Nelson Mandela. A man known to many throughout the world.

Retired from politics in 1999. Retired from retirement in 2004 due to ill health, stopped appearing at public events (almost entirely).

Died 5 December 2013, after a long illness.

It will be a great day for celebration when we never again need anyone as great as he was, to take what he took, and to bear what he bore.

It isn't easy to sacrifice justice for the past for justice for the future, but it does look like he made it work. Here's hoping it keeps on.

If that day ever comes, it will no doubt be long after our generation has all departed.



Indeed.


It appears that we're going to be hosting one of the biggest gatherings of world heads of state in history. At least 70 will be visiting tomorrow for Madiba's memorial. (That's the currently sitting heads of state. Accompanied by at least 11 former heads of state).

They were discussing it on the radio this morning. The seating arrangements could be interesting; with that many world leaders, there's almost certainly some who don't like each other much going to be in attendance.

Mandela was a patient man; he always heard his opponents out before responding, and he knew when someone wouldn't budge on a point. If more heads of state tried to emulate his example, it could be a very good thing indeed.

He was the living person I most respected --not as much for his role in freeing South Africa, but for the mercy and wisdom he showed in office, and his George Washington-like decision to set a good precedent leave office after one term.

I think there are precious few people who you can definitively say made the world a better place for all of humanity. Nelson Mandela was one of those people. Which makes it all the more disappointing that his successors have not lived up to his promise. Mbeki was not only shockingly ignorant about HIV, he inflicted his ignorance on the whole nation at the cost of countless lives. And Zuma - well, I don't know much about the man but most of what I've heard has had to do with corruption charges. Which cannot be a good thing. But I suppose all politicians can't be as far-sighted and principled as Mandela was.

Indeed. There are few who would have done that, and I am certain that in the process he averted what would otherwise have been a rather messy situation (at the time, a lot of people stockpiled provisions in fear of civil war, but the civil war fortunately never turned up).



It would be very hard indeed to have a successor that could live to Mandela. Mbeki had a few blotches on his record - the HIV business being by far the biggest of those blotches - but aside from that, he was a pretty average politician. He did a lot of things reasonably well, or at least adequately. Zuma... well, the less said about him, the better. He did get a lot of booing when he tried to make a speech at the memorial service yesterday (every time his face appeared on the screens, I understand - which may be why, at some point during the service, the screens stopped working).

I'm told Obama gave a particularly good speech (I haven't heard it yet myself).

It's too soon to know for sure if he succeeded, but he certainly did his best to birth a nation that, like America, can survive a terrible leader and move on peacefully.

Movies usually have stick to a schedule from production to release so it isn't like they decided to make one as soon as Mandela passed, but the timing almost makes it feel like they were waiting to cash in.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

I think that any country can survive a certain amount of terribleness in its leaders; a more robust country can survive a more terrible leader. I think that, despite Zuma, we haven't hit our threshold just yet.



Actually, that would have been out by now in any case. They'd finished the film, invited a number of high-profile guests, and allowed them to watch the premier. Apparently Mandela (who wasn't there) actually died during the premier...

Yes, he did. Mandela's daughters were attending the premiere and didn't learn of his death until after the film.