‘I can see that we know each other very well,’ Silas Mthimkhulu said with a chuckle. ‘It is not a secret that I am a businessman. In fact, it cannot be a secret, as I am one of the most successful black businessmen in the country.’

‘I-DLA-ZO-NKE!’ the crowd shouted.

Silas Mthimkhulu had to raise his hand to quiet them once again before he said, ‘So, yes, I am a capitalist. Now, I know many of you here have been led to believe that a capitalist is a very bad man.’

A hesitant and perhaps confused silence settled over the crowd.

‘But I am a capitalist … with a heart.’

Light and somewhat relieved applause greeted this statement, and Silas Mthimkhulu patiently waited for it to die down before continuing. ‘How many of you have taken advantage of my buy-now-and-pay-later schemes at the Idlazonke Home Emporium stores over the years?’ Many hands in the crowd shot up, as though Silas Mthimkhulu had all of a sudden turned teacher and the people in the crowd were his eager students. Silas Mthimkhulu leaned forward conspiratorially again and asked, ‘How many of you have received imbasela with your purchases at the Idlazonke General Dealers?’

The people in the crowd laughed as they clapped their hands, some even going so far as to give him the thumbs-up sign. ‘You see, good people, you are my people. And as much as you know me, I know you. I know that things have often been difficult for you under colonialism, and I have tried, in my own way, albeit small, to make things better for you where I can.’

Heartfelt applause and ear-piercing ululations and whistles greeted this remark. ‘A true capitalist thinks only of profit. A capitalist with a heart thinks only of the people and of how to make their lives better. A capitalist with a heart is really a socialist.’

There was something of a battle in the crowd as some chanted ‘Mthimkhulu! Mthimkhulu! Mthimkhulu!’ and others ‘I-DLA-ZO-NKE!’ It took forever for the frenzied furore to die down.

‘The government we want to usher in,’ Silas Mthimkhulu continued when at last he could, ‘is one that is for the people. One that puts you, my friends, first. One that is solely interested in making your lives better.’

The crowd went wild, chanting the name of the political party to which Silas Mthimkhulu belonged.

‘They, as well you know, have never put you first.’

The crowd agreed by deriding the invisible ‘theys’ with boos and thumbs-down signs.