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When myriad voices – and glasses – are raised this evening, many will be singing Auld lang syne, the melody put to the poetry of Scots bard Robert Burns.
It begs us not to forget our old acquaintances and cherish the memories of times past. But, as the chimes hit midnight, many more will be only too happy to put 2022 well behind them, for it was, to use the words of Queen Elizabeth II – one of the many icons who left us this year – an annus horribilis… a horrible year.
With the world staggering to its feet after the battering of Covid, the international financial system was then rocked back on its heels by the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which sent fuel and commodity prices soaring and triggered murderous spikes in inflation in many countries.
In South Africa, we were hit by disasters both natural and human – from the floods in Durban to the ongoing corruption and incompetence of our ANC government, to the plagues of crime and gender-based violence… and the painful reminders that racism is far from being dead and buried.
And that it is highly unlikely there will be any light at the end of our dark tunnel of societal woes has been underlined by our permanent load shedding as Eskom threatens to implode completely in 2023.
Yet, adversity can make us stronger as individuals and as a nation. South Africans have shown they are resilient and, in times of crisis, they can come together for the common good.
That basic humanity has been under prolonged threat from those who will divide us by race, nationality, tribe, or political ideology. We cannot lose that basic humanity, no matter the pressure.
Most of all, as 2023 dawns, we need to hope. Because nobody can take that away from us.
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