Mandela: A Hero to Blacks and White
Mandela: A hero to blacks and Whites
Though saddened by his demise, millions of his admirers across the globe were glad to see Nelson Mandela conclude his long walk to freedom from lung infection and tuberculosis last Thursday as he bade the world a final farewell.
Given the hard time he had endured during his long incarceration, first at the redoubtable Robben Island, and later at Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town, it was gnawing and annoying to see him lean on medical practitioners and technology just to stay alive. Now that he is dead, he is free from aches and pains; free from syringes and scalpels; free from intravenous and extra-venous therapies. He is free at last; free from dependence, free from speculations; free from a world earnestly waiting to hear the announcement of his passing.
The Madiba was not just a South African hero; he was a global idol. He was loved and revered by people across cultures as well as religious and political persuasions. He was a global citizen, who inspired many by his unwavering commitment to his vision of equality and justice. Mandela was markedly different from many other African leaders by his selflessness. Unlike the common story of leaders who see their ascendancy into power as an opportunity for self aggrandisement and wealth acquisition, he saw leadership at whatever level as an opportunity to serve the led. He was never vainglorious. He led with humility and was able to connect with the people, irrespective of their background. This afforded him the opportunity to become his country's symbol of unity and a global reference point. It also helped him to facilitate the healing process of the scar occasioned by long years of apartheid rule.
With advancing age and bouts of illness, he retreated to a quiet life at his boyhood home in Eastern Cape Province, where he said he was most at peace. Despite rare public appearances, he held a special place in the consciousness of the nation and the world. In a nation healing from the scars of apartheid, Mandela became a moral compass. His defiance of white minority rule and incarceration for fighting against segregation focused the world's attention on apartheid, the legalised racial segregation enforced by the South African government until 1994.
In his lifetime, he was a man of complexities. He went from a militant freedom fighter, to a prisoner, to a unifying figure, to an elder statesman. Years after his 1999 retirement from the presidency, Mandela was considered the ideal head of state. He became a yardstick for African leaders, who consistently fell short when measured against him.
Mandela started his journey in the tiny village of Mvezo, in the hills of the Eastern Cape, where he was born on July 18, 1918. His teacher later named him Nelson as part of a custom to give all schoolchildren Christian names. His father died when he was nine, and the local tribal chief took him in and educated him. Mandela attended school in rural Qunu, where he retreated in 2011 before returning to Johannesburg and later Pretoria to be near medical facilities. He briefly attended University College of Fort Hare but was expelled after taking part in a protest with Oliver Tambo, with whom he later operated the nation's first black law firm. In subsequent years, he completed a bachelor's degree through correspondence courses and studied law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, but left without graduating in 1948.
Four years before he left the University, he helped to form the youth league of the African National Congress, hoping to transform the organisation into a more radical movement. He was dissatisfied with the ANC and its old-guard politics. And so began Mandela's civil disobedience and lifelong commitment to breaking the shackles of segregation in South Africa.
In 1962, Mandela secretly received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia. When he returned home later that year, he was arrested and charged with illegal exit of the country and incitement to strike. He represented himself at the trial and was briefly imprisoned before being returned to court. In 1964, after the famous Rivonia trial, he was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. At the trial, instead of testifying, he opted to give a speech that was more than four hours long, and ended with a defiant statement.
"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination," he said. "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
His next stop was the Robben Island prison, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in detention. He described his early days there as harsh. After 18 years, he was transferred to other prisons, where he experienced better conditions until he was freed in 1990. His freedom followed years of an international outcry led by Winnie Mandela, a social worker whom he married in 1958, three months after divorcing his first wife.
On February 11, 1990, Mandela walked out of prison to a thunderous applause, his clenched right fist raised above his head after 27 years of incarceration to lead his country out of decades of apartheid.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the Freedom fighter, statesman, moral compass and Africa's symbol of the struggle against oppression, has completed the long walk of life.
Here are some of his inspiring quotes:
"No one is born hating another person because of the
colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.
People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate,
they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally
to the human heart than its opposite.
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and
many of us will have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before we reach the
mountain top of our desires.
"Our struggle for freedom and justice was a collective effort…it
is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.
"Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
"We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can acheive success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.
"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their
very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid.
"People may say to spend 27 years in prison you have wasted your life. But the greatest thing for a politician is whether the ideas to which you've committed your life are still alive, whether these ideas are likely to triumph in the end, and everything that happened showed that we have not sacrificed in vain.
"I came to accept that I have no right whatsoever to
judge others in terms of my own customs, however much I may be proud of such customs.
"Only armchair politicians are immune from committing
mistakes. Errors are inherent in political action.
"Until I was jailed I never fully appreciated the capacity of memory, the endless string of information the head can carry."
Though saddened by his demise, millions of his admirers across the globe were glad to see Nelson Mandela conclude his long walk to freedom from lung infection and tuberculosis last Thursday as he bade the world a final farewell.
Given the hard time he had endured during his long incarceration, first at the redoubtable Robben Island, and later at Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town, it was gnawing and annoying to see him lean on medical practitioners and technology just to stay alive. Now that he is dead, he is free from aches and pains; free from syringes and scalpels; free from intravenous and extra-venous therapies. He is free at last; free from dependence, free from speculations; free from a world earnestly waiting to hear the announcement of his passing.
The Madiba was not just a South African hero; he was a global idol. He was loved and revered by people across cultures as well as religious and political persuasions. He was a global citizen, who inspired many by his unwavering commitment to his vision of equality and justice. Mandela was markedly different from many other African leaders by his selflessness. Unlike the common story of leaders who see their ascendancy into power as an opportunity for self aggrandisement and wealth acquisition, he saw leadership at whatever level as an opportunity to serve the led. He was never vainglorious. He led with humility and was able to connect with the people, irrespective of their background. This afforded him the opportunity to become his country's symbol of unity and a global reference point. It also helped him to facilitate the healing process of the scar occasioned by long years of apartheid rule.
With advancing age and bouts of illness, he retreated to a quiet life at his boyhood home in Eastern Cape Province, where he said he was most at peace. Despite rare public appearances, he held a special place in the consciousness of the nation and the world. In a nation healing from the scars of apartheid, Mandela became a moral compass. His defiance of white minority rule and incarceration for fighting against segregation focused the world's attention on apartheid, the legalised racial segregation enforced by the South African government until 1994.
In his lifetime, he was a man of complexities. He went from a militant freedom fighter, to a prisoner, to a unifying figure, to an elder statesman. Years after his 1999 retirement from the presidency, Mandela was considered the ideal head of state. He became a yardstick for African leaders, who consistently fell short when measured against him.
Mandela started his journey in the tiny village of Mvezo, in the hills of the Eastern Cape, where he was born on July 18, 1918. His teacher later named him Nelson as part of a custom to give all schoolchildren Christian names. His father died when he was nine, and the local tribal chief took him in and educated him. Mandela attended school in rural Qunu, where he retreated in 2011 before returning to Johannesburg and later Pretoria to be near medical facilities. He briefly attended University College of Fort Hare but was expelled after taking part in a protest with Oliver Tambo, with whom he later operated the nation's first black law firm. In subsequent years, he completed a bachelor's degree through correspondence courses and studied law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, but left without graduating in 1948.
Four years before he left the University, he helped to form the youth league of the African National Congress, hoping to transform the organisation into a more radical movement. He was dissatisfied with the ANC and its old-guard politics. And so began Mandela's civil disobedience and lifelong commitment to breaking the shackles of segregation in South Africa.
In 1962, Mandela secretly received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia. When he returned home later that year, he was arrested and charged with illegal exit of the country and incitement to strike. He represented himself at the trial and was briefly imprisoned before being returned to court. In 1964, after the famous Rivonia trial, he was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. At the trial, instead of testifying, he opted to give a speech that was more than four hours long, and ended with a defiant statement.
"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination," he said. "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
His next stop was the Robben Island prison, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in detention. He described his early days there as harsh. After 18 years, he was transferred to other prisons, where he experienced better conditions until he was freed in 1990. His freedom followed years of an international outcry led by Winnie Mandela, a social worker whom he married in 1958, three months after divorcing his first wife.
On February 11, 1990, Mandela walked out of prison to a thunderous applause, his clenched right fist raised above his head after 27 years of incarceration to lead his country out of decades of apartheid.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the Freedom fighter, statesman, moral compass and Africa's symbol of the struggle against oppression, has completed the long walk of life.
Here are some of his inspiring quotes:
"No one is born hating another person because of the
colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.
People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate,
they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally
to the human heart than its opposite.
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and
many of us will have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before we reach the
mountain top of our desires.
"Our struggle for freedom and justice was a collective effort…it
is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.
"Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
"We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can acheive success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.
"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their
very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid.
"People may say to spend 27 years in prison you have wasted your life. But the greatest thing for a politician is whether the ideas to which you've committed your life are still alive, whether these ideas are likely to triumph in the end, and everything that happened showed that we have not sacrificed in vain.
"I came to accept that I have no right whatsoever to
judge others in terms of my own customs, however much I may be proud of such customs.
"Only armchair politicians are immune from committing
mistakes. Errors are inherent in political action.
"Until I was jailed I never fully appreciated the capacity of memory, the endless string of information the head can carry."
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