we being
the besuited ones
the special ones
ahead they are
in the food queue
that is the New SA

our number 1
is out yet again
pronouncing
to the faithful
with blind faith

forging away he says
so we falsify away
so we fabricate away
so we fake and fiddle

though you might have it
that we too build away
we shape away
we construct away
we fashion and form

all on this continent
where in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s
Kenya a law is upheld
against same-sex marriage
(and Kenya is not alone)

and on the Cape Flats
at the Lansdowne Train station
local arms of government
the police and Law Enforcement
make their mark post-election
on a community of the homeless

we forge away
we forge ahead
(we know better)

No Uhuru
just yet

and yet another
Africa Day passes

I capture the country’s emperor on national television, midday 25 May 2019. On Africa Day.