Sikonathi Mantshantsha | Tintswalo needs neither water nor power - just clean, fresh air

Tintswalo and all in the country could enjoy their lives without electricity blinding their eyes. Nor do they need water coursing through the house's pipes, nor those noisy ambulances in their already crowded roads, says Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

Once upon a time, but not so long ago, in a sunny, beautiful but rough country at the bottom corner of the world, was born a certain little Tintswalo. Tintswalo was neither a boy nor a girl. Tintswalo was born just as the people settled down and made peace after hundreds of years of fighting over their country's rich resources. The people decided to hand the country and all its rich resources to those among them who had had the loudest mouths and powerful friends during the war to manage.

The new rulers, some old and tired from the war while yet many others were criminal opportunists and chance-takers, promised to govern justly and to share the country's abundant resources and bring wealth to every resident of their newly peaceful country. The new rulers promised to give the people everything for free.