19 December 2008 THE YEAR THAT WAS . . . FM's WINNERS & LOSERS Triumphs and disasters By Rob Rose While Barack Obama emphatically etched his name in the history books in 2008, the past 12 months represented an annus horribilis for axed SA president Thabo Mbeki. The FM chronicles the swings and arrows of recent fortune.

Walking into high office to win lasting fame is, as someone said, like becoming an archbishop to meet girls: initially, you find yourself swimming in admirers - but then the wheel turns and often at the end of the day you find yourself alone in a cold bed with only your doubts for company. The new US president-elect, Barack Obama - the unfancied Illinois senator who fought off vipers within his own party and simmering racism from his opponents - would do well to keep in mind the fickle nature of fame. Barack Obama - Winner Michelle Obama said she was "baffled" that her husband's fame had extended beyond the proverbial 15 minutes. It'll be a far harder crown to wear in 2009, as Obama must chart the US's exit from both Iraq and an economic sinkhole. If Obama had cared to look at a small country at the tip of Africa, he would have been aware of the fall from grace of SA's Thabo Mbeki - another leader from whom much was expected, and whose example Obama would do well to heed. If Polokwane was the tipping point against Mbeki, the plan against him was ruthlessly carried out in 2008. Mbeki might blame Judge Chris Nicholson's judgment, which threw out the charges against Jacob Zuma, but the ruling was a pretext for the ANC to axe him: Mbeki had proved to be the biggest letdown since vanilla Coke. Thabo Mbeki - Biggest loser Last week, Monitoring SA named Mbeki the newsmaker of the year. Discussions about his fate were "inexorably woven into the tapestry of SA public life". Were it not for Mbeki, Zimbabwean president and despot Robert Mugabe might have been called the biggest loser. He proved this year that he was as horrid as Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko ever was. No country, not even wartime Germany, has ever battled an inflation rate that by June was sitting at 231m%, or a currency that halves in value every 30 minutes. There are other losers, including overseas finance houses like Lehman Brothers and American Insurance Group, whose disdain for proper risk management froze up the global financial system. Those who sparked 2008's disasters will agree with Hollywood icon Brad Pitt that "fame is a bitch".