Our leaders have now defined social protection as an inviolable “fundamental human right for all”. How comforting to know that while one starves, one does so under the warm, protective umbrella of a world-class definition. The spectacle surrounding the recent African Union (AU) gathering in Windhoek provided the perfect stage for this masterclass in political theatre. It is a conditional crumbs scheme, wrapped in the gold-embossed paper of “inclusive human development”. For the rest of the nation, the life cycle of risk continues unabated, sustained entirely by the cold comfort of an exceptional speech.