RIP Nelson Mandela

[BriD]

Mr Nelson Mandela passed away on Thursday 5th December.

It fills my heart with sadness...this man...so much forgiveness in his heart. I wonder how he felt about how things were panning out in this country. I am sad for all the controversy that surrounded him with his greedy family and all the question marks around his health.

It is for sure that he will always be remembered as one of the most positive icons this country has ever had.

I guess now we wait and see what kind of impact his death will have...

RIP Madiba, may you be at peace now

http://mg.co.za/article/2013-12-05-nelson-mandela-dies

Edited December 5, 2013 by BriD

[zamunda]

Nelson Mandela passes away. Rest in peace.

[Lyn]

Just heard this on our news. Very sad indeed.

I hope and pray his passing unifies South Africans.

RIP in Madiba. The world has lost an inspirational man.

[Dakar66]

A very sad day for us all.

We should all be proud of his humanity and his ability to forgive and start reconciliation in our country.

Allthough I am now in Australia, I deeply miss South Africa despite the serious challenges it faces. Like so many of you on this website I have a family and their future and safety is my only priority.

It would be a perfect world for all of us if the current leadership could display just some of the qualities that Nelson Mandela had in his heart. South Africa could be a far more safe and prosperous nation.

I am thankful I have got my family to Australia and grateful to Australia for accepting us here, but it is not home.

Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela.

[HadEnoughofJuju]

http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/index.htm

[DXB2OZ]

For once, Zuma says something good. "We saw in him what we seek in ourselves".

[HadEnoughofJuju]

http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/index.htm

[Jordy]

May he rest in peace. I am grateful he embodied such powerful forgiveness and the spirit of reconciliation.

"If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness." Nelson Mandela

[Bams]

R.I.P Madiba

Some of his quotes that I will always remember and that rings so true to our country (just wish the people in power would REALLY listen to this words of Madiba):

"No person 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."

And of course in his address to the September 1994 Congress of COSATU:

"It the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do the ANC what you did to the apartheid government."

[AndreR]

Its very sad. A part of me feels like the last bit of hope for South Africa has died with him. I really hope that I am wrong.

[Kurkprop]

Hamba kahle Madiba.

[DXB2OZ]

It is incredibly hard to try and explain to a non South African why this outpouring of grief for a man who had reached the advanced age of 95 - after all, it should hardly come as a shock.

My attempt has been that when shocking events happen, we are stunned by the enormity of the event - planes flying into the twin towers, assassinations, man walking on the moon. In this instance, it was the enormity of the man. A man who walked free after spending almost half his life in jail and said the past is past. Let us build the future........together.

Now he is gone and the ground feels a little less steady under our feet while we come to terms with our loss.

Around South Africa, people are chanting "it is in our hands now". My deepest prayer is that they pick up the torch which was left for too long with one man - a man who had already given all he had and more.

[Jcleroux]

It was so sad to hear about Mandela dying . We only arrived in Australia on Monday night and it feels so surreal to hear he has died.

[magman]

It has been touching over here in SA at the moment, I would say people are not really mourning, but more celebrating his life.

Yesterday everyone was driving with their lights on in memory and it was awesome to see a nation united like that. Radio (east coast radio) has been playing non stop tribute songs, especially Johnny Cleggs asimbonanga. I must say if you homesick, it is not the kind of music you would want to listen too.

The TV stations and all the adverts are in memory, non stop about Madiba. lot's of people gathered outside his JHB home paying tribute, also lots of people singing schoscholoza outside his home.

lots of dignitries coming, Obama, Bush and Clinton, and appreantly is going to be a logistical nightmare with their security forces, lots of JHB hotels already fully booked.

[kangaroo]

Nelson Mandela memorial service will be screened live on big screen at Fed Square in Melbourne on Tuesday 10 Dec at 8pm. - click link for details.

[McCabes]

I'm so grateful that we got to have such a wonderful person in our history and influencing the course South Africa and even the world took. He was (and will remain) such an example to look up to, in forgiveness, in doing the right thing. I am sad we no longer have him to turn to - wouldn't it have been great if he'd been 20 years younger and he could have seen us through the last 20 years himself?

[bams, the quote you cite as from a 1994 address to COSATU is doing the rounds on social media quite a lot, but no-one seems to know where it comes from. As far as I could tell, it was actually said by Chris Hani in 1993:

Comrade Chris Hani in his interview with SABC in 1993 before his death said if the government or those people in government will forget the mandate of the masses and start buying one Mercedes Benz car after another, the people must do what they have done to the apartheid government.

http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=2208

It seems an article by Jay Naidoo is most often referenced for this, but there's nothing to back this up as being true. Mandela remained true to the ANC all the years he was in the public eye - we can't tell how he felt since he stepped back and stopped doing interviews, etc. ]

[McCabes]

on this track, I highly recommend everyone looks up the Flash mob the soweto gospel choir did of Asimbonanga. It is just so beautiful, very very moving (I'm crying now but I'm such a sentimental slob!) Well worth the watch!

[DXB2OZ]

Here's the link

http://www.channel24.co.za/News/Local/A-beautiful-flash-mob-in-honour-of-Tata-Madiba-20131210

I couldn't see it clearly because I was bawling like a baby. The best tribute!

[McCabes]

thanks DXB2OZ, was on my tablet and that one needs Flash... and I haven't worked out how to grab the link from the Youtube app yet since I finally updated it...

But yes, was absolutely fantastic!!!

[Eyebrow]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHjP7XrBq0

[ace]

"The last great liberator of the 20th century." Barack Obama. I agree fully.

[Donovan83]

The behaviour of pretty much the entire crowd at the memorial was a disgrace! What kind of person brings a vuvuzela to a memorial service? It's Mandela's memorial service, not a flipping pirates match!

Not to mention Obama taking a selfie.

Oooh eh eh *shakes head*.

[DXB2OZ]

I agree that the behaviour of the crowd was sadly lacking in many aspects - however, this was supposed to be a celebration of his life. A time where people are joyful because he was with us. Perhaps the lineup should have been reviewed to include more celebrating and less speeches from little known foreign dignitaries.

Cape Town is having a concert with Freshly Ground and Johnny Clegg, with Francois Pienaar in attendance. I would give anything to be there - and I hate to admit it but would probably take my vuvuzela with me.

For my father in law's wake we had a spit braai and a open bar, a bouncy castle and bubble machine for the kids (he adored his grandchildren and would have been the first to say no party was complete without them), some tears and much laughter. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was what he wanted and was absolutely brilliant.

Just because the grief is so universal, doesn't make it less personal. Let's just smile, tolerate what we can't understand and enjoy what we can, while we remember a very special man who preached equal opportunity and freedom for all, black and white - including the freedom to mourn.

I will however add that I thought the booing of certain people a disgrace - this was a celebration, not a political rally!

The cheers for Mugabe, whether from large EFF contingent or the crowd in general, brought bile to my throat.

[magman]

I have been seeing lots of Negative things about Madiba on facebook, labeling him as a communist and terrorist, any of you seen the same? Bit sad I think.

I Just wish the current government would of followed in his footsteps, and I bet he regrets the way ANC have run the country since he stepped down.

[21yearsoutofrsa]

Certainly the ANC aligned themselves with the Communist Party from the 1940's and received significant support, both military and financial from the then USSR. In 1994 there was a tripartite alliance between Cosatu, the ANC and the South African Communist party. Joe Slovo was the first ministr of housing in the post apartheid government, and he was the leader of the Communist Party. But it may have been a case of you are my enemy's enemy, therefore you are my friend, bit like the USSR been a member of the Allied forces (with the UK and USA) pitted against Nazi Germany.

Nelson Mandela was the first leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC. Umkhonto we Sizwe conducted a number of operations that could have been considered to be terror acts. But one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Certainly some of the incidents conducted by the ANC had the same characteristics of the IRA, so if you consider those to be of a terrorist nature then you would consider the ANC, its military wing and its leaders to be terrorist? There is no clear definition of what a terrorist is, so it's very much in the eye of the beholder.

In my opinion Nelson Mandela was the major force in ensuring there was not a revenge culture after the 1994 elections, but he wasn't a complete saint either.

Edited December 11, 2013 by 17yearsoutofrsa