40-PICS: Obama’s address gets rousing cheer at the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture
16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture.
An estimated 16 000-strong continent of South Africans of all races and genders lined Atholl-Oaklands Avenue in Sandton to attend the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the Wanderers Cricket Stadium on July 17.
This year’s lecture would be given by former US president, Barack Obama, who shares a host of accomplishments in common with Madiba.
Born worlds apart, the two men have both left an indelible mark on the history books. Mandela was elected the first Black president of a democratic South Africa and Obama the first African-American president of America.
The lecture was held in partnership with the Patrice Motsepe Foundation. When Motsepe took to the podium, he said ” You represent the best of Africa, America and the world, ” to thunderous applause from the stands.
President Ramaphosa said of Madiba, “Like us, he was not perfect. That is why he constantly sought his better self. ”
“Madiba challenged us to reach beyond our grasp.”
In his earlier address, Professor Njabulo Ndebele, the Nelson Mandela Foundation chairperson, echoed the same sentiments and said, “Few South Africans are aware of how Mandela’s release represented the art of the possible. ”
Ramaphosa added, “His enduring legacy is that he challenged us to fight for the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised.”
The crowd gave a rousing welcome to the former US president when it was his turn to take to the podium and chants of his election campaign refrain, ‘Yes we can’, filled the stadium.
His address focused on the socio-economic disparities facing many nations across the globe and he expressed the need for the economic elite to cease amassing more wealth and to follow Nelson Mandela’s example of giving back in order to close the gap between rich and poor.
The skilled orator held the audience captive throughout his speech as he recounted the warnings Madiba gave about the direction the world was moving in and the wisdom he imparted.
As the lecture drew to a close, one could not help but feel a renewed sense of hope and purpose.
Hope that the forces intent on wreaking destruction through sowing division based on the differences of race, gender, sexual orientation and religion would be thwarted; purpose that we will continue Madiba’s legacy with renewed energy. In Obama’s words, “Right is might.”
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