Donald Trump's shocking reelection will have severe consequences for the global political order and economy. What will it mean and how will it affect South Africa? Daily Maverick writers share their views.

A warning for South Africans

Rebecca Davis

"I'm so tired of you, America."

That line from Rufus Wainwright's Going To a Town played on a loop in my head as I switched off Donald Trump's typically rambling victory speech and threw the TV remote on the table.

I had been expecting the result: if you took even two steps out of the liberal ecosystems on the social media platforms it was all there to see. Torrents of unabashed Trump support, from Americans of all races and cultures, parroting the same distorted talking points, like an echoey carnival hall of mirrors. The economy was better under Trump. Groceries and gas were cheaper under Trump. Foreigners respected borders more under Trump.

But it chills me to my core nonetheless, because there is absolutely no room for complacency as South Africans. Something eerily similar is happening right here, under our noses. A former president has launched a political comeback with precisely the same contours as Trump's.

Day in, day out, MK party MPs are telling the country in Parliament how much better things were under the presidency of Jacob Zuma. They are lying, of course; we are only just taking our first...