Give Mandela reason to ‘sleep with broad smile’

IT WAS Frans Fanon who wrote, “Every generation has to discover its mission and either fulfil it or betray it”. Writing from his death bed to Roger Tayeb, he again said, “We are nothing on earth if we are not, first of all, slaves of a cause, the cause of the people, the cause of justice, the cause of liberty”.

These words graphically depict the convictions and the ethics of Nelson Mandela and his compatriots such as Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Robert Sobukwe, Steve Biko and many others. All these icons have since departed from what John Bunyan described as the “world of destruction” to “the celestial world of the Almighty”.

Having passed the baton to the present generation, they deserve a peaceful rest. The challenge now is how to expedite the unfinished post-apartheid struggle for a better life for all.

But as Martin Luther King once cautioned, “Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The ‘tide in the affairs of man’ does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on.”

Madiba will never again be available to give counsel and guidance to those who need it.

If nothing was learnt from him during his lifetime, it is too late now to make promises about maintaining his legacy.

He served the world with distinction and unquestionable integrity; he made Africans walk tall among all the nations of the world, a peace-maker who understood the suffering of his people and the fears of the oppressors. Harbouring neither vendetta nor desire for personal gain, he shared everything he had with the world, in particular the poor. After ascending to the highest office in the land, his mission was always to serve with loyalty, and not to be served.

A very profound thinker with a full understanding of people, he was unstoppable in his mission to liberate humanity as a whole. As a young man his ambition was to liberate all South Africans.

As the Latin-American author, Paulo Freire, more aptly puts it, “Although the situation of oppression is a dehumanised and dehumanising totality affecting both the oppressor and those whom they oppress, it is the latter who must, from their stifled humanity, wage for both the struggle for a fuller humanity; the oppressor, who is himself dehumanised because he dehumanises others, is unable to lead this struggle”.

While he was still a prisoner he skillfully initiated and dominated peace talks with his captors. He led the negotiations without betraying his soul and the struggle for which his people had died. Pleasantly surprised by his diplomacy, the world honoured him and former president FW de Klerk with the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, Madiba was always humble and never claimed easy victories or boasted about personal sacrifices, but fervently preached peace and co-existence. He was a patient and an extremely sharp-witted leader who took the views of others seriously. He was genuinely committed to nation building and reconciliation.

Towards the end of his life he became quite reticent on public issues and receded. Understandably so, but this was most unfortunately at a time his counsel was most needed.

However, like Fanon, he refused to die but held on for a long time after the doctors had despaired. Spiritually enslaved by his love for his people, he refused to go, but kept on looking behind like a caring shepherd being mutilated by vicious beasts in the bushes.

As his life drew to a close, the world could not imagine itself without Madiba. Madiba had become a symbol of hope for the world and the epitome of humanity itself. It was simply not prepared to let the legend go, and accept the immutable truth that, after all, we are all made of mortal timber.

Although he has finally departed and left a void in the world, the illustrious ideals for which he and his compatriots stood should never be forgotten.

Speaking in Durban some years ago, he once said he was not immortal but wanted to sleep with a broad smile for having achieved his life-long dream.

Undoubtedly, the best way to make him and his compatriots sleep with that smile on their faces, would be to respect and implement the values for which these men and women stood, the Freedom Charter in particular.

Failure in this respect would trivialise the struggle for which innumerable freedom fighters suffered and died. It would give rise to social conflict and contempt for the law itself.

Although much progress has been made, the task ahead is still an arduous one, and the death of Madiba demands a redoubling of efforts and a new RDP of the national soul.

In this context the Xhosa people usually say, Ukuwa komth’omkhulu kuvakala ngaphesheya kwemilambo (The fall of a big tree will be heard across the rivers). They go on to say, Xa intak’enkul’ ifile amaqand’ ayabola (When the big bird dies, the eggs shall begin to rot).

This is metaphorically how the world experienced the death of Madiba. His name will always remain a synonym for “peace” and “hope” in the affairs of mankind. May his soul rest in peace!

Ntsiki Sandi is a Grahamstown-based advocate and a former member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission