Today
marks 99 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela. What does the life
of Nelson Mandela mean to me as an African? For many people of my
age-group who started primary school in Zimbabwe in the early 80s,
there was a deep nationalistic atmosphere all around us. I remember
hearing over the radio terms like the “The ANC of South Africa”.
I also remember the days of great sorrow and mourning after the death
of Samora Machel. I know that many Zimbabweans regarded Samora Machel as
their president more so as many of our soldiers were in Mozambique
helping during the civil war. The name Nelson Mandela I would hear it
in some of the songs. In early 1990 after Nelson Mandela was released
from prison he visited Zimbabwe. I had started high school in the
mining town of Kwekwe. On my way to school one day I remember meeting
some students already coming back home as the day had been declared a
public holiday in honour of Nelson Mandela. The only other time when
an unplanned holiday was declared in Zimbabwe was in 1999 on the day
that Joshua Nkomo was buried at the National Heroes Acre and like
tens of thousands of Zimbabweans I walked all the way from Avondale
to the Heroes Acre and back to witness the burial of this giant of
our liberation struggle and that was the first and last time I ever
visited the shrine. In 2013 after I moved to South Africa there would
be another public holiday declared on the day that Nelson Mandela was
buried.
The
major roads in the city center of Harare are named in honour of
African leaders of our
Independence struggle such as Sam Nujoma, Kenneth Kaunda, Robert
Mugabe, Nkwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. Nelson
Mandela Avenue is the road that passes next to the entrance of The
Parliament of Zimbabwe such an honour to one of Africa’s consistent
democrat. I was blessed to have worked along Nelson Mandela Avenue
from 2004 to 2006. By the time I finished High school I was already
disillusioned with
some of my former heroes such as Robert Mugabe and Kenneth Kaunda. At
the same time my admiration of Nelson Mandela only grew. For me
Nelson Mandela represented hope in all that is good about Africa and
after the way he lived his life he has become a standard bearer in
how governance should be conducted. He did the unthinkable in Africa,
relinquishing power after only one term! Many African Presidents from
Robert Mugabe, Paul Kagame, Joweri Museveni, Joseph Kabila, Paul Biya
etc. want to serve more than two terms on the pretext that they still
need to do more work for the people yet Nelson Mandela and his
comrades were in only 5 years able to preside over a process to craft
and sign into law one of the most progressive constitutions in the
entire world, set up enduring institutions such as the world renowned
impartial judiciary, truly independent electoral commission, fiercely
independent press, independent central bank, proper devolution of
state power all the way to local government etc.
Unlike
the rest of Africa, Nelson Mandela and his comrades made sure that
the president would not have immunity and this is very important.
Future generations will come to learn that even as a sitting
president Nelson Mandela would
go and attend a court session yet most African Presidents appear to
be above the law. The reality in Africa just by looking immediately
north of Limpopo river and also recently the disturbing trends north
of Zambezi river where a state of emergency was recklessly declared.
Surely it is not a sign of democracy where a leader of the opposition
spends months in jail on a charge that he obstructed a motorcade of
the president? Our rulers have actually become more ruthless than the
colonial rulers. It seems our rulers have copied everything that
colonial rulers did and they even give out harsher punishment. Right
now being sentenced to prison in Zimbabwe even for a few months has
now become a death sentence as there is no care for inmates yet the
colonial masters treated these rulers better than the conditions they
subject their citizen to. On 31 March 2016 I was stunned when I sat
glued to the television watching the live judgement by the Chief
Justice of South Africa when the court unanimously delivered a stern
rebuke to the President for his failure to uphold the constitution of
the Republic. As a Zimbabwean I could not believe this and I kept on
saying,'Where else in Africa can a judge say this about a sitting
president and be free the next day?' Who said that Africa should
always be a follower? Through the actions of Mr. Mandela and his
comrades, South Africa was ahead of even the old democracies in
abolishing the death penalty and also granting the right to marry to
everyone regardless of their sexual
orientation.
The
term talk is cheap is very true, look at the way that Mr. Mandela
lived his life. Mr. Mandela identified with the down trodden hence he
was able to voice out against the policies of his successor Mr. Thabo
Mbeki when it came to people living with HIV. Mr. Mandela did not shy
away from speaking out against the excesses of Robert Mugabe’s
government when other leaders were willing to bury their heads in the
sand. When Mr. Mandela was sick he was treated here in Sunnyside,
Pretoria and not in Europe. In Nigeria it seems they voted-in a
president so that he could access state coffers and spend months in
London getting treatment and the same in Zimbabwe it is estimated
that the president according to figures from national treasury has spent over $50 million
dollars in a year traveling aboard mainly to get treatment in the Far
East for himself, his wife and the birth of his grandson. Yet in
Zimbabwe hospitals there is shortages of even pain killers and tens
of thousands of Zimbabweans have to skip borders to get proper
medical care in neighbouring countries.
In
a world where immigration has become a polarising issue for which
politicians can capitalise on to win an election, Mr Mandela married
Ms Garcia Machel from Mozambique. Also in a world where there is so
much polarisation Nelson Mandela could count among his friends people
like Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro how many among us can say that
about the diversity of our friends? Mr Mandela believed so much in
the goodness of humankind as demonstrated by this quote in his
autobiography Long walk to freedom ‘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 come more naturally to the human
heart that its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when
my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of
humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was
enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man’s goodness is a flame
that can be hidden but never extinguished”. All of us across
different religions, races, tribes, abilities and disabilities,
sexualities, social classes, nationalities etc. We should shun
prejudice and embrace each other as loving one another is more
natural than trying to feel superior over another person.
Nelson
Mandela had words of wisdom when he talked about the importance of
forgiveness when he said “As
I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom,
I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still
be in prison.” Many people have a lot of hurtful things done to
them in the past and by continuing to hold on to the grudges this
also hinders their freedom and progress, these words holds a deep
personal significance to me and I will try to live by them and free
myself from any past mishaps that wants to keep on holding me down as a
prisoner. For leaders in any field the way he started negotiations
with the National Party also have very important lessons where he
said,"there
are times when a leader must move out ahead
of the flock,
go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his
people the right way."
Over
the last few years South Africa has been going through some
self-inflicted challenges due to the careless actions of the leaders but thanks to the efforts of Nelson Mandela and his
comrades who laid a good foundation for democracy, this country will
not become another failed African country. Within the next 5 months
we might see a change of leadership at the top of government and the country
starting to take another direction and if not in the next 24 month
there will be definitely be change and whoever takes over will
inherit one of the most established democracies in Africa. Nelson
Mandela was right on this
inauguration speech when he said,” Never,
never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again
experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity
of being the skunk of the world” Nelson Mandela was not perfect but
he did his part and it is up to the current generation to do their
part to take their community, country, continent and world forward
and solve the current problems. We all have responsibilities, Nelson
Mandela and his comrades did their part, remember it was the average
South African voter who voted twice for Jacob Zuma with all they knew
about him and luckily after the second national election he did not get the
two thirds majority necessary to amend the constitution. The same way
given the immense challenges that this planet is facing, voters in
America decided to put a toddler in the White house and we are all
having to deal with the consequences.
I
end with these words from President Barack Obama on the death of
Nelson Mandela when said "He no longer belongs
to us. He belongs to the ages”. Indeed Nelson Mandela is one of the
most consequential leaders of all times, in my opinion he is in the
same mold like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Martin
Luther King, and Mother Theresa etc.
Thank
you Nelson Mandela for leading by example both in words and in deed.
Because of you, the world now knows that Africa is not a dark and
hopeless continent. Because of leaders like Mandela we now have hope
and this century now belongs to Africa’s youth to take this amazing
continent forward.
Rest
in Peace our hero
Zorora
murugare gamba redu
Ulale
ngokuthula qhawe
lamaqhawe
Here
is my favourite article about Nelson Mandela that I came across 9
years ago and I have read it a dozen times and it still brings tears
to my eyes.
