I am often asked about my grandfather Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s legacy and the celebration of Mandela Day.
While I think such mass outpouring of altruism and philanthropic acts are meritorious, they are in fact the antithesis of what the our global icon stood for.
Don’t get me wrong – I am not rubbishing random acts of kindness; I am saying it is not enough.
If we truly value the man as a hero and a giant among men, we should try to understand the milieu in which he was born into and what gave rise to the emergence of a generation of men and women in our liberation movement who moulded and shaped the Madiba we know.
We would be well-served to understand the ideological basis of his beliefs and the path it shaped for him to traverse.
If we loved uTatomkhulu and what he stood for, we would go to extraordinary lengths to emulate his strict personal and organisational discipline and demonstrate commitment to his passion for human rights, solidarity with the oppressed of the world and work towards a more just and balanced world order. Yes, the thought of self-sacrifice and a lifelong commitment to activism and making the world a better place is a difficult path to traverse.
Nkosi Dalibhunga was groomed in the cauldron of struggle, often living at great risk to his life and wellbeing. He sacrificed a potentially lucrative legal practice in pursuit of freedom, liberation and peace.
Yes, in the course of his life, he did many acts of random kindness and he is remembered for that – but he will always be memorialised for the great freedom fighter that he was; for his part in bringing to an end the system of apartheid and ushering in a new democracy.
President Mandela was deeply conscious that his long walk to freedom did not end with the dawn of democracy and “that there were many more hills to climb”.
Madiba knew that poverty and inequality were systemic.
However, he was equally convinced that those problems were man-made and could be solved through human intervention.
He knew that poverty was so deep-rooted that it could take generations to right the wrongs of colonialism and decades of apartheid. Yet that did not stop him from believing that poverty could be beaten.
His legacy is his part in putting SA on the right course; a policy trajectory that recognises the nature and complexity of poverty.
His response to the pervasive and endemic poverty was firstly to recognise the need for a policy review rooted in uprooting the causes of poverty and inequality.
Secondly, he championed transformation of the South African economy and changing ownership patterns through broader participation by the majority of citizens.
Thirdly, he ensured that the social safety nets required in the transition to a new society and a new economy were in place, including free housing, water, sanitation and electricity, as well as feeding school children and an elaborate system of social grants, not perfect but a safety net nevertheless.
Madiba realised that unless there was a genuine national reconciliation embraced in the social, political and economic life of the nation, the nation- building and social cohesion that we sought, would for ever remain evasive and beyond reach.
On this Mandela Day, our call to fellow South Africans is to recommit to the true essence and meaning of reconciliation that Madiba regarded as the golden standard of building a new future for this beautiful land and its people. It is always considered impossible until it’s done.
My call to the people of the world is to rise to a higher purpose. Let Mandela Day be a moment to reflect on the state of our world and where you are in relation to that. How does what I do today for this 67 minutes – or however long you choose to serve – contribute to ending human suffering in the world, to bringing about a more just world order or to advance the causes that Nkosi Dalibhunga championed: The freedom of the Palestinians, the right to self-determination in western Sahara and Kashmir; an Africa that is united, prosperous and at peace with itself?
Today, there are those who rubbish Nelson Mandela’s legacy and make spurious allegations of him being a sell-out and other baseless drivel.
History exonerates him through its eternal challenge: Show what you have done with what has been given to you.
This Mandela Day, let us rise to the occasion and celebrate our hero through those things that made him great: An unflinching belief in the propensity of all humans to do good; an unwavering determination to stand for justice; an unshakable commitment to end human suffering regardless of where in the world it may be; an unending striving for a united and prosperous Africa and a better world.