Our Perpetual Road Trip

I woke up this morning and started humming the Talking Heads song “We’re on the road to nowhere” as I was getting ready for the day, and was thinking of the song’s pertinent lyrics:

“And we’re not little children

And we know what we want

And the future is certain

Give us time to work it out”

The thing about journeys, any of them, is that you embark with a destination and timeline in mind. Even the trip from earth to Mars, the furthest we have ever attempted to go on a manned ship, has a time attached to it of around seven to nine months.

But here we are, on our new journey, which none of us signed up for and with seemingly no timeline nor clear destination. Many are now claiming to also wanting to change their unknown destinations as this journey continues, and as they get used to the trip being the destination itself. If this statement is confusing, that’s because so is the situation. We hear the term “unprecedented times” used so often that I wonder if governments around the world have been watching movies like ”Outbreak” and “Contagion” to give them a basis for a “life imitating art” script in managing their various responses, as they seem less and less science and data-led.

In the song lyrics above, you may question the line “and the future is certain” because many believe it is not.

COVID for now is certain. A pandemic without a cure. A disease that attacks mostly the elderly and those with existing underlying health issues and who are therefore immune-compromised. This is by-and-large irrefutably true based on all science and data available thus far and everyone knows this. There have been reports of children presenting with swollen organs and Kawasaki-type disease symptoms but not all these kids have tested positive for COVID, so the link is currently not 100% certain. There is lots we’ll still learn about the virus no doubt, but for now its behavior is quite well understood until something unpredictable possibly emerges. We hope not. All we can do is keep testing, researching and scrambling for a vaccine. But that is for the scientists, virologists and epidemiologists to do.

So, that is not really the point of this article other than to establish COVID is no longer an unknown presence but actually, a constant. Something we are now all aware of, and wishing it away, as we do, like aliens leaving in their spaceship. This one is sadly going nowhere until we either develop herd immunity or a find cure. Either way, it will still be here.

So, what can we start doing better? As a starting point, we can adapt to change and tackle the circumstances around us with open minds and attitudes.

This positive locus of control requires us to be led. Indeed, a President, is like a captain in a sports team. He/she is not our boss, but on the field with us, playing the game, or he/she can’t claim to be captaining the team. In a democracy (which we are) we take collective responsibilities for our decisions and actions. A democracy is the antithesis of a paternalistic state, but one of accountable and active citizenry.

So, if President Ramaphosa is indeed “our Siya Kolisi”, then we too each have our own position and role to play in winning. We need inspiring, adaptive, agile, motivating leadership to bring out the best in all of us. Our captain has to galvanise us into a cohesive unbeatable combination who will take this thing on and win! If ever there was a time for a captain to get the best out of his entire team, it is now. We can’t afford to splinter into different directions – because if we do, it’s game over. I absolutely believe President Ramaphosa is our captain, but he needs to trust his team more, being us, in playing our roles as responsible and capable players.

Such is the unspoken compact between a democratically-elected government and its voting public. One of trust, engagement, shifting strategy and a clear focus on improving lives and future prospects. It is a social contract that implicitly implies we are playing on the same team and that we have a common view of our game plan. The words of the Talking Heads song again hold true … “And we’re not little children and we know what we want”.

When our President greets us with “my fellow South Africans”, he is endorsing exactly this: “fellow South Africans” and we must never forget this, and equally we must continue to hold our Government accountable to it.

Sadly, some cabinet ministers are forgetting themselves in this agreement - either intentionally or not. We are not a military state, so when our Minister of Social Development appears in fatigues wearing an army beret with the South African and Cuban flags next to each other, it sends a bad signal to the country. The enemy is the virus. Not our people. If the Minister wants to dress for the occasion, then wear a lab coat. Or as someone funnily observed on Twitter, maybe she was going to paintball after the press engagement. I say this to Minister Zulu, the country is scared, wary, financially stretched and many unemployed. Your job is to be the oil in the water, not the fuel in the fire.

This brings me to her trying to control food distribution by the NGO’s. Two things are important here:

1. It is not food you have supplied nor paid for AND
2. The NGO’s don’t report into you.

This is the best of our country playing itself out. The notion of Ubuntu and active citizenry in action. Please step aside Minister and applaud those doing a spectacular job rather than getting involved. What’s important to understand when we address food security and supply, is that there is no issue in food availability – but there are very real issues in getting this food into the hands of those who need it most. Here the role of the Minister is clear, unlock the bottle necks – don’t be an unnecessary handbrake to doing what is absolutely right for our people.

The best way for our Government to work with the citizenry is to appreciate:

1. You are talking to adults
2. We are a democracy
3. Be totally transparent – the more we know the more we will enable your goals
4. Explain your decisions such as a military/police curfew so that we are part of the journey, not surprised by it
5. Be open to suggestion and learning, you are not alone in the battle against this virus
6. We are in this together
7. You are fellow South Africans – not our parents nor our bosses
8. Be kind and considerate
9. Be compassionate and caring
10. Be wise and willing

COVID is our “new normal”. It is here. We now need to protect the vulnerable health-wise before we all become vulnerable, not only in health, but in putting food on our plates. As I’ve observed time and again, this is not lives versus livelihoods, but lives versus lives. Will we get COVID with a job or will we get COVID without a job? It’s a pandemic and most of us are likely to get it over the year/s should a miracle vaccine not become available.

So, how do we fight it? We keep going. With optimism, positivity and acceptance. We take precautions like social distancing, mask-wearing, handwashing and sanitizing, but – we don’t stop living because we are scared of dying as that isn’t living, its just existing. We must adapt. We must be the best of what we can be, not the least. South Africa has always lurched forward based on its “defining moments”. These include the 1994 elections, the 1995 and 2019 Rugby World Cup or even the 2010 FIFA Football World Cup. COVID-19 is another defining moment, and if the past shows us anything is that when we respond to it as Team South Africa, then we achieve the most remarkable things.

Right now, 0.001% of the population has it. Of those infected 98.5% will survive. We must not lose sight of the facts or of the science and data. Right now, 100% of us are affected by COVID.

Can the world, and the media who largely drive perception, start moving from hysteria and end-of-days communication to understanding this is now our “new normal” as we await a vaccine, and rather start helping governments and society embrace life again, to come out of our shells, and to start rebuilding? That is what we must do if we want to beat this virus. Victory or defeat lies entirely within our hands. Right now, we are the only army in history to be surrendering with an over 95% chance of victory. Be safe. Be responsible. But also, don’t forget to LIVE.

This is our destination and our journey in one. Accepting this IS our new normal, but simply with another disease around us of which we must be fully aware. We must get back on the saddle of life and ride it to the full. We must embrace this defining moment with every inch of our South Africanness.