By Melo Magolego On December 10, 2013, I, like thousands of others, descended on the pavements of Johannesburg. We made a long walk, a pilgrimage to the memorial of uTata Nelson Mandela at FNB Stadium. As we bore witness to the dignitaries present, the unrelenting rain made us feel as though we were in a […]
Madiba
Posted inNews/Politics
The myth of Mandela the violent liberation war hero
There was never a time when people have spent so much time and energy to reclaim what they think is the correct brand or label of Nelson Mandela — to redefine and project him as a revolutionary fighter. Their efforts are to shatter what they consider the myth of portraying him as a saint or […]
Posted inNews/Politics
You can represent Mandela in his absence
By Amukelani Mayimele This is one of those days where society is watching everything we say about Nelson Mandela. We are almost challenged to sound politically correct in our writing and in our sharing of memories of Madiba. Many have succumbed to the pressure and society’s dictatorship on how we should react and think about […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Israel joins the world in mourning Madiba
While the press focused on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision not to attend the memorial service to honour Mandela at FNB Stadium, it failed to give due credit to the high-level Israeli delegation that did attend. It is especially notable and poignant that this delegation comprised human-rights protagonists and activists. Leading the delegation of five […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Now that Mandela is gone, we need to talk
The passing of Nelson Mandela has found the country without the iconic leader that served as the glue that held the fragile, fragmented pieces of this rainbow nation together. His death had the world mourning but also nursing a somewhat morbid curiosity as to what will happen now. It has the people asking: “Did reconciliation […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Madiba and education
I found out about uTat’Madiba’s passing on the last day of the school term. I wasn’t surprised. We saw this coming. The main theme that seems to reverberate throughout all the tributes to Tata is that we are at the end of an era and how we are going to move forward in this era […]
Posted inGeneral
My brother died the same day Mandela died
My brother died. He died on the same day as former president and international icon Nelson Mandela. They both died on December 5 2013. My brother was 65 while Mandela was 95. It was Mandela who lived a long and blessed life despite having spent 27 years of his life in jail. It is a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mandela the Dalai Lama: A distorted narrative of black resistance
Black people — especially those among us who are still nursing wounds and raw apartheid pain — are being blackmailed into accepting a distorted narrative of black resistance. Nelson Mandela — the fervent leader of the mass resistance movement, the founder of the African National Congress’s youth brigade, the calculated strategist who was part of […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Our four promises to Madiba
By Suntosh R Pillay Trying to sleep on the night we heard the news was impossible. The anxiety, the uncertainty, the awkward mix of feelings, the sense of needing to let go, but wanting just one more day, one more week, one more year. It is overwhelmingly difficult and extraordinarily emotional to write about a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A reply to those that doubt South Africa’s future
I recently had a conversation/argument with someone who, I am only just discovering, shares the belief with many South Africans that now that Nelson Mandela has died the future of the country is in jeopardy. They believe that the metaphorical “night of the long knives” will come to pass, that the spirit of reconciliation will […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Nine things white people can do to help transform South Africa
In tribute to Mandela’s vision for a world that is rid of racism, I have created this list of nine things white people can do to assist in the transformation of South Africa. “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must […]
Posted inNews/Politics
To the ANC president: A new vision for the nation
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela Dear Mr President. I imagine that the African National Congress is scrambling, like many others, to appropriate and monopolise on Mandela’s legacy. His legacy is important to the ANC, and it should be. Mandela is a symbol of the […]