Optimism Without Action Is Just Wishful Thinking

If you’ve lived in South Africa for more than fifteen minutes, you’re likely familiar with the "Braaivleis Pivot." You know the game I mean - the conversational gymnastics where we spend 40 minutes round the fire lamenting the latest collapse of a specific municipality, and the last five minutes before the meat comes off gushing about how spectacular this morning’s sunrise was.
I love South Africa with my whole being, but we are at risk of becoming a nation of professional hope mongers, treating optimism like a national currency.
So, as we blink into the light of January 2026, we have to acknowledge a few stark truths:
The exchange rate is still terrible, corruption is still rife, and a beautiful sunrise doesn't fix a substation that blew up because it hasn't been serviced since the 2010 World Cup.
Optimism without action isn't a strategy, it’s a hallucination, and if there’s one thing we need to understand this year it’s this:
The time for "thinking about it" has officially expired.

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