JOHANNESBURG - On Tuesday night a most extraordinary thing happened. Gordon Brown, the British prime minister for the past three years, drove to Buckingham Palace and tendered his resignation to Her Majesty and suggested she ask David Cameron to head a new government.
Then David Cameron drove to Buckingham Palace to formally request permission to form the new government between the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrat party. Brown walked out of 10 Downing Street and down the street with his wife and two young children and David Cameron arrived with his wife to be photographed on the threshold of the Prime Ministerial home.
Admittedly there is a lot of Brit pomp involved here but the messages are clear. After several days of horse trading a new government takes over with not a drop of a blood being shed. More important though, a coalition of two parties that fought one another at the election and have fundamental differences has come together to govern the country for the public good.
It's early days and there are, as Lib Dem Nick Clegg has already observed, bound to be differences but the message of unity is coming through loud and clear at the moment and that's what counts.
Last week I contrasted the fight between the three largest UK political parties to the fight within our own ruling party, the point being that a party fighting within itself is hardly likely to have much time left for running a country or delivering on its election promises. Predictably some of those who commented accused me of racism even though (as several others pointed out) race or skin colour was never mentioned.
The letters pages of newspapers are often thought to be a fairly good reflection of the mood of the people and the comments section on a website serve much the same purpose; more so perhaps as people are emboldened to speak out under a cloak of anonymity. The mood of some of the people at least has been fairly evident through the many comments this column has attracted over the past year.
They show a clear hostility towards the western world, an unwillingness to accept that South Africa is now part of the global community and a lack of understanding of the most basic economic fundamentals. The "go back home to where you came from, we don't need you here" leitmotiv is a constantly recurring one.
It reminds of when the Ugandan Asian refugees were flown to Britain during the brutish Idi Amin's reign of terror. They arrived in England with nothing but the clothes they wore having had their businesses destroyed or confiscated by Amin's goons. After a few months in a refugee centre they were eager to become part of British society and to contribute to their new home. So they set up businesses, re-qualified as doctors and prospered. But there were always ignorant Brits who yelled out in the street "go back home you bloody Pakis, you're not wanted here".
My bet is that the Ugandan Asians who arrived as refugees were far more economically productive than those who were doing the yelling and I am pretty certain the same applies with some of our more loathsome commentators on this website. But it would never do to muzzle these people because they really do tell us something about the current South Africa.
They tell us that there are certain South Africans who are programmed to fail. From the time they get up in the morning (when their self loathing kicks in) to the time they go to bed at night they manage to combine being unproductive with being uncreative. They are not builders, they are destroyers and nothing gives them more pleasure than to see something fail. They rejoice in the perceived misfortunes of others because they have never, and will never, achieve anything through their own efforts.
They spurn the offer of help because they regard it as patronizing. Besides, what has the rest of the world got to teach Africa? Their eyes are closed to opportunity but their ears are always open to the tinkling sound of easy money. When corruption becomes the norm you would be crazy not to grab your chunk of whatever is available. And how dare the palefaces complain...after all, they pillaged the country before and now they complain when it's someone else's turn.
That pretty much sums up the mood of some of our more extreme commentators but does it really sum up the mood of the majority of South Africans? If I believed it did I certainly wouldn't be living here but a nation does need to be led by example. Obama's "yes we can" (even if he can't) and David Cameron forming a coalition government for the common good are both examples of inspiring leadership in difficult times.
We have a President who promises to create 500,000 jobs at a time when nearly as many jobs are disappearing. We have a media seemingly terrified to employ anyone who is too outspoken and we have a one party government at war with itself and either blissfully unaware or unwilling to acknowledge the huge economic challenges the country faces.
Mediocrity is our national standard and anyone who rises above that is swiftly cut down to size. We are clearly not a society of ideas (unless pre approved by Luthuli House) which suggests that we have no alternative but to continue our steady decline towards global obscurity. And if it makes you feel better to play the race card and tell me to go back to Europe feel free to do so.
At least I have the choice. But if I didn't I would be working much harder to make sure the country I had to live in was functioning better.....starting with demanding a united and fully operational ruling party.
David Bullard can be followed on Twitter here.
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