Mbeki: 'We can't pretend...'

Right now the President is giving his 'State of the Nation' speech and very few people are even watching. I'm not. I thought I would but I have things to do. I hear mumbling in the background coming off the big screen. A few faces - one - is glued to the screen, hand rubbing forehead occasionally. A few more faces were looking up at the President but they have since gone back to their desks. This is the true state of the nation.

Last night on the news the press was invited into the President's santum sanctorum. He was plugging away at his keyboard (not very convincingly) while on the screen words two large for conventional use - like this big...no, even bigger...probably for the benefits of the cameras and viewers...were appearing on screen. But we all know that President's don't write their own speeches, especially important one's like this. They have a whole team of advisers and spindoctors. It's not about reality; it's about being touchy feely, being manipulative, saying what's popular, allaying or leveraging fear, saying what you think should be said.

I have personally met Tony Leon's spindoctor and suggested to her that instead of him positioning himself vis-a-vis an opponent (thus ackowledging their authority), he should stand for something. Politics shouldn't be (or even appear to be) merely responsive but proactive.

I digress.

Whilst pretending in front of the press that he was working on his speech, Mbeki said: "There are important issues in our country, like electricity, and other things. We can't pretend they aren't happening..." A 5th grader could tell you that. But the irony of course is that that is exactly what government is doing. Pretending to be government. Pretending to govern. Pretending to be doing what they are not.