The scene was set. The nation looked on, breaths bated, nerves jumping and minds racing. Everyone picked their teams and yelled their opinion. For nearly the whole day, all the whispers around us was “Tonight at seven. House of Assembly. Zuma and The Nation.”
The entire lead up to the State of the Nation Address reminded me of an old school yard fight. The bully setting the time and place to pummel the small nerds who dared defy him and steal their stuff. So, I suppose it’s no surprise that the actual event resembled nothing more than the average day in the school yard.
There was the President AKA “The Bad Boy”. Looking rather spiffy in a suit and tie one would hardly say this is the dude responsible for just about every crisis the playground has to hear about. He looked calm and collected, as one expects from a child who is used to creating mayhem he seemed completely oblivious to the scorn and disdain that poured off those around him and the daggers some glared his way. He does and says whatever he feels like… Defiant to the core, he’ll admit his wrong doing and laugh it off without ever accepting the punishment or repercussions of his actions.
Next we have the “Tattle Tales”. These are the people who see a wrong and make a rhyme to expose the wrong. Theyll sing it, loud and proud, till a teacher eventually takes note and does something about it. They usually end up being semi-annoying so even if they’re right no one really wants to listen… But before you write them off as a bad joke, do understand that on more than one occasion they hit the nail on the head and rattle the bad boy enough for him to nervously chuckle and blush.
That brings us to the nerdy onlookers…. These guys don’t directly attack. No, no. A head on attack is far too demeaning and requires way too much brutal force. They choose the delicate approach. Slashing words and clashing figures. They’re dignified in an aloof manner. Noses held high as they quietly berate the bad boy and teeter behind him as he delivers the speech of his life. To the bad boy these guys are the proverbial flies. Annoying and not worthy of his anger.
Of course, in every raucous there’s a voice of reason. Although, I suppose the bad boy and the tattle tales who are constantly going at each others throats, it does not surprise me that the person demanding everyone be logical, shut up and get to class so that the important stuff can be addressed and taught to those who care. This is, well to put it quite simply, the child who reminds the teacher of an assignment due today when the teacher has long since forgotten the assignment exists and is now embroiled in a discussion that is completely off topic. Please note, the topic was most probably changed by a whining tattle tale insisting on getting attention.
So, we’ve covered most of the important characters at this school, but don’t make the fatal mistake of ignoring the usually quiet wall flower who will stun everyone by throwing their hands in the air, proclaiming injustice and demanding the bad boy face the music before storming out of the playground, pouting and stomping angrily like a five year old tantrum thrower.
And high above the play ground, behind the walls of, a once sacred, school stands a teacher…. Desperately she attempts to restore calm to a situation that is proving to be too crazy for her mind to comprehend. She stands there pretending to still be the mature adult in the situation while ironically indulging the bratty tattle tales in a long winded argument that will eventually be ended by the straight forward nerds waiting to get on with the lesson at hand.
Eventually, the bad boy takes center stage delivers the lines that are written for him by a poor soul forced to do his biding in his usual arrogant, pompous manner. He tells a perfectly spun story of a playground that (to everyone else listening) sounds like a fiction of his own imagination.
It takes two days before everyone musters up the courage to stand up and tell him to stop living in his dreams. One week, filled with harsh words and the teacher fumbling around lost because she could not recognize her students, later Mr Bad Boy still refuses to do the honorable action (that the opposing gangs insist is the right thing to do) and calmly climbs into his expensive car and drives to the home he sneakily solicited using the lunch money he bullied juniors into giving him.
Basically in one sentence: The state of the nation is exactly that of a playground full of children.
There is no longer leadership in South Africa. We have lost the respect and trust we have in our leaders… They were responsible for bringing unity and equality as well as setting an example for the leaders of my generation to emulate unfortunately, all we see is five year olds in expensive suits tugging at a new toy yelling “It’s mine”…
After watching the SONA 2016 and the events leading up to it and after it, I conclude that politics is child’s play and those of us who have decided to mature will never truly understand its appeal. And as we speak the children are leading us straight back to the playground.
Considering the need for a babysitter,
BrokeBella
Post Inspiration from: https://violetonlineisonline.wordpress.com/2016/02/17/fuck-whites/ https://capetownpulse.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/2-questions/
Brokebella 
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