AS we popped the champagne on New Year’s Eve 2020, we couldn’t believe what was possibly the worst year in modern history was finally behind us all.
Only better things could await us, right?
Wrong. 2021 proved itself to be an even more trying year for an already financially and emotionally battered South Africa – and the globe – with waves of Covid-19 interspersed with riots and revolutions.
There were some highlights…mostly the end of the year…but it’s important to remember how we got here before celebrations can begin. Let’s dive in.
January: On 6 January, America’s ‘rightwingbats’ came out of Middle Earth to wreak havoc on the US Capitol in an ill-conceived plan to prevent congress from approving Joe Biden’s legal victory. Outfits were wild, behaviour was wilder, and the lack of culpability 12 months on is possibly the wildest of all. Rivalling even South Africa’s method of consistent non-accountability.
February: Port Elizabeth is renamed Gqeberha to much wailing and gnashing of teeth by a certain sector of society.
March: The cargo ship, Ever Given, gets stuck in the Suez Canal causing endless disruption to global supply chains and prompting a social media meme frenzy.
April: A poorly-planned fire starts on Table Mountain and quickly gets out of control, forging a catastrophic path towards the University of Cape Town, where it destroys the library and its inimitable collection of rare African books and film collection.
May: After far too long, the South African vaccination programme gets under way with the biggest threat to the rollout not a lack of supply, but a lack of brain supply from the anti-vaxx, pro-ivermectin community. Not helping the situation, our own Minister of Health, one Zweli Mkhize, is revealed by Daily Maverick to have channelled emergency Covid-19 funds to family members through communications’ company Digital Vibes.
June: South Africa welcomes, and then quickly rejects, the news that a Tembisa woman has made world history by giving birth to decuplets. It’s quickly revealed that these 10 babies are the imaginary concoction of one Piet Rampedi and his handler, Iqbal Survé. And their best friend, Jacob Zuma, is finally sentenced to 15 months in prison.
July: The blowback from Zuma’s incarceration results in massive riots and looting in KZN and, to a lesser extent, Gauteng. Anarchy reigns, weapons come out, and the police are nowhere to be seen.
August: As South Africa reels from the insurrection shock, the US pulls out of Afghanistan which paves the way for the Taliban to swoop in and take over country, fundamentalist beliefs in place.
September: After his brief incarceration, Zuma is out on parole for ‘medical reasons’ (which were swiftly overturned by a court ruling in December).
October: Following many discussions, the UK finally takes South Africa off its red list of countries (only to be placed back on some weeks later because of boorish Boris and his band of colonial politicians).
November: A few (very few) South Africans head to the polls for the local government elections that see the ruling party take a massive blow. Our scientists then discover the new Omicron variant and are maligned for sharing this news with the world.
December: Despite riding the fourth wave, South Africans finally get the chance to go on holiday. Sadly, the post-Christmas euphoria is interrupted by the devastating news that Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (90) has died. Known for his charisma and strength of character, the apartheid activist and South Africa’s moral compass will not be with us as we navigate 2022.
However, many lessons have been learned this year and as we start afresh, let’s take the wisdom of Tutu with us:
‘Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.’
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