It may have started off as a seemingly clever metaphor and an electoral ace card for the ANC, but it came off as a tone-deaf, insensitive and clearly manipulative political ploy.

I won't bore you with my memory of the euphoria I felt as democracy was being ushered in 30 years ago when I was an 11-year-old girl, lest I am mistaken for a supporter of President Cyril Ramaphosa's ill-fated Tintswalo analogy in his recent State of the Nation Address.

Do you know the meaning of the name Tintswalo? I'm sure many curious South Africans who don't speak Xitsonga rushed to google it to find out, but for those who didn't, it means grace or mercy - the antithesis of the ANC's rule over at least the past decade.

"The story of the first 30 years of our democracy can best be told through the life of a child called Tintswalo born at the dawn of freedom in 1994. She grew up in a society governed by a Constitution rooted in equality, the rule of law and affirmation of the inherent dignity of every citizen," Ramaphosa waxed lyrically.

The analogy would have been laughable if it wasn't so insulting to the millions of South Africans who cruelly have been brought so close to the promise of the Constitution, yet have barely been able to enjoy its protections and prescripts.

What...