As the Mayans had predicted, the world as we knew it did end sometime after 2012. The first planetary shock was the gigantic solar flare which knocked out all communications and electrical apparatus. The Earth’s polarity directed the brunt of this electromagnetic tsunami at the northern hemisphere, but the effect was so intense, that countries as far south as Brazil were thrown into chaos.

The asteroid strike that followed a few months later obliterated humanity in the northern hemisphere. The tsunamis following the impact swamped coastal regions as far afield as Australia and Chile.

We, the survivors of the apocalypse, live on the highlands of Southern Africa. We are cut off from the rest of the world, and can only assume that there has been a vast extinction. Our planes are useless, we have little fuel, and nobody wants to launch a ship into these violent seas, just for the sake of communication.

Survival is the name of the game in the New World Age.

As the last community of humans, we have woken up to a reality of limited land, food, fresh water and health supplies. To survive, we have to adopt the rural practices of our Zulu forefathers, farming crops and herding cattle to sustain our communities. In this new world, people are precious.

Old Age technology is largely useless, relying as it did on the input of millions of skilled workers around the world to produce something as trivial as a computer mouse. Now New Age survivors use simple tools that can be made by one or two people. Motors and engines have been discarded for animal and human power, and when the seas recover, they will be fished in sailboats.

But survivors are relishing their new-found simplicity; no artificial currencies or markets; no complicated gadgets and mindless jobs; no feeling of being victimized by global powers and exploited by multi-national brands. We have learned that we can provide for ourselves, in co-operative communities, and enjoy it.

One thing has survived: the spirit of Ubuntu.