There was another side to "Saint Nelson", says a South African journalist.

Revolutionary, democrat, statesman

by Christopher Szabo

When I got up Friday morning and heard the news that Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, had passed way, I was surprised at my own reaction, which was quite mixed.

The first thing I felt was, surprisingly, resentment. I had, since Madiba’s release from jail and subsequent presidency, retirement, “retirement from retirement”, and his later years, come to form a very positive picture of him. And yet, here I was listening to South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio, then switching the TV from SABC to eNCA (a private network) to BBC, CNN and the rest and I felt a strong sense of resentment. I wondered why.

After some introspection, I realised. These media were eulogising Mandela. He was a saint. He lived for others; he forgave those who unjustly imprisoned him; he fought a brutal regime with peaceful words; he inspired South Africans to unite; he became an icon to the world and so on. A left-wing Portuguese newspaper compared him to Jesus Christ.

Which is all very well. But it is not the whole story. It is like a eulogy at a funeral. You only say nice things about the deceased. So far, so good. But these are supposed to be news stations. A more balanced view is needed.

First, Nelson Mandela is someone who is indeed to be admired in that from early on in his rather privileged life, he decided to live and work for the upliftment of his people. He was indeed privileged. His clan is that of Madiba, which has provided many kings for his abaThembu (Thembu People). While these people, because of their language are called “Xhosas”, the Thembu people were an independent people until fairly recently.

Mandela went to private schools and attended Fort Hare, which was the only university for blacks in the country at the time. Privileged indeed.

So that’s part of my resentment. My parents were refugees. No privileges, no old school ties for refugee kids and certainly no royal or other fancy pedigree.

But OK, back to Mandela: He later increased his activism to all people in South Africa who didn’t have the vote. So that’s admirable.

But he came to a point – understandably – where he decided to create a Communist revolutionary movement, to overthrow the system by violence. This horrified the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the African National Congress (ANC), Chief Albert Luthuli.

He later, reluctantly, gave a qualified blessing to the “class struggle” (changed to be more palatable to Western supporters into “Freedom Struggle”). Luthuli was first and always a Christian and therefore understandably not enthusiastic about founding a Marxist guerrilla organisation. Later, he gave his qualified blessing to it, but he was never comfortable about it.

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