All day today, all 4 South Africa
channels (SABC 1, 2, 3 and eTV) have been running non-stop coverage of one
story. There is grief, but it is more a time of deliberation and
introspection. What can be done to honour Madiba's legacy?
I spent 7 years in the 1980s working in what were called the "frontline states" (Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique). I got to know the gridlock well - the proxy wars in Angola and Mozambique and the iron rod of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Those were tense times. I travelled with 2 passports - one to use entering and leaving South Africa only, and the other for everywhere else.
Then I moved to Winnipeg for 3 years from 1988 to 1991. It was during this period that the Berlin Wall was torn down. That was the delayed end of the Cold War and the beginning of the New World Order. It was clear that the democratization of Africa would spell some major changes for what we used to call "the racist republic". One only got glimpses of what has come to light since - that Mandela had been moved off Robben Island although still a prisoner. And that Oliver Tambo had deployed Govan Mbeki's son Thabo as a negotiator in secret meetings held in London (try to see the BBC movie about this called End Game).
I spent 7 years in the 1980s working in what were called the "frontline states" (Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique). I got to know the gridlock well - the proxy wars in Angola and Mozambique and the iron rod of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Those were tense times. I travelled with 2 passports - one to use entering and leaving South Africa only, and the other for everywhere else.
Then I moved to Winnipeg for 3 years from 1988 to 1991. It was during this period that the Berlin Wall was torn down. That was the delayed end of the Cold War and the beginning of the New World Order. It was clear that the democratization of Africa would spell some major changes for what we used to call "the racist republic". One only got glimpses of what has come to light since - that Mandela had been moved off Robben Island although still a prisoner. And that Oliver Tambo had deployed Govan Mbeki's son Thabo as a negotiator in secret meetings held in London (try to see the BBC movie about this called End Game).
During these years in Winnipeg
I walked to work every morning, intentionally. I walked with God. I
used that hour to say my daily prayers. So I can honestly say that for
years, I prayed every day that Nelson Mandela would be released. It was
symbolic. The Mandela "branding" of course was an intentional
ANC strategy and it sure worked on me.
On Sundays at St Aidan's Anglican church, there was always a time of extemporaneous prayer. I often prayed for Mandela out loud. People would sometimes ask me in the foyer after church, who is that guy I prayed for? A new refugee arriving? A sick friend? An international student? No, I would reply, he was gonna be the President of South Africa someday... but like Joseph, another young man who once languished in an African jail, his ability to interpret and envisage had not yet been unleashed...
When it finally was, it was remarkable. He literally tripped the light fantastic! Another movie Invictus captures how he ruled as President.
That brings me to the latest movie A Long Walk to Freedom. It's worth seeing. Especially now during this period of deliberation and introspection. I know the story very well so I found it "rushed"; they had so much to cover in a mere 2.5 hours. But they got it right. Especially the tragic sub-plot about Winnie.
One thing really resonated with me. Mandela was moved with Walter Sisulu and some other political prisoners to Pollsmoor prison, in Capetown. Later, he was moved into a house surrounded with a security fence, where he was still under surveillance 24/7. Still a prisoner, but now isolated from his ANC comrades. In one scene, they objected to this, imploring him not to try negotiating on his own. They said it is not the ANC's way of doing business. In the movie he gets up and says that he has no choice - he is a prisoner - so as a leader he will go ahead and lead. The movie is graphic. This is a turning point. Almost all scenes up to this one involve his comrades or family. From that scene on, he is usually in the company of whites, albeit still in prison/house at first, negotiating with Boer government officials a way to end apartheid and democratize.
I was greatly encouraged by this example. For in the past year I have also been isolated. My opponents have tried to use my isolation against me, to make me look weak or outnumbered. I am consious of it, bu I too came to that point of saying, well a leader has to go ahead and lead the way. It has been scary at times, risky, and one senses the distance from comrades and family. But one has to engage for the sake of your good cause.
This leads me to another request for prayer... as I negotiate with people far more powerful than myself, from a position of relative weakness, still a prisoner of isolation, but all the while holding the high moral ground. Pray that I can emerge from this period soon, to put it behind me and move beyond it into deeper engagement with those I came to serve.
On Sundays at St Aidan's Anglican church, there was always a time of extemporaneous prayer. I often prayed for Mandela out loud. People would sometimes ask me in the foyer after church, who is that guy I prayed for? A new refugee arriving? A sick friend? An international student? No, I would reply, he was gonna be the President of South Africa someday... but like Joseph, another young man who once languished in an African jail, his ability to interpret and envisage had not yet been unleashed...
When it finally was, it was remarkable. He literally tripped the light fantastic! Another movie Invictus captures how he ruled as President.
That brings me to the latest movie A Long Walk to Freedom. It's worth seeing. Especially now during this period of deliberation and introspection. I know the story very well so I found it "rushed"; they had so much to cover in a mere 2.5 hours. But they got it right. Especially the tragic sub-plot about Winnie.
One thing really resonated with me. Mandela was moved with Walter Sisulu and some other political prisoners to Pollsmoor prison, in Capetown. Later, he was moved into a house surrounded with a security fence, where he was still under surveillance 24/7. Still a prisoner, but now isolated from his ANC comrades. In one scene, they objected to this, imploring him not to try negotiating on his own. They said it is not the ANC's way of doing business. In the movie he gets up and says that he has no choice - he is a prisoner - so as a leader he will go ahead and lead. The movie is graphic. This is a turning point. Almost all scenes up to this one involve his comrades or family. From that scene on, he is usually in the company of whites, albeit still in prison/house at first, negotiating with Boer government officials a way to end apartheid and democratize.
I was greatly encouraged by this example. For in the past year I have also been isolated. My opponents have tried to use my isolation against me, to make me look weak or outnumbered. I am consious of it, bu I too came to that point of saying, well a leader has to go ahead and lead the way. It has been scary at times, risky, and one senses the distance from comrades and family. But one has to engage for the sake of your good cause.
This leads me to another request for prayer... as I negotiate with people far more powerful than myself, from a position of relative weakness, still a prisoner of isolation, but all the while holding the high moral ground. Pray that I can emerge from this period soon, to put it behind me and move beyond it into deeper engagement with those I came to serve.
