What happens now though will enlighten outsiders more about the realities and motivations of South Africa's, Africa's and the rest of the world's leaders than about anything new we can learn about the poor beleaguered country itself.
[Opinion] A defining moment for Africa, South Africa and the world
NVDL: As it turns out, Zimbabwe is providing an excellent magnifying glass to assess the motivations and virtues of the South African government in particular. If you weren't sure about Mbeki, his assessment that 'there is no crisis in Zimbabwe' is a clear indication of what sort of leadership is operating in South Africa. The South African president and Mugabe holding hands at the airport drives the point home even further. Meanwhile the newspapers are filled with various racist angles. I have a problem with how the media treat news. When do they ever exercise insight? This is why Oprah is so popular. Report the news, but if you only do that, so what? Why is what is happening happening? What does it mean? The leaders say what they say and the media report it. It gets mirrored and reflected, but no one takes it further and looks at how actions contradict words, how patterns of behaviour demonstrate actual intent. In the sense that newspapers fail to interpret, but only report, what value do they have other than perpetuating the propaganda and advertising jingles of government and business? In the case of Zimbabwe, not a single newspaper that I am aware of correctly predicted that Mugabe would cling to power. Can the media not apply their own intelligence to the war in Iraq, Zimbabwe and other issues, direct a mindset rather than attempt to follow it, rather than being a mouthpiece for political leaders, reporting on an ad hoc basis?
And all the while, more and more Africans, black and white, experience the same disillusionment...I have dreamed a dream, but now that dream is gone from me.
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