Did Mandela betray his own revolution? Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 23:44:25 +0000 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Did Mandela betray his own revolution? By Billet Magara ; Business tribune sa Nelson Mandela's Xhosa name "Rolihlahla" literally means "pulling a tree branch". Symbolically it means "troublemaker". The pre-treason trial Mandela was a man who brought chill winds into the Apartheid South African government's high echelons of power. He was a troublemaker who became a colossal symbol of the struggle for the freedom of a nation. Inevitably he was sent to Robben Island for half a lifetime with frenzied sharks for neighbours and the dehumanisation of the man began in enerst. What really happened in Prison? South African prisons were not designed as correctional facilities at all. They were places where the body and soul of inmates died physiological and psychological deaths. They were torture chambers that left individuals diseased marionettes of their former selves. How much of the former Nelson Mandela made it to independence and freedom? Towards the end of his detention, Nelson Mandela began to show signs of succumbing to the willpower of his captors. He initiated negotiations for his own release to the consternation of his fellow detainees. He wrote a letter to Koebe Coetsee, the Minister of Justice in the apartheid regime and asked for talks to be held between the African National Congress (ANC) and the government. Mandela was eventually isolated from his mates and was lavished with gifts and held countless meetings with the SA authorities, foreign dignitaries and senior officials of foreign intelligence services. The reactions from his mates were quite telling. Mandela's stable mate Walter Sisulu could not hide his disappointment. He said that he would have preferred that government initiate discussions rather than ANC initiate them. Ahmed Kathrada, another Mandela backer opposed the position taken by Mandela. But the most telling response came from Oliver Tambo in Lusaka. His note to Mandela was sharp and only fell short of calling him a traitor. In a revolution there are no private dealings with a public enemy. Such an unsanctioned move would be tantamount to treason itself. Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor prison with some of his mates but his isolated cell carried luxuries unseen in the cells of other inmates. It was his transfer to Victor Vester Prison that convinced other cadres that Mandela was selling out. Mandela was given a cottage with one storey, unbarred windows, a swimming pool, manicured green lawns, bodyguards and a chauffeur. Prison conditions were changing from Spartan to super luxury. Even the deputy commander of Pollmoor would give Mandela rides in luxury limousines in the city of Cape Town. Prison authorities under instruction from the government, knew the effect of providing limited freedoms to detainees. They knew that it would bring feelings of nostalgia and deep yearnings for true freedom and release from detention. They knew it would result in compromise. They pampered Mandela senseless. At one time the head of South African military intelligence, a certain Dr Niel Banaard, knelt down in front of Mandela in order to tie the undone shoelaces of his black prisoner! When Mandela was diagnosed with early tuberculosis, they moved him to Tygerbay Hospital on the grounds of the Stellenbosch University, Cape Town. They quickly moved him to Constantiaberg Clinic where the luxury and sophistication left a lasting impression on the man. He became the first black man to be treated at the all-white clinic. What an incentive! He met with senior government officials including PW Botha and when the latter suffered a stroke and resigned, Mandela met with the new president Fredrick Willem De Klerk and the "secret committee". After his release, Mandela began to show signs that the system had got to his psyche. The colonial name of the country South Africa, which the world expected to be changed to AZANIA, was maintained and the apartheid symbols of the springbok were kept intact as well. Names of cities remained the same. People's lifestyles, standards of living deteriorated at the time of Mandela's government. He was popular among white people who could not believe their luck at the fact that their war crimes were no longer going to dog them through independence and beyond. South African parliamentarians used to quiz Mandela over his trips to London where he was always seen at the offices of the Scotland Yard and the MI5. Adequate explanations have never been acquired. One of the most startling things about Mandela was his naïve trust of everyone he met and worked with. One Dr Wouter Basson, a chemical and biological weapons expert, had been tasked to put a slow acting thallium poison and mescaline mind controlling drugs into Mandela's food and drink while at Pollsmoor. The same man came to Mandela and personally asked for a job as a kitchen chef in Mandela's Pretoria Mansion years later. Unbelievably, he got the job from Mandela himself. After Thabo Mbeki had Basson removed, Mandela had him rehired because the CIA and the MI6 had "talked him into it" [New African Magazine, November 2001, page 20]. Dr Schalk van Rensburg later said that the world would see a progressive deterioration of Mandela's health as a result of the poisoning that was done. It was done! Mandela has several ailments now most of which are kept under the lid and from the prying eyes of predatory journalists [like someone you know]. Before the end of Bill Clinton's presidential term of office, he needed to sign a crucial document into law. It was the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill. The stumbling block for Clinton, was the Black Caucus group of African American Senators who liked Mugabe for their own private reasons. The senators refused to budge and Clinton left office before he could sign. The main reason for the failure was the failure by Susan Rice, Clinton's Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, to read the Caucus' mood. Robert Mugabe had arrived in New York for a United Nations Conference in September 2000.What Rice and Clinton had failed to see was that 27 September was Robert Mugabe Day in Harlem. The holiday started with the address by Mugabe on 27 September 1987, to the black people of Harlem, the first African president to deliver a "thank you" speech to that neighbourhood in decades. In 2000, Clinton was surprised to witness tens of thousands of African Americans parading the streets of New York under huge colour placards of Robert Mugabe with the inscription, "Our President is Back!!" Clinton must have wondered who is this funny little man who is called "Our President!" in my own country? Clinton lost the initiative. Enter George W Bush and the scene changed somewhat. Bush called in our hero from the south, "Saint" Nelson Mandela, to lobby against Robert Mugabe among the Black Caucus group. Mandela obliged and he used the image built for him by the "international" media to bulldoze his ideas among the senators. He was respected too deeply by men whose knowledge of him was gleaned from a media that doted on, idolised and deified him. He bluffed. They blinked. Bush won and the racial Zimbabwe Democracy Bill became an act of government, thanks to an old man pulling a political branch behind him. His tracks were effectively wiped out. Mandela's dislike for Robert Mugabe is legendary although the reasons are obscure. It reminds one of the depths of hate, in African culture, that are usually witnessed between rival suitors. (Vanovengana kunge varume vakanyenga pamwe chete.) Maybe they had the same woman in their past lives. It seems almost foolhardy that anyone can write negatively about a man the stature of Mandela. But there is something fishy about praise stories about Mandela from countries that threw him into prison in the first place. There was definite contact between the Central Intelligence Agency of the USA, the MI6 of Britain and Nelson Mandela before he left prison. Said one senior South African Civic leader, "What Madiba did was morally indefensible. He should have consulted with other cadres before negotiations. There is talk of Mandela having received money to the tune of US$13 million from some nefarious western intelligence communities. If it turns out to be true, then his image will be rubbished [sic] by his own actions and people would find it difficult to forgive him." Near the Orange River lies a land called Orania. It is a white-only area, surrounded by miles and miles of razor wire, Alsation dogs and white armed guards. There is only one entrance and every gardener, maid, postman, farm worker and general hand is WHITE! No black man is allowed in this Afrikanerstan. Nelson Mandela allowed this little country in another to continue to exist separately from the rest of South African society. Nelson Mandela is the only black man known to have gone into Orania and come out alive. He is said to have sought the services of a senior Oranian lady resident to enter [as president]. The lady is none other than Mrs Verwoedt, the widow of the founder of apartheid, Hendrick Verwoedt! Mandela's benevolent gesture to Afrikaner extremists is giving the current government of Thabo Mbeki explosive headaches. The white extremists are now gaining confidence, are bombing black centres like Soweto as a quest for whiteland. The false ring to the name of one of South Africa's right wing extremists struck me: Eugene Terreblanche. "Eugene" means the "Noble one" or "of the superior European gene". "Terre" means land while "blanche" means white. Now how can a name be so accurate? He believes in the supremacy of the white race and the separation of white land from black land and his surname means whiteland? Methinks it is too much of a coincidence. Mandela has bent over too much to accommodate white extremists and soon South Africa will begin to pay for such a costly blunder. The reconciliation of a nation must not be carried out under the banner of indigenous humiliation. The dignity of all citizens must be preserved and respected while the genuineness of the leadership must be constantly put under a spotlight. I maintained in my past essays that Tanzania's Nyerere was a Tutsi from Burundi who had been selected to look after certain western interests. Could the torch have been passed to Mandela after the frequent meetings they held? Why did Mandela's government supply weapons to Tutsi rebels who massacred Hutus in Rwanda and Burundi? Even when the then vice president Mbeki wrote a most undiplomatic letter to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe for the "interference" in the Congo, Mandela stoked the fires between the two men. The die was cast and the power block that would have been formed with unity between Mugabe and Mandela or Mbeki and Mugabe has been shifted beyond the precipice of regional history. All that the Sadc can do now is to put up new sentinels who will watch the coming of the enemy with bemused expressions on their faces. Mandela is not a saint. He is human flesh and the exaggerated praise he has received in the western media has left many dwarfed and quite confused. He played a major role in the freedom of South Africa but there were many people twice his stature in the same struggle who will not be sung because the west feels threatened by the stance they took. What stance did Madiba take that made the west eulogise him to such ridiculous levels? Real history belongs to the people and not the few individuals that are privileged to lead them. The fact that somebody receives more media coverage should not be used as a measurement of his greatness and we must all beware of people who persuade us to focus on issues and qualities of personality that threaten to keep us under the thumb of other nations to eternity. (The writer, Billet Magara, would like to hear your comments regarding his articles. He can be contacted on e-mail address: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Mitayo Potosi _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
