The cold fireplace

Nothing so cold as a fireplace with no flames . . .

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Seen in the Daily Maverick:

The Fallen: Jacob Zuma, Shame of the Nation


On Thursday evening, President Jacob Zuma will stand at the front of Parliament with his hand on his heart as the military band plays the stirring notes of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, the 21-gun salute thunders and fighter planes roar overhead. It is a poignant moment at the Opening of Parliament every year, a brief moment of unity and patriotism. This year, the national salute will be taken by a man unworthy of the honour of leading the Republic of South Africa. He shamed himself and he shamed the Parliament he will enter. But Zuma will stand at the podium and Parliament and deliver the State of the Nation Address because he is incapable of recognising the disgrace he brought to himself and the nation. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.



Summing it up:


Twenty-six years ago, on 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison after 27 years of incarceration. The first iconic image the world saw of him was his right fist raised. It was an unspoken declaration of power and the world rejoiced.

Twenty-six years later, one of Mandela’s successors will stand before the nation and raise his right hand to his heart for the national salute. Nobody will be rejoicing. This is a man who treated his nation with contempt and feels no shame for having done so.

Like Macbeth he refuses to yield even when the end is near:

Why should I play the Roman fool and die
On mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes
Do better upon them.

A tragic figure. A master of his own demise. The man responsible for the wretched state of our nation. DM*

DM* Daily Maverick