NELSON Rolihlahla Mandela (Aah Dalibhunga!) is no more. Long live Madiba!
Public commentary has not only been unanimously sympathetic following his death but also largely relevant. As expected, a lot more time is devoted to his life and times in a way that whatever bits and pieces a mourner had of the deceased are now woven into a colourful mosaic never to be forgotten. Worthwhile knowledge indeed that is good in itself as the Greek philosopher Socrates advised: knowledge is power.
However, the value of that hindsight is that it gives insight into our foresight. Hence public commentary has sought to correctly ask the question and incorrectly answer it: how shall we South Africans honour his legacy?
It has been incorrectly answered in that various media and to a certain extent our clergy, tend to present us with a laundry list of outcomes that will ensue only if his legacy is reverently honoured – there will be jobs for all, the standard of education will improve, poverty will be alleviated, our image and rating by the international community will ameliorate, and so forth.
Surely these outcomes can only be achieved if the leadership faithfully dedicates itself to live the life of Mandela. And this is not a tall order. On the contrary, we need only lower the bar to his level of humility – he mixed with ordinary people wherever he went, not on a trail of political campaigning, but as a genuine attempt to test how it felt to be others.
We need to lower the bar, tall as he was (pun intended), to the level of our children. These were his best friends and they, in turn, acknowledged him.
Most significantly, we need to lower the bar in so far as human greed is concerned. We were told how he donated award after another to charity. We see for ourselves how his home in Qunu is a home just like many of the homes you see as you drive towards East London. I mention Qunu advisedly because African custom has it that an African’s only home is in rural areas; not the Houghton property as in his case.
Mandela shared his well-earned fortune with the poor, in contrast to the present-day fashion of first taking from the poor and “magnanimously” returning to them Lazarus’ crumbs.
On an occasion like this we need to be like a present-day Zacchaeus who, on meeting Jesus Christ returned half of his unearned wealth to the poor. We need to be Zebedee’s sons who, on meeting Jesus, left all their harvest on the lakeside and followed him.
A significant point to remember is that our ultimate goal is to lead our people, like the Israelites of old, to Canaan.
As the Reverend Bongani Finca and many others have averred, we are not yet there. We are a country between countries (Egypt and Canaan). We are living in a time between times. In other words, we are still in the wilderness when it comes to realising peoples’ dreams. If this analogy is true, then Mandela is our Moses. He has died before reaching the land of milk and honey. But the long hard walk is one that our TatúMandela made himself. He did not talk about it or offer empty promises. He was the walk. The way he lived his life was our roadmap to ensure that we reach the destination.
And if Mandela is our Moses how dare we depart from the roadmap he presented?
I am not alone in my biblical analogies. My hero, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has categorically stated that even though Mandela was not a saint, he was saintly; only for these sentiments to be echoed by Archbishop Wilfrid Napier.
Further, it is my humble view, that on the passing on of TatúMandela, the masses are also asking themselves – and us – whether they have arrived in the Canaan that Madiba was leading us to.
As we drive past them on country roads in our cars on rainy days, are they remarking: “He is driving on our money”. As we dwell in palaces in the midst of their shacks, are they claiming: “That house is built with our money”. As we continue to splash out expensive whisky at various festivities, are they moaning: “I afforded him a drink (ndimvusele).”
Perhaps the greatest opportunity TatúMandela’s departure has presented to us, rich and poor alike, is to stop short and to face truth. We must seek justice and humility and strive to mend our ways. It should be as is stated in the scriptures: “In the year that King Uzziah (Chief Dalibhunga) died, I saw the Lord and therefore received His salvation”.
This is not to say Madiba is the Lord, but to say that he pointed to us to the noblest of values and that it is time for all of us who have been touched by his life – in a great or a small way – to see the light. We must reflect on how he loved us, on what he would want, and on how we can give back the gift of love to Nelson Mandela.
Writing a preface to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, this scholar says: Every now and again in the history of the world, a man is born – a philosopher, scientist, a poet, a ruler – it does not matter where he is born and lives, he belongs to all of us. It does not matter when he is born, he belongs to all time.
Such a man was Mandela.
May his soul rest in peace as we mortals seek to live his life.
Professor Theo Mncedisi Jordan is past professor of accounting at both the University of Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu University and is also an indigenous researcher
We need to follow the roadmap Madiba set
Public commentary has not only been unanimously sympathetic following his death but also largely relevant. As expected, a lot more time is devoted to his life and times in a way that whatever bits and pieces a mourner had of the deceased are now woven into a colourful mosaic never to be forgotten. Worthwhile knowledge indeed that is good in itself as the Greek philosopher Socrates advised: knowledge is power.
However, the value of that hindsight is that it gives insight into our foresight. Hence public commentary has sought to correctly ask the question and incorrectly answer it: how shall we South Africans honour his legacy?
It has been incorrectly answered in that various media and to a certain extent our clergy, tend to present us with a laundry list of outcomes that will ensue only if his legacy is reverently honoured – there will be jobs for all, the standard of education will improve, poverty will be alleviated, our image and rating by the international community will ameliorate, and so forth.
Surely these outcomes can only be achieved if the leadership faithfully dedicates itself to live the life of Mandela. And this is not a tall order. On the contrary, we need only lower the bar to his level of humility – he mixed with ordinary people wherever he went, not on a trail of political campaigning, but as a genuine attempt to test how it felt to be others.
We need to lower the bar, tall as he was (pun intended), to the level of our children. These were his best friends and they, in turn, acknowledged him.
Most significantly, we need to lower the bar in so far as human greed is concerned. We were told how he donated award after another to charity. We see for ourselves how his home in Qunu is a home just like many of the homes you see as you drive towards East London. I mention Qunu advisedly because African custom has it that an African’s only home is in rural areas; not the Houghton property as in his case.
Mandela shared his well-earned fortune with the poor, in contrast to the present-day fashion of first taking from the poor and “magnanimously” returning to them Lazarus’ crumbs.
On an occasion like this we need to be like a present-day Zacchaeus who, on meeting Jesus Christ returned half of his unearned wealth to the poor. We need to be Zebedee’s sons who, on meeting Jesus, left all their harvest on the lakeside and followed him.
A significant point to remember is that our ultimate goal is to lead our people, like the Israelites of old, to Canaan.
As the Reverend Bongani Finca and many others have averred, we are not yet there. We are a country between countries (Egypt and Canaan). We are living in a time between times. In other words, we are still in the wilderness when it comes to realising peoples’ dreams. If this analogy is true, then Mandela is our Moses. He has died before reaching the land of milk and honey. But the long hard walk is one that our TatúMandela made himself. He did not talk about it or offer empty promises. He was the walk. The way he lived his life was our roadmap to ensure that we reach the destination.
And if Mandela is our Moses how dare we depart from the roadmap he presented?
I am not alone in my biblical analogies. My hero, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has categorically stated that even though Mandela was not a saint, he was saintly; only for these sentiments to be echoed by Archbishop Wilfrid Napier.
Further, it is my humble view, that on the passing on of TatúMandela, the masses are also asking themselves – and us – whether they have arrived in the Canaan that Madiba was leading us to.
As we drive past them on country roads in our cars on rainy days, are they remarking: “He is driving on our money”. As we dwell in palaces in the midst of their shacks, are they claiming: “That house is built with our money”. As we continue to splash out expensive whisky at various festivities, are they moaning: “I afforded him a drink (ndimvusele).”
Perhaps the greatest opportunity TatúMandela’s departure has presented to us, rich and poor alike, is to stop short and to face truth. We must seek justice and humility and strive to mend our ways. It should be as is stated in the scriptures: “In the year that King Uzziah (Chief Dalibhunga) died, I saw the Lord and therefore received His salvation”.
This is not to say Madiba is the Lord, but to say that he pointed to us to the noblest of values and that it is time for all of us who have been touched by his life – in a great or a small way – to see the light. We must reflect on how he loved us, on what he would want, and on how we can give back the gift of love to Nelson Mandela.
Writing a preface to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, this scholar says: Every now and again in the history of the world, a man is born – a philosopher, scientist, a poet, a ruler – it does not matter where he is born and lives, he belongs to all of us. It does not matter when he is born, he belongs to all time.
Such a man was Mandela.
May his soul rest in peace as we mortals seek to live his life.
Professor Theo Mncedisi Jordan is past professor of accounting at both the University of Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu University and is also an indigenous researcher
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