It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way . So wrote Charles Dickens in 1859, looking back on the French Revolution.
How relevant to SA are these great opening lines to his Tale of Two Cities are as we look back on the year that was 2018, and look forward (if that is the term) to 2019?
It was the best of times when Jacob Zuma, on February 14, gave SA the ultimate Valentine's Day gift and stepped aside as president.
After Nkandla, his castration of the National Prosecuting Authority and other law-enforcement agencies, his bizarre midnight cabinet appointments and the nauseating Big Man-type rule that made a mockery of our constitution, there was relief all round when he finally got the message.
It was the best of times when the avuncular judge Raymond Zondo began his hearings into the shame and disgrace of the era of state capture, when Zuma allowed an immigrant family to loot our state-owned resources, and the ANC in parliament and in Luthuli House applauded his every move, defending him and buying into the "white monopoly capital" narrative wheeled out to justify the state-sanctioned theft of a country.
It was the best of times when Cyril Ramaphosa took his place behind the big desk in the east wing of the Union Buildings. Dickens called it the "spring of hope"; Ramaphosa, not to be outdone, called it a "New Dawn".
Thus began a clean-up on a scale not seen since the ending of apartheid in 1994: the return of integrity to the vital finance portfolio in the form of Nhlanhla Nene, and, later, Tito Mboweni; a wholesale clean-out of the top echelons of bankrupted and depleted state-owned enterprises, and the searing report on the looting of R2bn from VBS Mutual Bank. A season of light.
But it was also the season of darkness.
Having cajoled the ANC into strapping itself onto the expropriation-without-compensation rocket to nowhere, the EFF showed its true colours in 2018.
It was not a pleasant sight, and served as a warning, if one were needed, about a winter of despair should this party ever come to power.
Having rallied against Zuma, it came as a surprise to see the EFF turning on Pravin Gordhan, militating against Indians and whites in the most rank racist terms. Public displays of thuggishness caused many commentators to warn that the EFF goons are the Nazi brownshirts of our time. Caveat emptor.
The DA, meanwhile, flailed about: the Patricia de Lille chapter rubbished its claims to clean and efficient government, and its dubious dalliance with the EFF in SA's biggest metros has given coalition-type government a bad name.
Mmusi Maimane appears to have lost his grip on the party; his predecessor, Western Cape premier Helen Zille, appears to have lost her grip on reality.
In this epoch of incredulity we are asked to believe: that the Zuma-tainted ANC still has what it takes to govern SA to prosperity; that Julius Malema and his henchmen are committed to constitutionalism; that the DA offers a viable alternative to the ANC; and that SA can continue as a viable entity while growth stutters to a halt and all manner of imposts are imposed to keep the economy in the doldrums.
As 2019 dawns, we as a nation have everything before us if we return to the ubuntu promised by Nelson Mandela; if we live within our means, if we nurture our young people and strive to live up to the promise of 1994.
But we have nothing before us if the demon of corruption is not extinguished; if big promises are followed by inaction and sloth, and if we fall back on populist policies.
We could be going to heaven . or going the other way. It's up to us, SA!..