Black on White: Long live Madiba
A nation should not be judged by how it treats the majority, but how leaders treat the minority as well.
Although I was only a boy when Mandela was released from prison, I remember being in awe of the man I saw on television, he made me believe in hope. This was not a hope to get rid of pain, but rather to live in a country truly free.
Looking back at those years, I realise; February 11, 1990 was the day I began to develop an interest in politics and the world around me. Just as like Mandela, I was not driven by vengeance, I was motivated by hope. Granted, in my case I could afford that sort of approach; while it took a great man like Mandela to look at his ‘enemy’ and forgive.
Mandela proved we cannot build a future by looking at the past. The mandate was not for black people to overpower the white minority, but rather give everyone equal opportunity everyone. Unfortunately today’s generation of leaders seem to have forgotten Madiba’s core principles.
He said, “A Nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it’s lowest ones.” Allow me to add to this statement by saying, “A nation should not be judged by how it treats the majority, but how leaders treat the minority as well.”
As Gareth Cliff said, “The father of our nation has closed his eyes, so that the rest of the world may open theirs.”
It is time we took up our responsibility for the future, not in the name of Mandela, but in honour of his legacy. Madiba paved the way. It is in a way sad that we only have a desire to continue his legacy after he passed on. As mentioned before, our responsibility to redress effects of Apartheid should have been taken up long ago.
I hope we can finally let go of the past and start addressing our present and looking forward to the future, a future not measured by colour.
We thank Madiba for the sacrifices he made, we thank him for the opportunities he made available to us, and therefore we should honour his legacy by taking responsibility of the future.
