Modest Mandela accepts Australian honor Source: AAP | Published: Tuesday November 16 5:13:20 AM JOHANNESBURG, Nov 15 - Nelson Mandela today modestly accepted Australia's highest honor as Prime Minister John Howard hailed him as one of the great figures of the century. The former South African president was made an Honorary Companion in the Order of Australia for his efforts to bring multi-racial democracy to his nation and for his work to build relations between Australia and South Africa. Howard conducted the investiture ceremony shortly before he boarded a Sydney-bound flight from Johannesburg. "He has done great things for mankind, he has done great things for South Africa," Howard said at the award ceremony in South African capital Pretoria. "You are a great man of this century. You are a person whose moral of leadership, your moral depth, your political skill, your compassion, your capacity for forgiveness and reconciliation have given to the world an example that I don't think in our lifetime that we will see again." Howard also thanked Mandela for his contribution this year to secure the release from Belgrade of jailed Australian aid workers Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace. But Mandela said he had only played a minor role in freeing the CARE Australia pair, instead praising the work of others such as the Queen, the Pope and CARE chairman Malcolm Fraser - whom he referred to mistakenly as Sir Malcolm. "Perhaps the greater thanks should be addressed to them than to myself," Mandela said. Mandela told of the impression made upon him by young Australian soldiers passing through Cape Town during World War II. "The way they condemned racism and the way they moved amongst us ... made me feel like I ought to be like these men and fight for South Africa," he said. "Those days have long passed but I still cherish the memory." The investiture was conducted at the residence of Australian High Commissioner to Pretoria, former Liberal MP David Connolly. Howard also announced today that Australian development scholarships awarded to South Africans would be known now as Australian Mandela Scholarships. The government is offering 20 scholarships worth $1.3 million under the scheme. Howard also held a brief private meeting with Mandela to wind up his first visit to South Africa, where he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Durban. The prime minister arrives home tomorrow night AEDT. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
