Pomp and Exclusive Ceremony
"Today, mingled with the grief is the enormous pride that one of our own has during your life, and now in your death, united the people of South Africa and the entire world on a scale never experienced before in history."
Ahmed Kathrada, joint defendant in Mandela's treason trial
"I learned leadership is about loving the people you serve and the people you serve falling in love with you. It is about serving the people with selflessness, with sacrifice and with the need to put the common good ahead of personal interests."
Malawi President Joyce Banda
A 21-gun salute. Jet planes in formation. The Last Post bugle call. The burial of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. In attendance at his funeral and the earlier memorial services was a who's who elite slate of world leaders, politicians, religious figures, celebrities, entertainers, and as many ordinary South Africans as could shoehorn their way into the large crowds. Five thousand attended the funeral. A state funeral.
For a man who removed himself from the stiffness of formality and excess of any kind, this was a unlike his values as a sendoff to eternity could ever be. The world's most famous political prisoner who freed himself and his country from the bonds of one of the world's most infamous political systems, a domineering racist ideology held in wild disrepute by all standards of human decency has left an outstanding legacy.
And inasmuch as that legacy was fraught with its own contradictions in the personality and actions of its perpetrator, his final acceptance of the universality of the brotherhood of man and the potentials inherent in tolerance is the one outstanding feature that he will remain celebrated for. Leading his country toward peace and justice. Peace was achieved and justice yet evasive.
The political movement he led has deviated wildly from its initial promise under his guidance. The sanctimonious protestations of Jacob Zuma aside that his legacy will live on to guide South Africa to its final destiny as a world leader in all the indices of human success is a facile representation far from reality at this time. Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu has accused the African National Congress of excluding Afrikaners from the new South Africa.
South Africa is swiftly becoming a nation divided once again. The nine-metre statue of Mandela just unveiled in Pretoria to stand before the old apartheid government buildings speaks volumes of the man's social and political will and direction. However, it seems that the National Day of Reconciliation now has a polarizing reflection of what South Africa's future resembles.
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| AP Photo -- Matt Dunham |
This nation of 53 million people, nine percent of whom are white citizens, mourns the passing of greatness. Whether it will result in greatness fulfilled is a matter to be seen for the future. "He is embracing the whole nation", said Jacob Zuma of the open-armed statue of Nelson Mandela. "He is advancing to the nation to say, 'Let us come together, let us unite'". As though to refute Mr. Tutu's charge that under the new ANC and its president, old wounds have re-opened.
"One of the things he taught us was to actually talk to our enemies and learn to appreciate things that they've done that didn't directly affect us in a bad way. We don't see it [old apartheid government buildings] as a hostile building or a building of apartheid; it's a beautiful building. It's part of our heritage. We've come to peace with a lot of things that have been done. I'm quite proud of South Africa", said 28-year-old Thando Silimela.
Her heartfelt gratitude and confidence in the future of her country is not shared by many of the 4.6-million white South Africans. "These people will demolish everything that has been established here. We have our western culture, our values, but they are different. What South Africa was is being abused. If there were more Madibas it would be different", said 80-year-old Anton Lubbe, former professor in veterinary science from Pretoria.
Labels: In Memoriam, Nelson Mandela, South Africa
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, December 17, 2013
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