For many, life of Tintswalo not even a distant dream

Tintswalo, the mythical “democracy’s child” created by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his state of the nation speech to illustrate the similarly mythical achievements of the ANC government over three decades in power, has caused some serious blowback for the governing party.

Of course things are better in our democracy than they were under apartheid.

The point is that if the ANC government was more capable and had been less corrupt we would’ve been an economic powerhouse on the continent and remained a shining beacon to other nascent democracies.

But thanks to one-third of our democracy having been entirely dedicated to state capture, plunder of resources and denuding our public service and chapter nine institutions of capability, credibility and independence, we have regressed terribly.

We have spent almost six years watching the horizon in vain for the new dawn promised by Ramaphosa after state capture.

There could be no surprises when Ramaphosa’s idea of a lucky and happy Tintswalo was met with ridicule.

Despite being pilloried by literally everyone, the ANC bravely kept the metaphor alive during the Sona debate with each minister presenting their spin on how born-free Tintswalo had benefited under their particular portfolio.

She was thriving with water, a roof over her head, free basic education and so forth.

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa must take the win in this debate.

To guffaws of disbelief, he warmly assured Tintswalo that “the end of load-shedding was in sight” and her future was “indeed bright”.

In the Eastern Cape — and many other provinces — the idealistic life of Tintswalo as described by Ramaphosa is not even a distant dream.

Here, our little born-free children are still dying of hunger, to the point where the Human Rights Commission late last year asked that a state of disaster be declared in the Eastern Cape.

In just one year, more than 1,700 children under five were recorded with severe acute malnutrition.

Of these, 114 died. The rest will likely suffer deficits for the rest of their lives. These are just the tip of the iceberg,  the HRC says.

Are these the lucky children of democracy to whom Ramaphosa was referring?

Or could he be talking about those who have yet to spend a single uninterrupted day of learning at school despite being well into the first term in their new grades.

Could he be talking of those who don’t even make it to the school gates because they have no transport?

Or those that do but who sit in a classroom without teachers because post provisioning has again gone haywire.

Instead of being practical, specific and concrete in his Sona address, Ramaphosa created an elaborate fantasy which no-one believed.

In reality, Tintswalo is democracy’s orphan and her guardian state cares little for her future.

DispatchLIVE