Life is full of incredibly interesting events.

I found last Friday mind blowing. It all started twenty three years ago when I became friends with a guy at school called Matthew. It turned out that his mother was an underground fighter for the ANC.

Fast forward to today and my friend’s mother is a well known member of parliament. I phoned her up to invite her out to dinner and instead she invited me to the opening of parliament. I almost refused and then thought better of it and went. I am so glad I did.



I got to parliament long before the sparrows. Already police lined the streets and red carpets trailed everywhere. I had no evidence that I had been invited and felt like a bit of a fraudster. In the end friend’s mom and I met up at a coffee shop. She then gave me the tour, taking me through parliament, even showing me where Verwoed was assassinated. I was impressed. Parliament consists of an array of incredible buildings!

My seat was in the gallery. This is the upstairs section of a couple of hundred seats that overlook the members of parliament. I had lots of time to soak up the atmosphere and just observe. Ties and hats bobbed here and there, some no doubt costing more than my suit! I could feel the power coursing through the atmosphere.



Zuma’s entrance was announced and he got a muted cheer. He took up a seat about eight metres away on my right in the front row. A couple of networkers got up and greeted him with their special smiles. Helen Zille made an entrance and sat some ten metres away on my left. It was all rather intimidating.

The speakers, judges, and finally the President all made their grand entrances. The main order of business was the President’s speech which was a difficult one considering that he had recently taken over the reins and knew that he will shortly need to hand them on again. I watched Zuma, I could just imagine him thinking that in a mere year, he would be the one at the centre of all of this fuss and attention. Time will tell!



I later found myself trailing behind friend’s mother being introduced to all sorts of people; ministers, premiers, ambassadors and mayors. Friend’s mother seemed to know everyone. Lunch was at the International Convention Centre. I managed to get through the tough security by clutching the hem of friend’s mother’s dress! I lunched with the Korean Ambassador and his wife, who were really wonderful. Introductions did not stop and I was introduced to speakers, secretaries of parties, and more ambassadors. The President walked past our table and we mouthed our hello’s.

I can see why corporate bigwigs like to attend this event as it is a networking frenzy. Myself, I was just overwhelmed to have pleasant conversations with all of these incredibly powerful people. I am not sure what possesses somebody to be a politician but that day, they all got my respect!