It’s been a frenetic and fraught year for South Africa, filled with much stress and uncertainty. I just want to rush off to the beach and bury my head in the sand.
What a shock end-of-year blow we received with President Jacob Zuma’s sacking of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene on Wednesday night. As I write this, I am literally watching our rand nosedive minute-by-minute. How on earth can we be encouraging people to come home in this climate?
I have been wondering what Madiba would do if he was faced with this situation and it brings to mind his famous words, “It always seems impossible until it is done”. South Africa is the country of miracles and we need you all to be our miracles.
There’s simply no way we can allow weak leadership to define who we are as South Africans. The miracle of South Africa and the vision we all share for our motherland cannot be held ransom to one man’s selfish agenda.
Zuma’s knee-jerk decision has shaken South Africans of all colours, creeds and cultures into action and has seen them uniting against a leaderless government. Marches are being organised, petitions are being signed and the groundswell of discontent is fast gaining momentum.
These are urgent times and we urgently need black and white South Africans around the world to make their voices heard.
My message is simple, wherever you are in the world, make the commitment to get on an airplane and fly home to vote in next year’s Municipal Elections in May 2016.
Your votes can be a tipping point that can bring about real change for our beloved country.
Living on this rollercoaster of extreme highs and lows comes with the territory of being South African. There is no way I would ever leave this crazy, mixed-up, exasperating, beautiful country. As traumatized as I feel, I still feel a thrill of excitement because I know that these events can be the catalyst for real change.
So instead of burying my head in the sand, I’m going to sit on the beach and look out across the ocean and thank all of you in advance for coming home to vote.
Thank you for not giving up hope. Thank you for showing up.
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