Some characters in our neighbouring country are hopping mad over a Zapiro cartoon that appeared in the weekend press. It has Zuma unbuckling his belt before a prostate lady justice held down by his alliance partners, all senior members of the ANC, ANC Youth League, COSATU and SACP. It has generated a lot of debate. Is the same debate taking place in Zimbabwe, over the new deal, or are we all too preoccupied with survival to care?

Morgan Tsvangirai would rather have no deal than a bad deal. So what is a good deal? From earlier reports, the mediator Mbeki thinks a good deal is one that keeps Morgan from executive power. Mbeki is obsessed with the African renaissance to the point where he alone and perhaps Pahad, knows what is best for all Africans especially Zimbabweans. He does not think it right to foist Morgan on an unsuspecting population because Morgan does not speak the queen’s English and cannot spell African century. Mbeki sees Morgan Tsvangirai as someone who fawns on the West and, therefore, not befitting of the new African that is regularly profiled in New African Magazine. The new African, according to Mbeki and other Pan Africanists, is one who regularly “stands up” to white people at conferences to deafening applause from the lefties who live in first world economies in Scandinavia. In his wisdom, and to guarantee this, Mbeki therefore has prescribed his version of a good deal: keep Morgan out of executive decision making and give him all the travel that he so much yearns but without any power to sell Zimbabwe off to imperialists or Ben Menashe.

Morgan on the other hand, wants his cake because he bought it fair and square but he wants to eat it, in front of the street kids standing on the pavement. The same street kids who have been looking after his car and warning potential thieves to steer clear of their chef’s car which has allowed him the extra change to buy the cake! Is Morgan going to share the cake? Not really because he is negotiating a deal with the local authority that will leave them in charge of street kid security and rehabilitation. The local authorities have long memories and remember which street kids did the most shouting when they were guarding Morgan’s car and in fact, have been pursuing these street kids for a while. To make matters worse, under the new deal, these street kids may have to guard the cars of the same authorities who have been hunting them down.

So while Zapiro suggests lady Justice is threatened in our neighbouring country, our street kids have seen this before in the 80′s, and with Murambatsvina, and pre and post election 2008 and they have a troubling sense of foreboding that they are about to get screwed again.

Whose deal is this?