunists.
We are now wondering if the wave of radical reform will also hit the Rainbow Nation and stir up the winds of change so desperately needed in the new democracy. Will yet another tough talking borderline-looney rise to the fore of the political space there too? Will we see another Philippines or perhaps a shake up in the 'Republican Party' as we have seen in the land of the free. Will those who have been marginalized by freedoms songs in the South African nation find a voice in the future. Will there be a agitation and final unloosing of fetters that many now relate to the congress and its rising elites?
