World unites in grief, celebration for Mandela

[MotherCitay]

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Johannesburg - Nelson Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, has died aged 95.

Mandela, who was elected South Africa's first black president after spending nearly three decades in prison, had been receiving treatment for a lung infection at his Johannesburg home since September, after three months in hospital in a critical state.

His condition deteriorated and he died following complications from the lung infection, with his family by his side.

The news was announced by a clearly emotional President Jacob Zuma live on television, who said Mandela had "departed" and was at peace.

"Our nation has lost its greatest son," said Zuma.

"What made Nelson Mandela great is precisely what made him human," he said.

Mandela, once a boxer, had a long history of lung problems after contracting tuberculosis while in jail on Robben Island.

His extraordinary life story, quirky sense of humour and lack of bitterness towards his former oppressors ensured global appeal for the charismatic leader.

Once considered a terrorist by the United States and Britain for his support of violence against the apartheid regime, at the time of his death he was an almost unimpeachable moral icon.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner spent 27 years behind bars before being freed in 1990 to lead the African National Congress (ANC) in negotiations with the white minority rulers which culminated in the first multi-racial elections in 1994.

A victorious Mandela served a single term as president before taking up a new role as a roving elder statesman and leading Aids campaigner before finally retiring from public life in 2004.

"When he emerged from prison people discovered that he was all the things they had hoped for and more," fellow Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said.

"He is by far the most admired and revered statesperson in the world and one of the greatest human beings to walk this earth."

From prisoner to global peace icon

He was a global cause celebre during the long apartheid years, and popular pressure led world leaders to tighten sanctions imposed on the apartheid regime.

In 1988 at a concert in Wembley stadium in London, tens of thousands sang "Free Nelson Mandela" as millions more watched on their television sets across the world.

Born in July 1918 in the southeastern Transkei region, Mandela carved out a career as a lawyer in Johannesburg in parallel with his political activism.

He became commander-in-chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the armed wing of the by now-banned ANC, in 1961, and the following year underwent military training in Algeria and Ethiopia.

While underground back home in South Africa, Mandela was captured by police in 1962 and sentenced to five years in prison.

He was then charged with sabotage and sentenced in 1964 to life in prison at the Rivonia trial, named after a Johannesburg suburb where a number of ANC leaders were arrested.

He used the court hearing to deliver a speech that was to become the manifesto of the anti-apartheid movement.

"During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society.

"It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

He was first sent to prison on Robben Island, where he spent 18 years before being transferred in 1982 to Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town and later to Victor Verster prison in nearby Paarl.

When he was finally released on 11 February 1990, walking out of prison with his fist raised alongside his then-wife Winnie.

Ex-prisoner 46664 was entrusted with the task of negotiating the path to democracy with president FW de Klerk.

Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their role in the ending of apartheid.

After the ANC won the first multi-racial elections, Mandela went out of his way to assuage the fears of the white minority, declaring his intention to establish "a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world."

Critics said his five-year presidency was marred by corruption and rising levels of crime. But his successors, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, have never enjoyed anywhere near the same levels of respect or affection.

In retirement, he focused his efforts on mediating conflicts, most notably in Burundi, as well as trying to raise awareness and abolish the taboos surrounding Aids, which claimed the life of his son Makgatho.

His divorce from second wife Winnie was finalised in 1996.

He found new love in retirement with Graca Machel, the widow of the late Mozambican president Samora Machel, whom he married on his 80th birthday.

In one of his last foreign policy interventions, he issued a searing rebuke of George W Bush on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, calling him "a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust".

Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton perhaps had a higher opinion of Mandela.

"Every time Nelson Mandela walks in a room we all feel a little bigger, we all want to stand up, we all want to cheer, because we'd like to be him on our best day," he said.

[Marabelle]

I agree with the comment that we will not see a man of his character and his greatness again in our lifetime.

[AR]

Well.........



Tired of hearing about him. Not saying I'm right or wrong about that.

[steveo777]

Not every side of Mandela was great. Communist

[MotherCitay]

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Nelson Mandela memorial: Barack Obama wins loudest roar of approval from restless crowd

By Cole Moreton, Aislinn Laing and Neil Tweedie in Soweto
9:36PM GMT 10 Dec 2013

Only one man was ever going to please the soaked, restless and expectant crowd at Nelson Mandela's memorial service on Tuesday.

They wanted soaring rhetoric, they wanted hope and above all they wanted President Barack Obama, who arrived very late but was greeted with a massive roar by those inside the stadium. Speaking of Mandela as his personal inspiration, the US leader declared: "He makes me want to be a better man."

The wild response made it clear that here in South Africa at least he was seen as the heir to Nelson Mandela, the man whose death last Thursday the crowd might have come to mourn, but whose life they wanted most of all to celebrate.

Mr Obama was inspired to make an audacious speech - even daring to lecture some of the 90 other world leaders sitting around him for failing to live up to the example set by "the great liberator".

Praising "a life like no other" he said: "It took a man like Mandela to liberate not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well." The speech was passionate and heartfelt. Americans had been through the same struggle for equal rights he said, adding: "Michelle and I are beneficiaries of that."

To people watching inside the FNB stadium and in the wider South Africa, he said: "The world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph."

Heavy rain was blamed for rows of empty seats in the uncovered section of the stadium, along with travel delays and the refusal of the increasingly unpopular President Jacob Zuma to declare a national holiday.

But for the world leaders gathered in comfortable seats under cover, this was an extraordinary chance to get together in an atmosphere that was unexpectedly relaxed. They were all dressed as for a funeral, but there were wide grins as Mr Obama and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, posed for a "selfie" photograph with the rather glamorous prime minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

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Michelle Obama did not appear pleased at just how well her husband was getting on with his new Danish friend, and stared away from the scene.

The energised Mr Obama even shared a warm greeting with America's most awkward neighbour Raul Castro, the leader of Cuba.

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The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon spoke of Mandela's "awesome power of forgiveness, and of connecting people with each other" and added: "He has done it again. Look around this stadium and this stage."

This was thought to be the largest gathering of world leaders at an event of this kind since the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965, but the mood among them was set by the brief they had been given that this was a celebration of a long and great life.

Having flown in overnight, Mr Cameron arrived at the stadium early, saying he hadn't wanted to get stuck in traffic. "You know us Brits get there on time," he said; but his promptness helped him avoid a difficult encounter with his own bogeyman, the late-arriving president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.

Instead he could mix with the likes of Bono, lead singer of U2, the supermodel Naomi Campbell and the Hollywood star Charlize Theron. Born in South Africa, she welled up when telling the Telegraph how her memories of Mandela were "just a tremendous memory of love and compassion and warmth".

Even Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, was able to enjoy his own brief special moment, with Bill Clinton, one of the four past and present American presidents in the stadium. Jimmy Carter and George W Bush were the others, Every living British prime minister was present, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Sir John Major, who told The Telegraph: "It's very difficult to see that anyone's life will be quite as extraordinary as Nelson Mandela's in the way it has affected this country and the rest of the world. It's a celebration and there's a lot to celebrate."

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Mr Obama appeared troubled by the conditions at first, but relaxed so much during his speech that he even attempted a local accent, when praising Mandela as the embodiment of the African ideal of unity, Ubuntu, He then became even bolder, as if being this close to Mandela's memory had charged him up, bringing back memories of his first, hope-filled campaign for the US presidency.

Attempting to live up to the crowd's expectations and take on Mandela's mantle, Mr Obama challenged his fellow presidents, prime ministers and heads of state to search their souls and ask whether they lived up to the example of the man they had come to praise.

"Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, how they worship and who they love," he said in the presence of leaders of Iran, China and Zimbabwe, among others. "There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom but do not tolerate dissent from their own people."

The day really belonged to Mr Obama. "He reminds us of Madiba," said Viola Maliti, 37, a judge's secretary. "He was also the first black president. He may not have done much for Africa yet but there's still time."

Mr Obama took care to praise "the other early giants of the ANC" and said he had first heard the name of Nelson Mandela – and learned of the struggle against apartheid - when he was a young student.

"It stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities - to others, and to myself - and set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today."

He praised Mandela for admitting his imperfections and for being full of mischief. "He was not a bust made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood - a son and husband, a father and a friend. That is why we learned so much from him; that is why we can learn from him still."

Bringing his speech to a climax with the words of Nelson Mandela's favourite poem, Invictus, he said: "'I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.' What a magnificent soul it was. We will miss him deeply."