"We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:
That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people."
- Nelson Mandela
Today(15th Dec, 2013), the eternal body of 'The Father of South Africa' has been laid to rest at his family plot and ancestral village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape after political and religious leaders paid their last tribute.
photo courtesy: bbc.co.uk
Little bit about Madiba:
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa, clan name; Madiba; or as Tata, which means 'Father') born on 18 July 1918 to the Thembu royal family.
He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom to give all school children “Christian” names.
He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated.
Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest. He completed his BA through the University of South Africa attended the Fort Hare University and The University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law.
Mandela served 27 years in prison, first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison.
“Prison is itself a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance. It is, above all, a test of one's commitment…” Nelson Mandela
He was South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician, served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.
He had received international acclaim for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance, having received over 250 awards, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Soviet Order of Lenin. In South Africa, he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name of Madiba or as tata; he is often described as "the father of the nation".
Mandela died of a lung infection on 5 December 2013 at around 20:50 local time at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, surrounded by his family. He was 95.
On his death, President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma said -
"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Zuma said. "Our people have lost their father."
10 great quotes of this great leader-
1. Nothing in this world is impossible and Mandela makes sure to remind us of that.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
2. A lot of people find it easy to be pessimistic and think of the negatives that can arise out of a situation. But in this quote, Mandela shows us that thinking positive is the only way to go. The more positive you think, the more positive the outcome will probably be.
“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
3. Living isn’t just about doing for yourself, but what you do for others as well.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
4. An ode to the fact that racism is not passed on genetically, but passed on through teachings.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color 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.”
5. Life is a course with endless obstacles to hurdle.
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
6. We are too quick to give up and refuse to get up from our failures. If we don’t fight to get up, we are giving up on something bigger — life.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
7. Sometimes you can leave a place and find that the only thing that has changed after all the years is yourself.
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
8. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
9. Be brave!
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
10. From the poorest of countries to the richest of nations, education is the key to moving forward in any society.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
BBC published an article about this great leader in this way:
Nelson Mandela was not an easy man to sum up. Icon, reconciler, fighter, charmer … The list is long and, perhaps necessarily so in a man of his stature, contradictory.
During the course of a long, tumultuous life, Nelson Mandela juggled many roles. It was that ability, as a leader, to transform and adapt to changing circumstances which may well hold the secret to his lasting achievements.
Here, then, are the four key roles that is would pick out of the pile. They were not all roles of his choosing, but they may go someway towards defining the legacy of one of the great leaders of the last century.
Icon:
The world has come to know the smile, the stoop, the gravel voice and grey hair.
But for the 27 years he spent in jail, Nelson Mandela was a mysterious, abstract figure - his image and even his name unprintable inside apartheid South Africa.
The man was transmuted into an icon, a symbol of resistance whispered in the townships and revered around the world.
The African National Congress (ANC) overcame legitimate qualms to back the notion of a Mandela "brand".
"There were a lot of debates - I can remember asking why we're singling Nelson Mandela out. But the idea of an icon does work - perhaps unfortunately," remembers Ronnie Kasrils, a member of the ANC's armed wing.
As that icon, Mr Mandela played a vital role, not only in galvanising the struggle within South Africa, but perhaps more importantly in rallying support for international sanctions - among the more powerful weapons in the fight against apartheid.
Many factors, not least the end of the Cold War, led to the collapse of white minority rule, but the abstract image of a solitary, defiant man, unjustly imprisoned for almost three decades, cut to the heart of South Africa's predicament.
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| photo courtesy: bbc.co.uk |
Reconciler:
"A different leader… would have said: 'OK, these people oppressed us for many years. Let's kill them.' But the stance he took will be remembered by all South Africans and all people of the world," said the famous South African photographer Alf Khumalo before he died in 2012.
The icon role was important, but Mr Mandela's defining contribution to South Africa's revolution was as reconciler-in-chief - first during the bold, risky negotiations he conducted with the apartheid government while he was still in prison, and later during his exhaustive attempts to reassure a nervous white minority - some still argue he bent over too far protecting their business interests - and to calm the rage of an impatient black majority.
There were many key moments - the Rugby World Cup final in 1995 springs to mind, when Mr Mandela presented the cup to the South African team captain.
But none defined his leadership more, or played a more crucial part in averting civil war, than his interventions immediately after the 1993 assassination of the struggle hero Chris Hani.
"Tonight I am reaching out to every single South African, black and white, from the very depths of my being," said Nelson Mandela on national television, warning that "our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster".
"He saved the country. No doubt about it," remembers veteran South African journalist Allister Sparks.
"That's when the natural power of leadership rose up. The whole country recognised it."
Fighter:
He may have become a reconciler, but Mr Mandela will also be remembered as a radical, a rebel and a "young firebrand" who helped to push the ANC away from its rather gentlemanly opposition to apartheid and into a violent confrontation with white rule.
Mr Mandela was among eight men sentenced to life at the Rivonia trial.
It was Mr Mandela who initiated and led the armed struggle, despite his lack of military experience. "We had no choice but to turn to violence," he wrote in his autobiography. "I who had never been a soldier… had been given the task of starting an army."
This is the most divisive part of Mr Mandela's life and legacy.
He was branded a terrorist by the South African government. In the 1980s, Britain's then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's spokesman described the ANC as "a typical terrorist organisation". Today, most white South Africans cherish Mr Mandela's contribution to the country's peaceful revolution, but a handful both here and abroad will no doubt continue to focus on, and condemn, his militancy.
Today that militancy is also emphasised - and celebrated - by some black South African politicians.
The fiery former ANC Youth League President Julius Malema told me that foreigners "know nothing of Mandela" and are attempting to subvert his radical agenda.
Mr Malema's colleagues say they are carrying on Mr Mandela's true legacy by pushing for the nationalisation of white businesses and the seizure, without compensation, of white-owned land.
Charmer:
Mr Mandela was a powerful public speaker. But when he emerged from prison he could also appear stiff and regal in front of a crowd.
His real strength - his political genius, you might argue - lay in his one-to-one interactions with people of all walks of life."He had a gift for personal intimacy," is how veteran journalist Allister Sparks describes it. "No-one was too small to be of real interest to him."
It was that gift, among others, that helped him rise through the ANC, and to maintain his "first-among-equals" status in prison.
Later it helped convince the apartheid government's representatives, who visited him in jail to negotiate his release, that this was a man they could trust. Had they not, South Africa's revolution could have lasted much longer, and been far more violent.
Some later worried that Mr Mandela's charm had turned his head, that he kept some unsavoury friends, and was too enamoured of celebrity culture.
But most South Africans were quick to indulge him and even to enjoy the all-too-human foibles of a man they knew was much more than a mere "saint".
I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. 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.”
-- Nelson Mandela
SALUTE TO THIS GREAT LEADAR AND HUMAN BEING!
Courtesy: http://newsone.com, wikipedia, http://bbc.co.uk, google image
