‘Pizza and I are going to be fine’

It’s been an eventful week, from the highs of Bafana Bafana’s win over Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament to free-falling lows of corruption and reminders of neglect.

With so much on my mind, I did what any sane parent does: ask their toddler for help.

“What should I write about in my story tomorrow?”

“Uh, write about pizza” “Pizza?”

“Yes, pizza”

“What about pizza?”

“It’s going to be fine.” “And what about you?” “I’m going to be fine too.” I don’t profess to know what deep meaning a pizza holds, or its symbolism in the world of a toddler sage, but I really hope he’s right.

He may have a different analysis if he saw the childish shenanigans political parties are already pulling to undermine each other ahead of this year’s general election.

Among the stunts this week has been the Patriotic Alliance telling its members that they must give blood to get into parliament, and Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen waging a personal war against Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, with crime prevention wardens catching strays from the shots.

But the most odd and concerning are those involving poles and polls.

Colleen Makhubele is adamant that her SA Rainbow Alliance’s election posters are being sabotaged by Songezo Zibi’s Rise Mzansi, while uMkhonto weSizwe party cheerleader Jacob Zuma is crying of an entire election sabotage through alleged vote rigging.

They are pulling all the stops to get attention, with the Economic Freedom Fighters now no longer the staple for radicals.

And while radical can often mean unstable, bringing paranoia like vote rigging into the mix makes for a hazardous cocktail that has the potential to do a lot of harm.

The political playbook is filled with division and fake outrage, but becomes a horror novel if we allow bogeymen and apartheid-era secret conspiracy cooked up in politicians’ imaginations.

With only months to the elections, it is time to take a breather and recalibrate.

It’s only with a clear mind and by not giving into hysteria that we will be fine, like the pizza.