Not all bad news in a year of turbulence
WE laughed, cried, took to the streets to celebrate and to protest. Some of our compatriots did things that made us angry and others left us beaming with pride.
Given the events of the past few weeks, it is easy to remember only what was bad about 2015. We close the year with the nation in a collective state of shock and depression following President Jacob Zuma’s irrational decision to fire a highly regarded finance minister, replacing him with an unknown parliamentary backbencher before eventually settling on Pravin Gordhan, who had held the post before, as the new finance minister.
The drama put into sharp focus the leadership crisis we have at the very top, with a president who often seems oblivious to the devastating consequences of the decisions he makes.
But the firing of Nhlanhla Nene had very welcome unintended consequences for our country. South Africans spoke out in their numbers — in the streets, on social media, on radio and in newspapers — to express their displeasure at the decision. The government had no option but to listen.
This taught us that civil society is very much alive in South Africa and its voice is growing stronger in opposing wrongdoing. The movement is largely led by the youth — a stratum of our society that has often been assumed to be politically apathetic and self-absorbed.
With campaigns such as #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall, young South Africans forced the nation to come to terms with its unresolved past and to critically engage with the present state of affairs — especially in relation to poverty and inequality.
Although politics, as always, is the source of much conflict and division, it also provided us with much needed comic relief.
For instance, soon after his election as new DA leader, Mmusi Maimane took to Twitter to hold a virtual town hall meeting at which people could ask him any question they wanted. The experience proved to be full of fun as people asked him anything from who killed JR in the 1980s TV series Dallas to whether it irks him that the DA’s largely white constituency pronounces his surname “My Money”.
Outside of politics, young people have also been taking the lead, pioneering new paths.
Who can forget comedian Trevor Noah’s amazing achievement, becoming the host of one of the US’s most successful late-night TV shows?
On the sporting front, major progress was achieved.
The Proteas may not have been able to bring home the Cricket World Cup trophy, and the Springboks may have succumbed to eventual winners the All Blacks in the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup, but on the whole it was a good year on the sporting front.
Banyana Banyana, our women’s national soccer team, and the men’s Under-23 team, qualified to represent South Africa at the Olympics in Brazil next year.
Even Bafana Bafana, for many years a source of disappointment for our soccer-mad nation, look to be on track to qualify for the next Soccer World Cup tournament, scheduled for Russia in 2018.
As we reach the end of a hectic year, the Sunday Times wishes all its readers happy holidays. May you all enjoy peace and happiness as you share this period with your families and loved ones. The new year promises to be filled with as much drama as the passing one.