Survival of the fittest..

Tumie Modise | Monday September 1, 2014 11:39

Maybe I am the only one, but for the past two months I am fast losing friends! Friendships are tested and relationships are being irretrievably broken down.  I have had arguments with some of my best friends; I have been threatened and of course, not shied away from returning the favour. It seems like only the dead will escape this madness, not that I even wish I were one of them. I don’t fear death, I only think politics is far worse, especially at this very point.

The worst place to be at this point in time is perhaps, social media. Knives are out, and gloves are certainly off. Like hyenas fighting over a carcass, common decency and courtesy have become rare traits, hustling and jostling is the order of the day while most folks have just simply taken leave of their senses!

Like teenage boys fighting over an uninterested girl, a hostile fight has ensued between political rivals. You could even swear that this is the first ever election in this country, or worse, that the world is finally coming to an end! Have people gone completely mad? Perhaps this is just a lesson; this is a lesson to the powers that be that political education is sadly lacking in this country. Education ministry, are you listening? 

Granted, election year is never without drama. Drama is actually very part of the equation. Growing up, even long before I knew what politics was all about, as children we only knew one thing: that election year is the most dangerous time ever. Back then, children simply disappeared off the radar courtesy of election year.

I am not sure if I even remember such a thing happening whilst growing up.  Most importantly, so far I haven’t heard any reports of missing children and so I assume mine are safe so far. Legend has it that politicians abduct the innocent during this time in order to ‘enhance’ their winning chances. How they do that, only God knows, or maybe it’s Satan? It somehow has to do with witchcraft, or so we are told. But does it even work? Are there any guarantees?

The good news is that old fashioned witches seem to have been replaced by today’s techno-savvy witches. Although they don’t kill the flesh, so to speak, these types are equally brutal!  These types don’t work under the cover of darkness either, they work 24/7 and they do not even have specific targets either. What’s even worse, they could be just about anyone, even your own family! A couple of weeks ago I came under the wrath of this other one who also happens to be a man of the cloth. Sometimes I push boundaries, I know.

I still ask, is it even worth the trouble? I find that most people are totally clueless where voting and elections are concerned; they even take other people’s civil liberties for granted. A dear friend of mine, perhaps feeling defeated the other day, took to social media and exclaimed  “an opposition friend is still a friend”! I still cannot stop laughing. I didn’t think the statement was funny, its because I completely understood his frustration!

There is something politicians refer to as ‘propaganda’ and this is where the problem lies. Without any doubt, this election will be won via propaganda wars. For the uninitiated, propaganda simply refers to the art of twisting and stretching the truth just a little bit. In political circles, it is the only known and acceptable modus operandi.  The only problem with this model is thatthere are no rules.

A few days ago, I had a rather heated exchange with a friend over nothing, really. While the exchange ended abruptly hours later, the friendship was sadly over, even damaged beyond repair. All I had said was that his team’s chances were fast waning, and if you want to still have friends by November, that is the last thing you would want to say, even to your sworn enemy!

Still we are counting, 50 or so days to go now. A long month lies ahead, though exhaustion has set, the end is still far off.  Still the cyber witches fight on, still we soldier on undeterred but very determined. But then again, at least our children are safe this time around.