Gentle gestures only existed in exile,
I can’t believe Angola and Morogoro were futile,
Comrades loved each other and South Africa back when they were banned by the regime,
The people shall be free, they said,
and we voted,
But what of the shacks and the RDP houses?
Look at the state of our public schools, look at our hospitals, look at our police,
How sad is our youth?
Look at how they oppress us with loadshedding and potholes,
Look at how they turn their backs on rape and unemployment,
The poor will continue to die while their pockets fatten in other lands that are not the motherland,
The nation keeps these cats in power,
yet all they do is steal.
Kebotlhale Motseothata is a scholar of African Literature and a multidisciplinary journalist, writer, poet and researcher.