Mandela: Another of South Africa´s Heroes Dead!

 

I bow my head in respect for Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela! He has contributed thousand times more to the struggle for freedom, justice and equality in the world than many others. I express my deep condolence to the people of South Africa, which means to those, who were (and are) in need of freedom, justice and equality, respectively to those who were and are willing to give way to these high aims.

Without doubt we have had to let him go after a tiresome long struggle and having reached a blessed age of 95 and a physical condition of being weak and helpless.

Since long they tried to kill the Hero!

Western polititians and media tried since long to kill the revolutionary by converting his revolutionary image into the image of an „NGO Grandpa“! And sadly he was too age mild to tell them off! It pained me to see arch imperialists like Clinton with the blood of hundreds of thousands Rwandese and millions of Congolese on his hands to knuddle Mandela and play the role of his friend.  Their pretended respect was in deed shameless disrespect.

 

And they tried to wipe away all the other heroes of the South African struggle by blowing their produced „NGO Grandpa“ portrait into unlimited dimensions! They did so to cover Steve Biko and all the other prominent as well as unknown heroes and martyrs of that long struggle, who counted in thousands, not to speak of the Sharpeville massacre and the Soweto uprising.

So we have to say again: free Nelson Mandela – also from this manipulatively imposed function:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJy4aUFUuMA

.

Even More Sad: the Freedom Charta (Partly) Burried Since Long!

In 1955 the ANC in a really democratically organized process brought about the Freedom Charter. It enshrined the basic principles and demands for a truly just society. This was besides the demands for formal democracy based on “one (wo)-man, one vote” the real aim of the struggle.

http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheid/a/FreedomCharter.htm

& http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Father-of-Freedom-Charter-dies-20130128

How this fundamental document was pushed aside in the process of transformation is well described by Naomi Klein in her book The Shock Doctrine. It´s not the matter to belittle Mandela´s contribution to the struggle and his long 28 years sufferings in prison by holding him alone accountable for this, but the process of negotiations was not all that democratic. His finally humanist attitude might have made him neglect the Freedom Charter in part in face of a big blood bath´s threat. And when Mangosuthu Buthelezi´s Inkatha gangs tried to disturb the ANC´s efforts by brutal violence on behalf of the Apartheid regime, Mandela found clear words. Anyway, the tragic of South Africa also lies in the fact that when ANC took office, politics was already robbed of power by the capitalists just like in the Western formal Democracies!

Crimes unpunished

It might be that at that time there couldn´t have been true justice on the crimes and brutality of the regime and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission might have been another price to avoid a long protracted civil war, as painful as it is to see those ruthless criminals unpunished. And the praising of (white) Western societies for this particular aspect of post Apartheid South Africa, the acquitting of those criminals against Humanity, appears to be very exposing! Disturbing to me is especially the case of a real monster, Wouter Basson, responsible for Project Coast, a real crime against Humanity. And what is to be read in the Sowetan disturbs me  more, even  if only partly true:

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2013/07/17/mandela-no-to-ban-on-basson & http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2012/09/26/double-blow-for-basson-inquiry

 

What is to be expected

And also another thing appears highly disturbing: the expectation of the imperial crocodiles squeezing tears at Mandela´s grave pretending they care in any way for Africa (http://tinyurl.com/kqcu8lf) and for the South Africans´ desire for a just, free and equal society in particular!

All this said my humble conclusion is:

Madiba, one of the great heroes of South Africa and Africa in general,

rest in peace!

Andreas Schlüter