You get the leaders you deserve

The letter from our complex’s trustees left me flabbergasted. The boy in our unit, they claimed, cycled in the complex’ main access road. And that is a breech of the conduct rules blah blah blah.

Now you have to know the background to understand why my flabber was ghasted. My stepson is a bright, polite little boy, but he suffers from a condition which limits his coordination and leaves him completely unable to ride a bicycle.

When I told the lovely Snapdragon about the letter, I could see the excitement on her face, clearly dreaming of the unthinkable: how she will soon cheer her son over the line in the 94.7.

“The boy can’t ride a bicycle,” I wrote back to the trustees. “He didn’t,” they replied. “But he was with other boys who cycled. He knocked on a door and ran away.”

It was heartbreaking to see how Snapdragon had to modify her dreams to where her son played a leading role in the Weltevreden Park version of The Postman Always Rings Twice (with all the power outages we have, our postman will have to knock).

I accused them of being insensitive and they ordered me to remove a tree which they deemed ugly to make sure I don’t forget who the masters of our complex are.

The incident left me amused. Not upset – you get the leaders who you deserve, after all.

Exactly as we will get after next month’s ANC conference.

I would love to appeal to delegates to elect wise leaders at that event, but I realise they only have politicians to choose from.

I realise I’m not a card-carrying member of your party and therefore have no say in who you elect to lead it. But I am a South African and your choices will most likely become the leaders of my country.

Please consider leaders who are not there to fill their own pockets.

People who realise that a vast majority of our fellow citizens have less than perfect lives. People who care that many don’t have food, that many can’t afford to have their children educated, that many are living in fear because crime has become a part of life. And people who have sympathy for the helpless and the old. For women, for children and those living with diseases and disabilities.

And those who can’t ride bicycles.

But if you insist on electing a bunch of insensitive idiots again, may I suggest that you consider our complex’s trustees.