“It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the season of hope,
it was the season of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of the noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
Charles Dickens was writing from a historical perspective, yet his work, is still relevant for the present day England and France. It was the worst of times – during the French Revolution – in Paris and it is still the worst of times in Paris – the Yellow Vests Protesters. It was the season of despair, and it is still a season of despair – the Brexit Crisis is giving Europe and Britain some sleepless nights.
Across the Channel, people from both sides were trying to find a solution to the problems – then. Across the tunnel, mainland Europe is trying to find a solution to the British Brexit problem.
Charles Dickens was writing from a historical perspective, yet his work, is still relevant to the present day Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The only difference now – unlike then – is that on both sides of the Limpopo, it is the worst of times.
Unlike then, when London was flourishing while France was burning, both Harare and Pretoria are burning.
Sometimes you have to cut the old tree, which no longer bears fruits, in order to create sunlight for the younger trees to start bearing fruits for many seasons to come.
Events unfolded in Harare and almost similar events – minus the military intervention – unfolded in Pretoria. Robert Mugabe stepped down as the President of Zimbabwe and Jacob Zuma stepped down as the President of South Africa and we thought it was a season of hope.
We were foolish enough to believe that things will improve with the demise of Mugabe and Zuma.
We were foolish enough to underestimate the extent of ‘state capture’ on both sides of the Limpopo.
We watched as Mnangagwa won the mandate to lead Zimbabwe – albeit the issue had to be settled by the Constitutional court. Pierre De Vos, Warren Freedman et al in their 2014 academic textbook, “South African Constitutional law in Context”, were unapologetic when they stated that the concept of democracy was not cast in stone – sometimes a few men and women in Judiciary robes will determine the fate of millions of society’s population. Nine judges of the Constitutional Court determined that Mnangagwa won the 2018 Presidential elections in Zimbabwe.
That Ramaphosa is more popular than the ANC comes as no surprise. Ramaphosa garnered more votes for the ANC on the Presidential ballot than the votes which were cast for the ANC on the Provincial ballot.
That it has been projected that the ANC will not garner 60% of votes means that Ramaphosa has much more work to do to assemble a cabinet which will toe the line to his liking.
That Zuma loyalists still occupy much space in the hierarchy of the ANC is no secret. This means that Ramaphosa’s cabinet will be a mixture of his preferred candidates and the ‘Zumalites’. The very people who were part of the state capture brigade. Will he successfully tame the dragon called corruption without tearing the ANC apart? We are heading towards a season of despair across the Limpopo in Pretoria.
Zimbabwe’s constituency based system gave Mnangagwa a head start. The faulty factional fight was dealt with when one faction was expelled from ZANU PF. The aspiring MPs went through some primary elections before they were subjected to the national elections. Barring electoral fraud, this means that these MPs were voted on merit. Among his elected MPs, Mnangagwa had the luxury of appointing 5 non-constituency MPs into his cabinet. He has a cabinet of his choice.
If Mnangagwa and Ramaphosa manage to contain the elephant in the room – corruption – and manage to turn around the fortunes of their respective economies for the good, they will be our Jarvis Lorry. We will have seasons of light on both sides of the Limpopo, both Harare and Pretoria will become prosperous, ‘Dr Manette’ will come back home. ‘Dr Manette’ will come back home and be reunited with ‘Lucie’.
‘Lucie’ needs parental guidance. ‘Lucie’ has been misbehaving, going to VUZU parties. ‘Lucie’ has been in conflict with the law – drinking alcohol and smoking potty.
Zimbabwe needs its best brains back home.
Zimbabwe can’t afford to continue losing its great young talent.
It is promising to be a season of Light, it is promising to be a season of hope.
If only Mnangagwa and Ramaphosa know what the colours on those scarfs they were wrapping around their necks, at Davos in 2018, meant to us the ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe and South Africa then they would become our ‘Jarvis Lorry’.
If those scarfs were only for display – then the season of darkness is upon us, a season of despair. It becomes a vicious circle – where we wait for the next round of elections.
The Truth! 
I still believe that our generation should determine the way forward and not always expect the best from the liberation guard.
Our hesitancy has become our culpability. We still default to persons who now should be seen and known as the Elders as if we will always be forever young.
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