Warning: get ready for chaos, plus 5 highlights from 'Vrye Weekblad'

Warning: The US elections are not going to be an easy ride. 

Don't expect to wake up on November 4 to see Joe Biden's name in the headlines as the winner of the fight. 

Worst case scenario is that the results will only be known by the end of November due to issues with the counting of mail votes or because Donald Trump's legal team is in court to get the results annulled due to alleged “massive” voter fraud. 

Yes, people, get ready for the drama of the century: “the biggest election fraud ever; the best ratings ever”.

Because if there is one thing we have learnt in the last five years, it is that Donald J Trump always wins, even when he loses. He always wins the public spat against the TV pundits showing poll after poll indicating that the tide is swinging against him. He survives every scandal and shenanigans of his administration. Like a wrestler, he worms himself out of every chokehold. And when he doesn't win, he says he did anyway.  

Read more about the US elections, our politics, our battle against Covid-19, and more news and analysis in this week's edition of Afrikaans digital weekly Vrye Weekblad.

It is clear that most people who will eventually vote for Biden/Harris will do it because they are tired of the Trump tornado that has caused so much destruction. Even those who can motivate why they voted against Hillary Clinton in 2016 are struggling to justify a vote for Trump this time around. 

But if Biden, the “clean candidate”, can't cement his lead now and the excitement about Kamala Harris starts waning in the political background noise, it is going to be a fight to the death.  

Expect a planned series of “revelations”, with or without the help of the Russians, just like we saw in 2016. Trump has already hinted at some sort of “China scandal” that will be revealed. And more dirty laundry from the Russia basket might be pulled out to distract from the Covid-19 scandal.

Remember, nothing really needs to be true. For Trump, only the suggestion of corruption or crookedness is enough for him to spread it as the gospel truth. 

Prepare to be shell shocked.  

Read the full article in this week's Vrye Weekblad

Must-read articles in this week's Vrye Weekblad

>> Browse the full August 21 edition

APARTHEID'S DEATH FLIGHTS | Max du Preez writes about a new book uncovering the gruesome details of how the SA defence force got rid of guerrillas by throwing them into the sea from planes. 

WYN | Jean Engelbrecht talks about the deep scars that Covid-19 left on the wine industry, and about the interwovenness of food and wine.

THE HUNT FOR TENDERS | Things are going very well for those who know those in high political positions. And nowhere is this more true than in the Free State. 

CASH LIKE TP | The army's Covid-19 shopping list is a nightmare. For instance, they bought toilet paper for the Eastern Cape in Durban for R18,000, and paid R116,000 to an events company for “plumbing and sanitation”. And the list of strange payments is long.

LITERARY TIPPLE | From Langenhoven to Opperman, South African literature is soaking in alcohol.