What we have learnt again over the past week is that democracy is a marathon, not a sprint. Ours is imperfect, but without it, we lose all hope of a more equal and just society.

'I think all countries are built on something beautiful. Most people believe that their countries are beautiful; that their nations and cultures are worthy of love and sacrifice. But many aren't willing to acknowledge that their nations and cultures are like human beings: their humanity and inhumanity are simultaneous. It would hearten me if people could recognise that. Because then we can do something about it.' - Viet Thanh Nguyen in Lunch with the FT.

It's such a cliché, but a week really is a long time in politics.

While the past week has been sobering, the next days of coalition horse-trading and haggling will seem like a lifetime. For the first time in post-apartheid South Africa, we do not have the certainty of an ANC government, no matter its ills (and there are many).

The ANC's hegemony has been broken.

No one particularly wanted to be here. No politician wants to be cut down to size. But here we are, with far more uncertainty than usual, even for South Africa, a country well versed in swinging deliriously between hope and despair.

Not untypically, however, South Africans appeared shocked by the result for a day or two and are...