I am sure you will have encountered the Mandela worship on the BBC today. It is 20 years since Nelson Mandela was released from captivity and the excitement at the BBC has been palpable. However I believe the coverage has been very one dimensional and has stayed away from asking any of the tough questions lest the halo around Saint Nelson be dented. 20 years on, we have the corrupt ANC regime rather than the corrupt Apartheid regime. Yes, some of Mandela’s cronies have grown rich during this period but for the majority of South African people, there is still unrelenting poverty, widespread crime and rampant disease. How is this an improvement? Furthermore, I see the football loving Winnie Mandela is now fully rehabilitated and the BBC is again portraying this wicked woman in the “mother of the nation” mode it initially used before the unfortunate Stompie Seipei incident made that impossible. Can you imagine what the coverage of his death will be like? We’re all ANC now. (And to hell with the victims of their terrorism)
MANDELA WORSHIP…
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Supporter of terrorism and wife-beater . Although the BBC don’t seem to refer much to Mandela’s first wife or, indeed , his second wife. He seems to have a problem with women.
Sometimes you just have to smack a bitch. Sean Connery knows.
I want to know how Nelson could shag an ugly old boot like Winnie.
Martin,
And indeed have 2 children with her. But, all his life Mandela has sheltered behind killers, getting them to do his dirty work, with him always putting on the smiling face.
Reminds me of Gandhi , who also learned his dirty trade in S. Africa.
We can only hope Mandela’s death coincedes with that of Castro. Then perhaps Lefties might have to examine why they support Cuban apartheid (ie a white elite ruling over a country 90% black).
Then again, probably this will not be mentioned.
When Mugabe started stealing white farms and waging war against anyone he thought might not have voted for him, Mandela was reported to have said ‘He is a tyrant who should be overthrown by military force’. Sometime after he was reported to have taken a line more in keeping with Thabo Mbeki.
When Mandela was released the old school BBC presenter Gordon Clough (or Alexander McCloud?) said he exuded probity and dignity, and certainly I see nothing in his Presidency that disappointed.
It shouldn’t be held against him that the BBC of today celebrates the 20th anniversay of his release. For me, the film Invictus did justice to the inspiring stance he took on the Springboks.
Daniel
Very good
Such a good point, Why does no one say, “Nelson, why has SA gone to the wall and why is no one acknowledging that it’s on a rocky downhill road?”
You have a police force whose Chief is recommending a ‘shoot to kill’ policy, murders averaging 50 a day, carjacking’s 39 a day and rapes 130 a day, business and house robberies rocketing, members of the population arming themselves to protect from car jacking and one visiting team to the World Cup being recommended to wear bullet proof vests if they venture away from the hotel.
Now I’m sure I’ll be accused of racism but it is interesting that SA appears to be sliding from the 1st world (despite it’s appalling civil rights) into the 2nd world or 3rd world and no one wants to discuss the reasons why.
People don’t like to talk negatively of today’s SA but things aren’t great there and tribal friction still plays a part. You had a vice president who had allegations of rape and corruption (nice combination for a potential leader) made against him and was sacked by the then president to only then be allowed to eventually lead the country.
“some of Mandela’s cronies have grown rich”
I’m afraid you invalidate all your opinions on the matter with the above phrase, since it displays a staggering ignorance of South African politics. There are plenty of cronies, but none of them are Mandela’s.
The ANC are not, and never have been, Mandela’s cronies. He was in prison for 27 years, during which time he was a symbolic, but not actual, leader of the ANC. After his release, his high public profile and personal charm made him the ideal figurehead for the new government, but while he was able to use his tremendous popularity and perceived moral authority to influence a lot of decisions, his advanced age meant that he was never seen as a long-term leader and he therefore did not accumulate the usual collection of cronies and followers.
The brown-nosers and lickspittles of the political class generally gave their allegiance either to his obvious successor Thabo Mbeki, or (if they were Zulus) to Jacob Zuma, and it is the conflict between those groups that is the basis of most political activity in South Africa today.