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Nelson Mandela and wife Winnie raise fists upon Mandela’s release from Victor Verster prison in Paarl, Western Cape. Photo: AFP
Twenty years ago today, Nelson Mandela got up at 4.30am. He had slept for only a few hours.
He cut short his usual exercise routine, bathed and then had breakfast prepared by Warrant Officer Jack Swart, a tall Afrikaner who had cooked his meals in the last two years of his imprisonment at Victor Verster Prison. He made a few phone calls. Then a doctor arrived to check on his health. And then some of his comrades from the reception committee came to go over the details of his release.
The significance of that particular day, the moment of his release, was a luxury that Mandela didn’t linger on. Later, he would write in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom: “As so often happens in life, the momentousness of an occasion is lost in the welter of a thousand details.”
The prison gave him crates and boxes to pack his possessions. He filled more than a dozen of them – mostly with papers and books. More people arrived at the cottage, among them his wife Winnie, and the atmosphere was festive.
Swart prepared “the final meal”. Mandela then thanked him for both his companionship and for the food. He also said goodbye to Warrant Officer James Gregory, with whom he had an unspoken bond of friendship.
It was nearing 4pm. It was time. The small motorcade left the cottage. Not far from the gate, Winnie and Mandela got out of the car to walk towards freedom out of the prison gate.
Today – February 11, 2010 – finds Mandela at 91, and in relatively good health.
He is retired now and rarely indulges the public’s hunger to still see him in the spotlight.
He no longer keeps to a strict schedule. – iol
And this restaurant is not even in South Africa, it’s in Brooklyn – New York, USA. By reading their website I see that they have also opened up one in South Beach Florida.
People using the name and brand that is Nelson Mandela, this is what news24 had to say about it:
“Oscar winner Charlize Theron, Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso and 2010 World Cup fraudsters have learned the knuckling-rapping lesson: the Nelson Mandela brand is not for sale.
All have been rebuked by representatives for the 91-year-old who guard against misuse of Mandela’s name and image, which crops up everywhere from T-shirts to email scams 20 years after his release from prison.
“The Nelson Mandela Foundation has had the difficulty with having to protect Madiba’s name,” said Sello Hatang, of the office Mandela established in 1999 after retiring as South Africa’s first black president.
Living symbol
Despite keeping a low-profile, the ageing Mandela remains globally revered. Feted by world leaders and celebrities, he is adored at home as a living symbol of forgiveness after decades of white minority rule.
It’s an allure that many want to cash in on – from the Mandela Auto Body Parts shop in Port Elizabeth to New York’s Madiba Restaurant in the United States.
In the bustle of Soweto outside Johannesburg, hawkers at the anti-apartheid tourist sites sell a sprinkling of crude clay busts, 1994 election campaign badges, T-shirts and flags bearing his face.
“The people from Mandela House say that Mandela’s image is copy-righted and we are not supposed to sell them. We have to get permission first,” said Kgomotoso Mahlasela who trades opposite Mandela’s former home turned museum.
But the 25-year-old, who makes a 200% profit on the badges he sells for R30, says Mandela’s image should be freely available.
Copyrights
“It should be open for everyone because it’s our icon. It’s Mandela. He’s our icon. We are selling these things to people of the world – they are the ones that want the Mandela image.”
While Mandela’s lawyer declined to comment on the scope of copyrights in his name, the foundation has a link for fraudulent activity on its website and has issued several press releases to fight off name theft.
The scams range from using his foundation name to solicit money to winning claims in Soccer World Cup lottery draws.
“It’s not only damaging to his reputation and his good name but also damaging to the image of these organisations that he has established,” Hatang told AFP.
Even the dazzle of Hollywood and presidential offices are not spared by Mandela’s handlers.
Charlize
Last October, starlet Theron was censured for throwing in a bids-boosting meeting with Mandela at a charity auction without running it past his office.
“Not even the charity foundations Mandela himself established are allowed to auction off time with him,” responded the foundation’s chief Achmat Dangor.
In the same month, Congo leader Nguesso was chided for “brazen abuse of Mr Mandela’s name” in a book which claimed a foreword penned by the global icon.
Mandela’s protectors now hope that the United Nations adoption of Mandela Day, celebrated on his July 18 birthday, will show how best to use his name by urging people to do good deeds in their communities.
“What we are trying to do is use the name for good,” said Hatang.
- AFP
Jacob Zuma is South Africa’s president. Also known as JZ or Msholozi – his clan name. He is a Zulu and has a 5th grade level of education. And he has just taken on his 5th wife! (coincidence?) The first two got tired of him and divorced him some years back so now he has 3 at home serving his every need. What an embarrassment to our country. He was all talk before he became president, “I’ll do this, I’ll do that, I’ll promise this, I’ll promise that” But since he has actually been given the power to make a difference he sits on his bum choosing wives. Below is the latest of his conquests from new24.com
I must commend him for is his manipulation of the general masses and his marketing abilities. So two things I have learned from this, 1) to be good in marketing you need a 5th grade education level and 2) Zuma would probably be more successful if he were to start naming fragrances after his conquests:
If I am to truly educate people on what the two countries (Kuwait and South Africa) are about it has to be one step at a time and it can’t always be the good stuff. And no SA is not perfect either, and Zuma is and always will be a far cry from Madiba (Nelson Mandela). Maybe he turns things around and surprises everyone yet. The world cup is in 6 months time so I guess we’ll see then. But hell, I’d buy Zuma No 5!
UPDATE: it comes with a slide show… ooooo…
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
– William Ernest Henley
Having just watched this movie, let me tell you that it draws a small tear on any South African’s heart who lived through that game. I was not old enough at the time to fully appreciate the game for its important role in our countries regrowth but I have come to understand this now.
All I remember is that after we had won, my parents dragged my brother and I into the car and we went celebrating, pretty much how people do here on the gulf road. It was a time when black and white South Africans danced side by side as one country, for the first time, in peace.
Living outside the country I now really appreciate the little things that make it home. Yes it is a struggling country and a big part of me wishes that the majority of the country could watch this movie and remember what it is that makes it so special. It’s the people, it’s forgiveness and it’s moving forward as one country, one nation, one team. I fear that most South African’s have forgotten the work that the great man Mr Mandela has done for us. Us as a country and us as a nation. He still keeps the peace even though he is not in action any longer.
A great man and a great legend. The poem above is what got Nelson Mandela through 30 years in prison, it is the name sake of the movie and a powerful start to 2010.
