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 to reconcile a nation that was divided against itself.

It must be said that these two Americans – one a descendant of African slaves and the other of formerly European ancestors – have given South Africa one of the most authentic, brilliant, prophetic and healing screen experiences in a very long time.
Those who allege that they have no business to be telling South African history and stories are misguided.

As creative intellectuals, they have accurately – with a little embellishment – portrayed the spirit of forgiveness and desire for reconciliation that is driven by South Africans to make this country work.

Sometimes, in the mid 1990s following the first democratic elections, a place within some Africans refused to open up and let go of the past. People did not believe that Nelson Mandela was serious about the programme to make African people live as brothers and sisters with their former oppressors of European descent.

In those years, Mandela – who was celebrated by the whole world for his ability to forgive and forget – was chastised by some sections of the African population.
They felt that he was winning accolades and pleasing the former Europeans at the expense of African people.

The whole initiative to save rugby and retain its apartheid emblems, among many others, was cited as a case in point. They alleged that his New South Africa had failed to transform an unjust economic system or transform an inherently racist social system.

But, at some point, we all have to allow our hearts and bodies to yield to a great softness carried by the Madiba Magic. This is what happened to many who have sat to watch Invictus in movie auditoria of the privileged around the country.

I was touched to see some whites wipe away tears as Morgan Freeman exuded the charisma and soul of Madiba in his convincing portrayal of the legend.

If you think about it, it is easy to realize that Africans – more than their former European counterparts – are filled with the same Madiba compassion to try and bring more reconciliation in our beautiful land.

There are many moments when my mind just stops and simply follows the actions, conduct and gestures of many African people to get this country where it is going. Somehow, a great faith washes over me, making me believe that the Madiba Magic that lives in African souls will help us to get where we need to get to.

It is at such moments that I resign myself to let life take its own course and not necessarily worry about politics, racism, inequality and the crisis of leadership in the country.

I just know that there is enough of what we need: enough people, enough determination, enough love, enough compassion and enough energy for all of us to all learn to live together as brothers and sisters.

There is a great tenderness in many Africans — and some former Europeans — for the beautiful people of this beautiful land that no man can enjoy. Over the last three centuries, we have travelled a long hard road to find freedom and democracy.

We all know and accept that we all belong to this time, to this unequal society, to this earth, to this hope and optimism that will help us get where we going. There is something that is larger than Madiba and all of us that sustains and holds us together.

I would urge anyone who has not yet been to watch Invictus to take the entire family to appreciate how much was sacrificed, especially by Mandela, to get this beautiful land where it is today. Invictus is the sort of movie that should galvanize us to total commitment to and compassion to take Mandela’s vision to its greatest heights.

We can and must do better than our ancestors who left us with the heritage of Dingane’s Day, Day of the Vow and, now, Day of Reconciliation, for instance. Its significance rises from a violent encounter between Africans, especially the Zulus, and Afrikaner Vootrekkers who had a dispute over ownership of the land.

Of course, after the signing of some treaty, the Zulu felt that people of European descent, that is, the Voortrekkers, were traitors and witches who deserved to be killed. It was for this reason that Inkosi U-Dingane — after whom the Africans named the day — ordered his armies to dissolve them into the African soil so that there would be no trace of them.

This is part of our sad history and there will always be different versions of the same story. I cannot help but try to connect Invictus with this tragic part of our history to encourage a greater appreciation for this inspiring movie.

It was our blood drenched history that got Nelson Mandela to be the saintly figure that he is. But over the last 15 years, especially through a movie like Invictus, we are slowly been re-imagining our history to re-invent a better future for us all, both Africans and former Europeans.

This is the new reality we live in: South Africa belongs to all who live in it, both black and white! This movie, if you like, wants us all to aspire to be at our best, longing for justice and peace.

But it also requires that we, sometimes, be angry that with everything that Madiba has done we are the most unequal and racist society on earth. We can never have true reconciliation and forgiveness as long as there is racism, inequality and injustice in our beautiful land.

We undo everything that we have achieved by shrugging our shoulders in resignation instead of doing something to protect and defend everything that Madiba has given us.
Once in a while, we are given a movie to reconcile with ourselves and our past.

We can use Invictus, for instance, to reconcile the African and the European or watch them perish as fools as they hold on to the past that cannot be changed. Thank you very much to visionary Clint Eastwood and prophetic Morgan Freeman. You are an example that we can work together as brothers and sisters to make this country what it ought to be.

Can we have you make more movies about this miracle nation, please?