Our country needs to be saved

AS THE troubled year draws to an end, the prayers and wishes of all the citizens of our beautiful country can only be: “May the next year be better and safer, better-governed, better-served and happier”.

Allow me to direct this desperate plea to the many talented ANC leaders. The emphasis here is on the word “leaders”. When we cast our collective minds back to that historic day when Tata Madiba Mandela strode out of prison, it seems like a dream.

He walked like a liberation king and had this message for us: South Africa, we are free, we are a national democracy. We are all equal in the eyes of God. I now direct my sincere and heartfelt plea to all our real leaders.

Pardon me for using the word “real”. We beg you to get up from your cushy seats and stand up straight, look firmly ahead and, with unadulterated determination, begin to save our country. Save, you ask? Yes, open your eyes and you will see that South Africa is calling out for saving before we slip into the status of a Banana Republic.

You can only save our country if you defeat all offenders who are criminals of corruption, “cadreism”, nepotism, liars and all those who have their hands in the cookie jars which contain money that does not belong to them.

In short, dear ANC leaders, you know very well that South Africa is blessed with highly capable and upright politicians, legal luminaries, health professionals, business leaders, and so on.

All these people, we must remember, come from our diverse population groups.

Those who will know how to do the job must be called to serve.

Our God-given icon, Nelson Mandela, warned all to throw away all their knives, sticks, knobkieries, spears, pangas, guns, and other weapons into the sea for the sake of peace and democracy in our country.

I challenge, no, beg and plead, with the ANC leaders to save our beloved country by giving President Jacob Zuma his parting gift and allowing him to ride into the sunset.

Best wishes for a better New Year.