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Ladies and gentlemen, friends and foes, the nominees for the 2018 State of the Nation Award are Mr Jacob Zuma and Mr Cyril Ramaphosa.
Zuma has stunned everyone in the movie called Just Ignore Everyone and Everything Else. This is an excellent depiction of the journey by humankind, showing ability to deliberately stay ignorant about the calls to resign and leave office.
In this movie, Zuma brings the character to life in a way that has never been seen before. He plays the ignorant and uncaring president of a forgotten country. The nation is on the edge, calling for his resignation after his broad daylight heist of the country's coffers. Zuma is the favourite to win this award.
In the movie, the director shows us Zuma leisurely considering his political options, postponing his own resignation to the detriment of the nation he claims to serve. He relishes it when the nation taking bets on his impending departure from office, with the markets shaking whenever his name is mentioned.
Zuma's incredible lack of situational awareness is something that even the most hardened dictator would find cold and calculating. His shrewdness in the movie is a thing of legends, sparking wider speculations about how he gets away with it. This is a great performance that indeed deserve recognition.
Against Zuma stands Cyril Ramaphosa, nominated for the movie, We Have It Under Control. The film is about a hero who has set himself up to save the country from the hyenas that are determined to devour it, yet he has no solid power base to implement his agenda smoothly.
Ramaphosa's fine performance is a clear indication that where there is a will, there isn’t always a way. Surrounded by very few friends in a hostile political environment, he is standing resolute that he will thrive and be able to save the nation. Both Ramaphosa and Zuma have confirmed that they have each prepared their 'thank you' speeches, to be delivered on the 8th of February.
Quite interesting about the 2018 State of the Nation Awards is the decision by the committee to introduce a new category to recognise emerging acting talent. This is the category of the Disruptor of the Year.
The nominees for this category are the EFF and the DA. Having perfected the art of disrupting Zuma, the EFF is up against an increasingly unsettled DA which is finding its way in pursuing disruptive politics.
The EFF's performance is shown in the movie, We Will Boo Zuma in Parliament. Talking to the media about its nomination in this category, the EFF maintained that the party will win this category without a problem, having written the rule of disruption in the country.
The DA's performance is displayed in the movie We Might As Well Go To Court, a great depiction of what happens when there is no strategy to squeeze political mileage from the ANC internal crisis.
The ANC's poor performance in recent films has not earned the party a single nomination this year. This year's awards, however, are quite tense as all the nominees are expecting to walk away with the honours. The awards will be announced on February 8th.
The EFF has meanwhile threatened to disrupt the awards ceremony once the party is announced as a winner in its category.
- Ralph Mathekga is a Fellow at the SARChI Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg and author of When Zuma Goes.
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