Dear President Mbeki

Stealing my style from Gavin Foster (who called me "a humble person with much to be humble about." Which is quite true of course.):



ATT: President Thabo Mbeki

Dear President Mbeki

As a South African citizen and enthusiastic reader of ANC Today, I just want to let you know how much I miss your weekly letter. Perhaps its for the best as it must have taken up a truly disproportionate amount of your time. But nonetheless, its a real loss.

Today I found myself lingering over a volume of Xhosa poetry at Exclusive Books. Probably something I never would have looked twice at before reading your "We are children of a rich heritage."**

Even though I sometimes disagreed with what you were saying, I loved being able to see what you felt was important enough to write about. I loved the insights your letters offered into current events and other topics relevant to our nation. I loved to hear you respond in your own words and from your own conviction to various topical issues in South Africa. I loved that there were so many things you wanted to write about, to tell people about. I loved having my world expanded by topics or ideas I hadn't thought much about before, or from angles I hadn't considered them from.

I first subscribed to ANC Today becasue I kept seeing it referred to in Mail and Guardian stories and I thought I might as well go to the source. I never regretted signing up and every Friday I looked forward to some interesting reading in my inbox.

It looks like things have changed for ANC Today. I so enjoyed your letters and the additional pieces by other people. I hope the new ANC Today manages to continue in the same spirit you led it with.

And if I can make one request, as your audience, I ask that you carry on writing! Start a blog, write a book, write a column somewhere. But I hope that your stepping down from the President's letter in ANC Today isn't the end of us seeing you in print.

Thank you.

Regards,
Laura



** Incidentally, that 28 September 2007 volume of ANC Today also included a piece entitled "Economic growth needs affordable and sustainable energy." FYI to people who thought the governement weren't thinking about these issues till January this year.