This is the last time you’ll hear from me in 2022. And oh, what a year it has been. The new year looks like it’s going to be another wild rollercoaster ride.
Load shedding is in all likelihood going to get worse before it gets better, which means the economy will continue to wobble, causing consumer prices to continue creeping upwards.
Interest rates are probably going to continue climbing alongside petrol prices.
The knock-on effect on unemployment figures goes without saying, leaving millions of citizens vulnerable, balancing precariously on the brink of desperation and causing us all to get progressively poorer as the year progresses.
This all means that the bane of our existence, namely crime, will continue to soar uncontrollably, while politicians squabble over whose turn it is to monopolise the limelight.
But I am not a prophet of doom and have instead always considered myself a pragmatic optimist, who knows that when things are at their bleakest, then the only logical direction from there is up.
I think people are starting to understand how their own individual contributions add up to colour in the bigger picture.
So I believe more people will start paying close attention to things like saving, setting ambitious goals, working on a side hustle and the critical importance of their vote.
I think this collective awareness will start showing bit by bit and we will start experiencing a social shift in the long run.
I believe it will start affecting things like unemployment, crime and corruption and like all things of this magnitude, it will first be gradual, and then very sudden.
The point is, we have been through the most over the last few years and I think it’s about to come full circle.
And 2023 will be our first uninterrupted 12 months of the decade, hopefully without Covid deaths looming over us, or the trauma of pandemic lockdowns imprisoning us in our homes and causing us to fear our unsanitised groceries.
I think we all now appreciate the things we previously took for granted, but there’s still a lot that takes away from us enjoying it to the fullest.
So I firmly believe that we have realised that the solutions to all of these challenges are in our hands, if only we are brave enough to do what’s needed.
I reckon we will individually, which implies collectively, step over that psychological boundary in 2023. So don’t despair. Turn that frown upside down and enjoy this festive season with what little you can afford.
If I’m right, then the next one will be a whole lot better. Compliments of the season to you and I will be back in here and on air on the 9th of January.