In history there is the truth and then there is the story. And rarely are they the same thing. But does the truth really matter? Does it matter that this man or that man was fallible? That he made loads of mistakes and was always scared. Or that he went to his grave pissing and […]
Madiba
Winnie is mistaken about Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela speaks as if it was not the ANC collective that made the decisions that caused her to complain about Nelson Mandela, her ex-husband. She places all the blame squarely on his shoulders. She acts as if she was not part of the NEC that agreed to the principles that would lead to the […]
‘Mandela can make a bomb from a spoon’
Twenty years ago when Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years of incarceration for fighting for his right to fight for the right to be a free man, I was too young to know what was happening. I knew that whatever it was that was happening was a significant event. Why it was I was […]
The Invictus Madiba magic
Once in a while, we have a movie that pulls at the heart strings as it attempts to re-establish friendship between African people and those of European descent. On the Day of Reconciliation I went to watch Invictus by Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. The movie is about how former President Nelson Mandela bent backwards […]
How we missed Madiba
It’s a strange feeling to watch the United States celebrate our heroes more effectively than we can. My father mailed me the link to the Arthur Ashe Courage Award presentation to Nelson Mandela which happened on the 19th July as part of the annual ESPY awards. If you haven’t seen it then stop reading now […]
Celebrating Tata Madiba in the Big Apple!
By Judy Sikuza Tata Madiba’s birthday celebrations resulted in a New York City that was heavily infected with a fever. This was not the superfluous kind such as the swine flu which causes debilitation but rather the kind that everyone coveted to be infected with. The Mandela Day celebrations were like a fever that permeated […]
We deserve another Madiba
Every so often someone comes along who is so brave and so inspiring that they move you into action. These are men and women who have the power to galvanise an entire community to do something. Whenever they are around it becomes very difficult even for the self-satisfied to sit by and remain silent. In […]
The new morality? Selling Mandela’s ‘funeral viewing rights’
Everything in our age has become a product. Now the news has broken that television rights to view Nelson Mandela’s funeral have allegedly been bought by the SABC, I have realised, even more, that everything is marketable. Is there any longer a distinction between the marketable and the sacrosanct? If they were collected, warehouses would […]
Madiba’s grandchildren will determine the future of the ANC
The duty of the young is to improve upon the past, which is, largely, a world created or messed up by their parents. What we are witnessing now is that moment when the grandchildren of Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and others must make a choice in terms of the political future and leadership […]
Et tu Madiba?
by Marius Redelinghuys On my way to campus Monday morning I got a bit anxious when I read the Pretoria News posters alluding to some “Madiba magic” injection into the ANC’s election campaign, I pondered the possibilities of what this could really mean, but didn’t think much of it initially. However, as I walked into […]
Mandela: Commodity or icon?
I remember, as a poor varsity student, begging and borrowing money to visit Cape Town. A former schoolmate who had relocated to that beautiful city invited me to spend the week with him there. After some financial gymnastics, I eventually scraped enough money together to make the trip. In Cape Town, I decided to make […]