Bifokol

Dear Fellow South Africans 

Here we go again. No water, no power, no leadership. Deja vu. 

The last waterless spell we went through had me thinking: a metaphor for our national life. Many are dirt poor, some are filthy rich and many are just plain dirty. Thank God we don't have to rely on an Airkom for oxygen.

Of course, of hot air there is no shortage. At the time, a debate of great national importance was taking place in parliament. It was about the meaning of the word 'fokol'. I am sure that most South Africans are delighted that our legislators spend time and tax rands on what really matters - fokol.

Most South Africans could quite easily explain what the word means. We've had it for many years. We'd love to share it with you, dear MPs and ministers. Shakespeare summed it up in King Lear: 'from fokol, fokol comes'. The last eight or nine years have taught us that. That is all that you need to know and can we now move on from fokol? Or can you move on?

Yours in the struggle for something, anything, more substantial than fokol.

Richard