What "Yes We Can" means for SA

The one word that permeated President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech like a thunderclap n Washington DC yesterday was “Unity”.

It and numerous synonyms created the touchstone in what authoritative pundits have called the “most important inaugural speech in American history”. And Barack touched it many, many times.

He directly linked unity of purpose, of national will, of clarity of vision, of determination and of good old balls-to-the-wall hard work, to concepts of hope, change, perseverance (when we fall — and we will — get up and start again) and, most critically for the United States (where I will be in few short sleeps), unrelenting commitment to fixing what is broken and rebuilding what has collapsed.

It is common cause that this zeal, drive and unrelenting sense of purpose will direct and dominate America’s relations with every other foreign nation, whether they call themselves foes or friends of the USA, alike.

My son, who has been one of the commissioned photographers covering rock concerts, closed-list insider parties and highest-security inauguration parties, is a skeptical expat, but says the sense of common purpose, of hope and of real meaningful change is palpable in the air. “Like you can taste it and feel it and smell it, Dad! It’s everywhere. It says ‘the time for taking shit is dead’. It is awesome!”

And while this will do wonders for anyone earning dollars and sending them to South Africa, it bodes ill for the kakistocrats of the ANC. Radio and TV shows across the country agreed on one thing last night — there is no one in South Africa who can even walk in Obama’s shadow.

There might have been in the past — Mandela, FW de Klerk and Helen Suzman could have walked by his side as political and national leaders, but they’ve disappeared. Of the remainder — Zuma, Motlanthe, Mantashe, Nzimande, Vavi, Zille, Holomisa and even Lekota and Shilowa — we have 20cm saplings to a 100m Giant Sequoia.

That we will benefit along with the rest of the world from America’s restoration — and suffer when it stumbles — goes without saying.

Already it is sine qua non that Obama will serve a second term. He himself acknowledges that’s how long it might take to pull America right. What is not in doubt is that they will do what they mean to do, no matter how long it takes. And no matter the sacrifices.

And that is bad, bad news for the ANC and its retrogressive Stalinist tripartite alliance.

Under the guidance of the astute and hard-nosed Joe Biden and take-no-bullshit Hillary Clinton, the normal dithering machinations of the ANC, the ingrained personal aggrandisement and greed, the corruption and criminality, the lack of leadership and willingness to make the hard but right decisions, crowned by a culture of denialism, immorality, obfuscation, laziness, procrastination and entitlement-without-responsibility will not be tolerated.

Many have reported that, despite his outward charm and sincerity of purpose, Barack Obama was secretly deeply disappointed by his pre-campaign visit to SA. Insiders report he saw direct similarities with the American dream, but felt those in authority were a “motley crew” at best.

There won’t be handouts, front or back, anymore. The rapacious big corporations wanting our resources will be pulled up sharply by the White House. South Africa will have to fall in line if it is to share in the prosperity that will come incrementally from each step the USA under Barack Obama will take.

He has one of the heaviest burdens on his shoulders, both in fact and expectation, in the past 2 000 years. So do the enlarged phalanxes of people enjoined to keep him safe and alive. As an aside, there were more than 8 000 policemen and women in Washington yesterday — and those were the ones you could see. An estimated 5 000 elite security personnel were there or thereabouts too. This man, his family and his administration will be protected like never before to ensure the flame of Unity and Hope and “Yes We Can” is not snuffed out just as it begins to light the shadows of doubt and fear.

I am a Barackanaut and I cannot wait to feel and taste and smell Washington in a few days’ time. Then I will return to the land of my birth, “the soil of my soil”, in a few months’ time. What will I find?

So, while still here I ask, what does “Yes We Can” mean for South Africa?

It means that in the unlikely event of an ANC brain transplant, unity, common purpose, prosperity, health, safety, freedom and happiness may prevail. As things stand, it means you and I will have to keep treading water as long as we can. As things stand, it is the usual cacophony of promises the ubermensch in the ANC have no intention of keeping. As things stand it means more politics of the person (not the people), it means pro-poverty, pro-status quo, pro-joblessness, pro-crime, pro-corruption, pro-greed, pro-denialism.

Instead of “Yes We Can”, South Africa will suffer under “Well … maybe … but the colonial era … and … but …”

That will not sit well with the USA under President Obama, nor with an international community seeking REAL change, REAL purpose, REAL courage, REAL possibility, REAL promise. We must show that South Africa, as a united people, can. And to do so, we will have to consider the trailers of our future very, very carefully before voting in April. Can we afford another 15 years of huge promise followed by steady decay?

On Monday there will be a rare partial eclipse of the sun visible in SA. That can either be a medieval omen of catastrophe or a celebration of hope after a period of darkness. The choice is ours to make and not one to be made for us.