After suffering from a series of severe lung infections for more than two years, Nelson Rolihlahia Madiba Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero and former South African president, had a date with death at home and right in the company of some of his family members.
Mandela, the global statesman, who liberated South Africa from the dark and horrifying days of apartheid, died at 95. His death elicited unprecedented though expected widespread reactions globally.
The late anti-apartheid hero meant many things to many persons. To his persecutors during the apartheid regime, he was a terrorist, a dissident and a rebel. But to the majority of South Africans, he was a symbol of freedom and sovereignty as well as one who embodied their sense of a common nation.
Beyond what South Africans think about their hero, world leaders and indeed the international community think, Madiba (as he was fondly called) was one of the greatest men born on earth. No wonder minutes after the news of his death broke, many world leaders across the globe paid their respects.
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in a statement, described him as a great light which has gone out in the world. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said the political leader was a “great man” who had made racism “not just immoral but stupid”.
But more intent and obsessive is the passionate description of Mandela by his old ally and friend, Ahmed Kathrada, with whom he shared his prison sentence on Robben Island. His statement:
“We have known each other for 67 years, and I never imagined I would be witness to the unavoidable and traumatic reality of your passing.
“I had the enviable privilege of being alive and walking the earth with you through the bad times and the good. It has been a long walk with many challenges that at times seemed insurmountable. And yet we never faltered, and the strength of leaders like you … always shone a light on the path and kept our destination and our people’s future in view”
Amidst the tributes or esteem pouring in from all over the world for the famous late world leader, what exactly makes Mandela so unique, so special?
First, he emerged from 27 years incarceration and bore no malice towards anyone. Rather he insisted on reconciliation through his Truth and Reconciliation Commission in order to heal wounds caused by years of bitter hatred.
Demonstrating the exemplary leader he was, Madiba, during the 1995 rugby world cup final, donned a Springbok jersey and took to the field in a bid to unite the nation behind the predominantly white South African team.
Also, in 1994, Mandela became the first elected black president of South Africa. However, unlike many world leaders, who once given the opportunity to rule, would want to cling on to power until death do them part, or they destroy their countries, the South African hero stepped down immediately he completed his first tenure in keeping with his earlier promise to rule for a tenure.
Nelson Mandela was not an ordinary politician. His story was a life-enhancing experience. He humbled a lot of his countrymen and women by turning them into better human beings. More importantly, he caused them to embrace reconciliation at a time when the entire nation was bearing the scar of apartheid. During much tensed political moments in the country, when anti-white sentiment prevailed, Mandela became a stabilizing factor.
Madiba was particularly gracious, generous and divine. In one of the many defining moments of his persistent effort to reconcile deeply divided communities, he visited a bewildered Betsie Verwoerd, widow of the originator of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, who jailed him.
It was during Verwoerd’s tenure (1958-1966) the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party were outlawed, driving Mandela underground hence his eventual arrest, prosecution and life incarceration for conspiracy to overthrow the government.
However, like every mortal being, Mandela was human, frail and therefore prone to errors. At a time the world watched helplessly as the late hero became a victim of his fragile humanity. Following estranged relationship with Winnie, his erstwhile lovely widow, Mandela filed divorce proceeding which terminated their union.
Indeed, Mandela was elegant. His charisma defied flamboyance which originated from deep inner strength that seemed to come only from true suffering.
The question is how can we best immortalise this icon? By naming institutions or infrastructure after him or pouring eulogies? I think the best way to immortalise him is to stand for what he stood and suffered for—the struggle for justice and the fight against tyranny and oppression as well as forgiveness and reconciliation.

Arnold Alalibo