‘THUMA MINA’ AGE
AUBREY MATSHIQI: We dare not let president’s ‘new dawn’ be a false one
Election of Cyril Ramaphosa as head of state has caused many to be seized by a sense of hysterical optimism
Hope cannot survive in a vacuum. Without adversity, crises and challenges, there is no hope. It is, therefore, not surprising that in the minds of many South Africans a "new dawn" must follow the "darkness at noon" of the presidency of Jacob Zuma. As I have said before, the decade of Zuma’s presidency of the ANC was a decade of ignominy. I suppose it is understandable that the expectation would be that such a decade must be followed by the "Thuma Mina" age of economic prosperity, democracy and peace. It is for this reason that the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president and head of state has caused many among us to be seized by a sense of hysterical optimism. It seems to have resuscitated the sense of idealism of the early years of Nelson Mandela’s presidency. This too is understandable, I suppose, given the fact that with the advent of democracy in 1994 paradise was found, only to be lost during the Zuma years. The "new dawn" therefore dare not be a false dawn. There are still...
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