The ANC has destroyed Mandela’s dream

When Nelson Mandela made his first speech as a free man 32 years ago today, it was from the same Cape Town City Hall where President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address on Thursday night … but the country’s innocence has long since gone.

Mandela’s speech expressed the dream he had of a peaceful and equal South Africa. But, there was not even a
thought, in his words, that South Africans – and people from his own beloved ANC – would steal their fellow citizens blind.

“In the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all, I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. And a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to insure that the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly democratised.”

– Nelson Mandela, 11 February 1990

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the ideal plan now was to rebuild, and the question which should be asked was: are we able to rebuild with integrity?

According to Mathekga, with what was at stake, it should be remembered when rebuilding, the country would not be growing nor advancing and it was not being expeditious.

“We have to deal with commissions, through wider loss of capacities across the public services, as well as corroded principals,” he said.

Mathekge said in order to bring about effective change, the country needed to go back to the basics. At the time, Mandela didn’t think of corruption. He was full of hope, the thought of stealing from people never even occurred to him. Corruption wasn’t even in his radar.

His speech spoke to the euphoria of the moment. Our economy lies in ruins and our people are embroiled in political strife.

– Nelson Mandela, 11 February 1990

The July riot report which was inclusive of recommendations with aspects such as in times of crisis, noted that more than at any other time, the president must lead government in communicating a single, clear message
about what was happening, why it was happening and what the government would do to address the matter.

Tshwane University of Technology senior political science and public policy lecture Levy Ndou said there were currently a lot of similarities with Mandela’s concern and the July riots report highlighting factionalism within
the ruling party. Ndou said at a time where the chips were down, someone was needed to help the people.

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Mandela’s speech emphasised the importance of transparency and doing away with dictatorship. The need to unite the people of our country is as important a task now as it always has been. It is our task as leaders to place our views before our organisation and to allow the democratic structures to decide on the way forward.

– Nelson Mandela, 11 February 1990

“The people of South Africa are not happy with the corruption that has been taking place in government,” Ndou said.

“It is important to note that the challenges we face now are the same challenges we faced before 1994.

“What is lacking is the development of strategies to deal with these issues very decisively.”

“People will not believe, nor vote for you if they do not trust you,” Ndou said.

Cape Town’s City Hall’s original grounds were laid at the turn of the 20th century. The mayor of Cape Town, Thomas Ball, arranged its cornerstone on 29 August 1900, but the hall was only opened in 1905. Hours after his release from
prison, Mandela made his first public speech from the balcony of to the crowd in the Grand Parade and on 24 July 2018, a statue of him on the balcony overlooking the Grand Parade was unveiled.

In conclusion, I wish to go to my own words during my trial in 1964.

They are as true today as they were then. I wrote: I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

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It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

– Nelson Mandela, 11 February 1990

Today, the Grand Parade is used for parking and as a flea market venue, while the City Hall is used as the Cape Town Municipal library.

– lungas@citizen.co.za