Johannesburg – South Africans should be proud to have lived in Mandela’s time, President Jacob Zuma told thousands of mourners in Johannesburg as the world reflected on the icon’s life on Tuesday.
Not even the rain could deter the many people who travelled by buses and trains to be at the official Memorial Service.
“That we are Madiba’s compatriots and have lived during his time, is a cause for a great celebration and enormous pride,” Zuma told mourners in his tribute to Madiba at the service at FNB Stadium.
This is the same venue where former President Nelson Mandela made his first speech in Gauteng shortly after his release from prison in 1990.
“Never before has our country celebrated a life as we are doing with that of Madiba.
“We do not call Madiba the father of our rainbow nation merely for political correctness and relevance. We do so because he laid a firm foundation for the South Africa of our dreams – one that is united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous; we do so because Madiba was a courageous leader,” said Zuma.
Courageous leaders were able to abandon their narrow concerns for bigger and all-embracing dreams, even if those dreams come at a huge price, Zuma said.
Thousands of people whistled and clapped as Zuma quoted from Mandela’s famous speeches, including the address he made at an ANC Youth League conference in 1951.
Mandela was one of the founding figures of the ANCYL and the ANC’s military wing Umkhonto Wesizwe, structures that became instrumental in forcing the apartheid government to review theirs policies of segregation.
Zuma urged South Africans to learn from Mandela, who he said embodied values of Ubuntu and respect. Mandela had put the people of South Africa in everything he did. He paid a price for that, said Zuma.
“For 27 years, the South African people spoke about him in hushed tones, out of fear. In fact, if the apartheid government had its way, they would have been banned even from thinking about Madiba.”
Mandela could continue to inspire the people every single day, from inside prison walls. He demonstrated unique leadership in starting negotiations with the apartheid government whilst in prison. He also negotiated for the release of his fellow political prisoners first before his own release.
“His release from Victor Verster prison on the 11th of February 1990 was one of the most remarkable and moving moments in world history,” Zuma said.
The world came to a standstill watching this tall, imposing figure walking out into a world he had left behind 27 years before.
Zuma said South Africa needed a leader like Mandela to help it through a difficult transition from apartheid to a free democratic society.
“In the bumpy road to our historic first free and fair elections, there are many times that he brought our nation back from the brink of catastrophe,” said Zuma.
He thanked the high number of leaders who attended the memorial service, saying their presence was a true testament of the respect and love the people of the world had for Mandela. About 91 Heads of State and Government graced the occasion. Among them were US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton.
Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyanye thanked the nation for showing up in their numbers to support the event.
Mandela died at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, on Thursday, at the age of 95. He will be buried in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Sunday. – SAnews.gov.za
