Not knowing what to write about is not an excuse for not writing at all because ideas are ever-flowing and overflowing in our minds. So I decided to explore a topic that caught my attention.
I was a young girl when Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania, died but I was alive and living in Tanzania. This was in October 1999. It is now 2013 and in spite of the unpredictability of life, I can make a harmless prediction that I will be alive and still be living in South Africa when the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, passes on.
I visited Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital where Nelson Mandela is said to still be in, but although he is said to still be alive, how alive could he be? I was a little overwhelmed by the sentimentality of, not only South Africa citizens, but also of the world. There were posters, flags from different countries, paintings and letters pasted along the walls of the hospital. These not only came from the older generation of South Africa but from the younger one too – the generation of those who were ‘born free’.
The outside of the hospital was engraved with godlike love for Madiba. It was really amazing to witness that love being poured into the failing heart of a great man.
After the death of an influential leader and even before that death, underlying questions begin to build up within civilians.
‘What is really keeping the nation together?’ ‘What will cause us not to self-destruct?’ ‘Are we ready for the possibility of new governance?’ ‘Whose way is the way forward and can we accept it?’ The truth is that death comes to all and it takes even the most charismatic of leaders with it. It is also important to note that there are some people who were deeply rooted in the struggle for freedom whether it is in South Africa or in Africa as a whole.
They live their lives in the shadows of fear of what is to come after what seemed to be ultimate emancipation from the struggle. Perhaps they fear losing the euphoria which came with being released from oppression. Perhaps it’s a universal fear.
Humans are very reluctant to change and that is a known fact. But leaders, whether good or bad, will come and go. They will live their lives and leave lifelong legacies but they will go. My thoughts are that some of the people of South Africa will go through a difficult time in letting go of Madiba, their idea of democracy and unity. And although the will of his people for him to live is in strong opposition with his physical state, at some point, everyone has to let go.