The Pied Piper of Nkandla.

The pillars of democracy have crumbled to the ground.
The corridors of freedom bolted shut
The lanterns of hope have burnt out and the light extinguished.
The book containing the rule of law ignored and gnawed away,
And the voice of reason silenced, shut and muzzled not to bark any more.

The chariot has been abandoned and the pullers caught up in a brawl
The passengers watching and wondering what the brawl is all about,
When all they want is to reach the Promised Land.
Next to the road the Pied Piper of Nkandla marched on unfazed,
His puppets caught up in a trance and dancing to his every tune,
Ignoring calls from the masses to wake up and sober up to reality.

They all march and follow the Piper blindly, unfazed by calls to wake up.
Even when the Piper leads them to the edge of the cliff, they just follow.
They just watch as the sun sets on their dream, their hard fought dream.
The dream dies and they just watch, for the force of the trance is enormous.
The only time they escape from the trance is when the Piper encounters competition.
They wake up to build a protective wall and beat up the competition to a pulp,
And then go back to their slumber to snore some more.

The Piper marches on blindly like the Naked Emperor
Thinking that he is clothed when he is stark naked to the core,
And the henchmen play along with the pretence not wanting to be axed.
Not to appear unfaithful and ungrateful because he has been grateful to them all,
Rewarding them for their loyalty and banishing those who oppose him.

Outside the walls are falling apart and the stench of decay deadly!
An African child sits with a fist on the chin, wondering deeply.
Wondering as to when reality will return so the journey can continue,
And the dream revived and realised, but his hope is fading fast.
The pillars of democracy have crumbled to the ground,
And the corridors of freedom blocked shut!