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Tribute to Nelson Mandela
(SSR Magazine Page 40)
“FABRIC
OF A REAL MAN..DELA”
Success
usually comes with good leadership, and Nelson
Mandela and the South Africa Football
Association (SAFA) deserves a lot of credit
for putting forward a successful bid to host
the FIFA World Cup tournament in such a short
space of time and delivering a successful
tournament.
It is a remarkable feat considering Mandela was
release from prison in 1990 and became South
Africa’s first black President in 1994. And
since that time only four World Cups have been
staged.
The expeditious manner in which Mandela
campaigned to host the 2010 World Cup made its
imminent success a reality in 2004. Again, the
Nobel Peace Prize winner had proven that he was
arguably the most loved statesman in
accomplishing that feat.
We were taught that in life everything happens
for a reason. There is no doubt that Mandela’s
27 years in prison made him wiser and more
committed. Though he may not have had thoughts
of revenge and/or bitterness in his heart when
he was released from prison, he returned to the
outside world more committed in an effort to
resolve the complicated problems of South
Africa’s Apartheid System.
He negotiated his freedom as a concession for
solving the racial unrest in South Africa and
became the President in South Africa’s first
truly democratic election in 1994. It must be
noted that his use of sports (Rugby and
Football) was an integral part of Mandela’s
success in uniting a divided South Africa.
In 1994 President Mandela was able to convince
the rugby union to bring the Rugby World Cup to
South Africa, in which South Africa won. The
Rugby World Cup he had hoped would help bring
the races closer together and for the most part
it did. It was also an opportunity for
South
Africa to reconnect with the rest of the world,
(although this position was a complete reversal
from Mandela’s and the ANC (African National
Congress) stance, when they helped get the South
African national rugby team (the Springboks),
banned from international play, since it
represented the Apartheid system.
As a goodwill gesture, Mandela wore the
Springbok's jersey and cap to the rugby finals
at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Stadium in 1995, to
loud chants of “Nelson, Nelson!” from the mostly
white crowd, on his walk to meet the team
captain in the post game ceremony.
In bringing the 2010 FIFA World Cup to South
Africa it meant that blacks were better
represented through the sport of football and
with the support of the white South Africans,
the world experienced what was a true reflection
of Mandela’s Rainbow Nation
Mandela first wife Evelyn
was a nurse who worked at the Johannesburg
General Hospital.
The
couple coming out seemed to have occurred when
they attended Walter (Nelson’s friend) and
Albertina Sisulu wedding in April of 1944 as
boyfriend and girlfriend. Mandela was the Best
Man and Evelyn (Sisulu's first cousin) was a
Bridesmaid. Nelson and Evelyn got married on
July 15, 1944.
The couple marriage fragmented when Mandela
political ambitions increased and the
relationship became consumed with conflicts of
Evelyn spiritual beliefs, and his dedication to
politics. The differences was said to be
irreconcilable and the couple divorced in 1955,
after four children and13 years of marriage.
They say that everyone has a cross to bear, but
Nelson Mandela seemed to have had more than his
share. Three of his four children with Evelyn
died. His daughter, Makaziwe, died at the age of
9 months and his son Thembi was killed while he
was in prison.
His second son, Mkgatho, died of AIDS, leaving
Mandela’s second daughter, also called Makaziwe
(and known as Maki) as Mandela’s only surviving
child with Evelyn. Makaziwe migrated to the
University of Massachusetts, USA and holds a PhD
in Anthropology. Dr. Makaziwe Mandela is the
chairperson of Nozala Investments (Pty) Ltd and
Afripack. Dr Makaziwe Mandela
Mandela’s first wife Evelyn died of lung and
respiratory complications and at the time of her
death (it was published)
that Mandela was in Trinidad and Tobago
politicking the CONCACAF region to support South
Africa’s bid to host the 2010 World Cup.
Evelyn died April 30, 2004 at the
age of 82, after remarrying in 1998 to Simon
Rakeepile, a retired businessman. At the time of
he passing she lived in Soweto in the southern
part of Johannesburg. Mandela had cut short his
T&T trip and returned for her funeral.
In Mandela’s autobiography,
''Long Walk to Freedom,'' he described his
relationship with Evelyn as an irreconcilable
conflict between politics and
religion.
''I could not give up my life in the struggle,
and she could not live with my devotion to
something other than herself and her family,''
he wrote. '
'I never lost my admiration for her, but in the
end we could not make our marriage work.''
Mandela’s 2nd Wife Winnie
Mandela
also acknowledged in his autobiography that he
was ''too-often a distant father,'' and that the
children grew up largely without his help.
Mandela married his second wife, Winnie
Madikizela, in 1958 one year after his divorce
to Evelyn.
As a couple, Winnie and Nelson Mandela were said
to be made for each other. And for what it is
worth, most of Mandela’s friends agreed that
Winnie was the love of his life. Winnie was a
young and attractive social worker,
and developed into a political activist with a
fiery flare.
The couple got married while Nelson Mandela was
still under government investigation (in 1958).
They had two daughters, Zenani (Zeni), born 4
February
1958, and Zindziswa (Zindzi) Mandela-Hlongwane,
bornn 1959, it did not help that the University
where Mandela attended, restricted registrations
of black students for most of the apartheid
era.
Mandela was eventually incarcerated for most of
the years he was married to Winnie, during
which, Winnie continue the struggle and
maintained contact with
her
husband.
Over the years Winnie campaigned tirelessly for
Mandela’s release, but in return, she was
arrested and banished to the extreme part of
South Africa by the apartheid authorities. It
was said that Winnie’s visits and letters was a
tremendous comfort to Mandela and helped him
cope during his long years in jail.
The couple was re-united when Mandela was
released from prison in 1990 after 27 years, but
by that time allegations against Winnie’s
wrongdoing continued to mount. She was accused
of being unfaithful during Mandela’s years
of incarceration, but the big blow was
the fraud and kidnapping charges brought against
her.
The couple separated in 1992, until their
divorce was settled in 1996. Within that time
Mandela was elected as the first black President
of South Africa in 1994 and Winnie never got the
privilege of serving as First Lady of South
Africa due to the
separation.
For us at SSR, Winnie’s name will always be held
in close association with Nelson Mandela,
because apartheid, leadership, family,
imprisonment and freedom was the fabric
of Nelson Mandela’s life, and Winnie was very
much a part of all of these phases.
Unfortunately their marriage.
id not survive Mandela’s political fortitude
based on Winnie being deemed an embarrassment to
the ANCpolitical party.
Mandela’s 3rd Wife Graca Machel
Though
Mandela’s break up with Winnie was reported as
very distressing to Mandela, he got married for
a third time, to Graca Machel, the widow of the
former President of Mozambique Samora Machel, on
his 80th birthday, July 18, 1998
Graça Machel
continues to live in Mozambique and uses her
name from her previous marriage. Ms. Machel is
reluctant to give up her work and status in her
native land where she headed the first United
Nations study on the impact of war on children
and is the chair person for the Association of
European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA)
Executive Committee
It is apparent that Mandela early rep as a
ladies man is quite proven. He admitted he was
under immense pressure from members of the
clergy in making the decision with Graca. The
members were concerned that the couple was
setting a bad example by being in a relationship
for over two years before getting married.
Mandela explained that they kept the wedding
secret because they wouldn't have known which of
the "numerous friends" to invite, and they did
not want to make a public spectacle by creating
traffic jams in the streets. But in the
beginning it was all rumours and speculation,
until Graca exclusive interview with Ebony South
Africa, when she did admit to her relationship
with Mandela.
"I can't deny it. It did happen," she says.
Machel also mentioned that after suffering so
much grief over the death of her husband she is
experiencing a happiness she thought she would
never feel again
Mandela said that he was being pressure from all
sides. "Even in Parliament in my country,
deputies told me I should get married," Mandela
said. "The pressure became unbearable."
Some time after getting married, Mandela
announced the end of his public life to allow
his three organizations (the Nelson Mandela
Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation) to carry on
his humanitarian work. On his 90th birthday
celebrations in 2008, he told the people to
pick up the baton of
leadership:
“It’s in your hands to make the world a better
place” Mandela explained.
He
changed the 46664 concert slogan – ‘It’s in
our hands’, to ‘It’s in your hands’. Mandela’s
intention of sharing the leadership and taking
the focus away from him, signaled the beginning
of the end. The only lingering question was
whether the aging Mandela had the staying power
to witness the FIFA World Cup on South African
soil.
Leading up to the World Cup, Mandela was rarely
seen in public, amidst speculation on the status
of his health. In 2009 the first Mandela Day was
held on Mandela’s birthday and it was declared
Nelson Mandela International Day by the United
Nations. Then, surprisingly Mandela was given
another cross to bear in the wake of the World
Cup.
“FABRIC OF A REAL MAN”
It
seems like for most of his life Nelson Mandela
had to pay a price for his accomplishments. On
Friday June 10, 2010, the night before South
Africa was to host a successful FIFA World Cup,
the unthinkable happened.
After working tirelessly to bring the FIFA World
Cup to South Africa, Mandela had to miss the
opening day ceremony. The 91-year-old activist
cancelled his appearance due to the unfortunate
death of his 13 year
old great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela the night
before.
Zenani, (God rest her soul), was involved in an
automobile accident while travelling home from
the pre-World Cup concert in Soweto. She was one
Nelson Mandela’s nine great-grandchildren.
All was not lost though, as the 2010 FIFA World
Cup began with an amazing opening ceremony.
Mandela’s image was shown to the crowd at Soccer
City Stadium with a statement issued by the
Nelson Mandela Foundation which gave the reason
for the anti-apartheid activist absence as
"inappropriate" for the former South African
president, to attend the opening ceremony.
There were chants of “Madiba Madiba” (the name
which Nelson Mandela is fondly called) from all
areas of the stadium. There were also loud
cheers when his image appeared on the screens to
the message of hope from him in song.
"We are sure that South Africans and people all
over the world will stand in solidarity with
Mr. Mandela and his family in the aftermath of
this tragedy," added the statement.
"We continue to believe that the World Cup is a
momentous and historic occasion for South Africa
and the continent and we are certain it will be
a huge success." it concluded
There was a heavenly madness at Soccer City, as
the Mandela Foundation continued to deliver the
message on behalf of the absent and grief
stricken Nelson “Madiba” Mandela. In the ecstasy
of the moment I could not help but think that
Mandela may have gotten his last big wish.
That evening set the right tone
for the rest of the tournament as the continent
of Africa was transformed into a cultural
revelation. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team
did not disappoint, and scored the first goal of
the tournament in a 1-1 draw with Mexico.
In
retrospect, the seeds that Mandela sewed are
currently beginning to bear fruits, as African
players are drafted by clubs in Europe in vast
numbers in the aftermath of the FIFA World Cup
in South Africa.
Mandela attended the closing ceremony at Soccer
City and though there was no African team
participating in the final four (final and third
place game) that day, his curtain call at the
biggest sporting event in the world meant that
Mandela has successfully fought another good
fight.
For us at SSR Magazine Nelson Madiba Mandela
will remain “the
fabric of a real man”.
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