10 Life Changing Nelson Mandela Quotes

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10 Life Changing Nelson Mandela Quotes

Nelson Mandela to be laid to rest

14 December 2013
Last updated at 19:59 ET

Nelson Mandela is to be buried in his ancestral home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape, ending a week of commemorations for South Africa’s first black leader.

Some 4,500 people – including foreign dignitaries – will be attending the funeral, which will blend state ceremonial with traditional rituals.

Members of his family are attending an overnight vigil, with a traditional praise singer believed to be chanting details of his long journey and life.

He died on 5 December aged 95.

Tutu to attend

The state funeral is expected to start at 06:00 GMT, when the coffin will be taken from Mr Mandela’s house to a giant white marquee that has been specially erected.

Mr Mandela’s Thembu community will conduct a traditional Xhosa ceremony – including songs and poems about Mr Mandela’s life and his achievements.

An ox will be slaughtered. A family elder will stay near the coffin, which has been draped with a lion’s skin, to talk “to the body’s spirit”.

Presidents from Africa, several prime ministers, the Iranian vice-president and the Prince of Wales are expected to attend the funeral.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu – a long-time friend of Nelson Mandela – has confirmed he will be present, having earlier said he had cancelled his flight as he had not received an invitation.

The South African government had earlier said the archbishop was accredited, but that no formal invitations had been sent out.

‘Sad but happy’

On Saturday, Mr Mandela’s coffin was flown from Waterkloof airbase in Pretoria on a C130 military aircraft, escorted by two fighter jets. It later landed at Mthatha airport, some 700km (450 miles) away.

In line with tribal custom, Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla accompanied him on the journey, speaking to his coffin to tell him he was on his way home to rest.

To solemn music, the coffin draped in a South African flag was moved by a military guard of honour and placed in a hearse to begin the 32km journey to Qunu, where Mr Mandela had wanted to spend his final days.

People waving flags and cheering and singing – in places 10 to 12 deep – lined the route taken by the cortege through Mthatha town to pay their last respects.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

“Come home Mandela, the sun has set.” These were the painful wails of a woman who was part of a crowd of villagers who welcomed Nelson Mandela’s coffin back to his ancestral home of Qunu.

They had been waiting along the highway leading to his home all day. Women dressed in traditional Xhosa clothing danced and sang songs about Madiba, asking him to watch over them from the spirit world.

One of those gathered said she believed his presence back home would bring good fortune to this modest village. But some expressed unhappiness that they would not be allowed to attend the ceremony because of a strict guest list.

“How can you have a guest list for a funeral, that is un-African,” an elderly woman told me. According to local traditions, everyone is welcome at a funeral and the more, the better.

Another woman who lived a few houses away from Mr Mandela’s home said she would miss his generosity. “At Christmas time Tatomkhulu (grandfather) would give us clothes for our children”.

“He was our Christ,” she said crying.

There are mixed emotions here, a sense of deep loss, punctuated by a sense of pride that a global icon was born of these simple people.

Tears as well as smiles could be seen on the faces of onlookers.

“He is finally coming home to rest, I can’t even begin to describe the feeling I have inside,” 31-year-old Bongani Zibi told AFP news agency.

“Part of me is sad but I’m also happy that he has found peace.”

However, some people expressed their frustration that the convoy did not stop, so they had no chance to view the coffin as people in Pretoria had.

The cortege then drove through the gates of the Mandela homestead in Qunu.

Ahead of the flight to the Eastern Cape, members of the African National Congress paid final tributes to Nelson Mandela at a ceremony in Pretoria.

President Jacob Zuma, other ANC leaders and more than 1,000 members of the organisation which Mr Mandela once led, attended the event at the Waterkloof air base.

It included a multi-faith service and a musical tribute.

Mourners heard President Zuma pay his own tribute to Nelson Mandela, calling him a “towering figure”, “a man of action” and a “democrat who understood the world.”

“Yes, we will miss him… He was our father, he was our guardian. He was something special.”

“We’ll always keep you in our hearts,” Mr Zuma said.

At least 100,000 people saw the former president’s body lying in state during the week in Pretoria, but some had to be turned away.

Are you in South Africa? Will you be paying your respects to Nelson Mandela? Please send us your comments using the form below.

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Nelson Mandela to be laid to rest

Nelson Mandela Family Finally Gives Up Charade and Admits Mandela Dead

Funeral was planned a year ago

Rebecca Savastio
Las Vegas Guardian Express
December 12, 2013

The Nelson Mandela family has finally given up their charade and admitted that Nelson Mandela is dead by announcing today that the former leader of South Africa is no longer with us. The charade began in June of 2013, and Guardian Express has maintained Mandela has been deceased since we were informed of his passing in June via one of our reporters embedded in South Africa. That reporter had received a text message from her close friend who works for the South African News which stated that Mandela had died the night prior. Since June, The Guardian Express has come under attack; first from a “denial of service” attack which shut the site down on and off for three days right after we published the news that Mandela had died. That denial of service attack was traced back to South Africa.

The Guardian Express was also attacked by people denying that the Nelson Mandela family was carrying on a charade. However, we stood by and continue to stand by our account that Mandela was declared permanently brain dead with total organ failure in June of 2013. Now, today, the family has finally decided to give up their charade.

We sent an additional reporter to South Africa who returned with an audio recording of two top government officials confirming the fact that Mandela was totally brain dead and was declared so on June 11. However, his family refused to turn off the life support machines hooked up to his body. Thus, the family could keep him artificially “alive.” Their motive? To settle a huge lawsuit against Mandela’s estate.

Read more

This article was posted: Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 1:08 pm

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Infowars

Nelson Mandela Family Finally Gives Up Charade and Admits Mandela Dead

Special Report: Discover the REAL Nelson Mandela

RELATED: Mandela Love Fest Ignores Dark Side of Legacy

Infowars.com
December 7, 2013

Nelson Mandela, working with the Soviet Union, wanted to replace Apartheid tyranny with a Marxist dictatorship. He and his followers hijacked the Anti-Apartheid Movement in an attempt to bring communism to South Africa.

He was a member of the South African Communist Party and a co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress which targeted civilians.

On Dec. 5, Mandela died at the age of 95:

This article was posted: Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 1:57 pm

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Infowars

Special Report: Discover the REAL Nelson Mandela

Cornel West: "We Are Witnessing the Santa Clausification of Nelson Mandela"

Since the announcement of Nelson Mandela’s death Thursday, the media have been in a virtual wall to wall tribute to his life and legacy. Yet not everyone thinks they’re painting an accurate picture of the man.

Quite the contrary, Cornel West told CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday, “We are witnessing the Santa Clausification of Nelson Mandela” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

JAKE TAPPER, HOST: Cornel, Peter Beinart of The Daily Beast writes, quote, “Nelson Mandela is being mourned across the ideological spectrum as a saint. But not long ago, in Washington’s highest circles, he was considered an enemy of the United States.”

Are we covering up some of the realities of how individuals regarded both the ANC and more specifically, Nelson Mandela in all these eulogies?

CORNEL WEST: I think no doubt we are. I mean, Nelson Mandela’s a spiritual giant, moral titan, and political revolutionary. We are witnessing the Santa Clausification of Nelson Mandela. We turned the revolutionary into an old man, a huggable old man with toys in a bag, smile on his face, no threat to anybody, domesticated, tamed, and no longer really full of the fire.

But we know at 95, brother Nelson Mandela was still full of fire. He had that militant tenderness and subversive sweetness and radical gentleness tied to refusing to be fearful or intimidated in the face of a vicious white supremacist apartheid regime.

West made an interesting point: our media are indeed presenting a picture of Mandela that is much softer than reality.

On the other hand, that’s far better than what’s been going on at MSNBC where people there are predictably using Mandela’s death to depict Republicans as racist.

Although it’s not Passover, why should this day be different from all other days?

(HT Mediaite)

NewsBusters – Exposing Liberal Media Bias

Cornel West: "We Are Witnessing the Santa Clausification of Nelson Mandela"

Nelson Mandela Was Considered A Terrorist Until 2008

Kristin Tate is a writer and commentator. She was trained in journalism by John Stossel at the Fox Business Network. Dedicated to fearless reporting, Tate regularly works on undercover stings with journalist James O’Keefe to reveal government waste, abuse, and fraud. Tate was a Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Chapter President and Founder in Boston. She will continue to fight tirelessly for individual liberty and free markets through reporting and new media. Follow Kristin on Twitter @KristinBTate.

Ben Swann Truth In Media

Nelson Mandela Was Considered A Terrorist Until 2008

South Africa begins life without Nelson Mandela

Floral tributes to former president Nelson Mandela, pile up beneath a statue of Mandela on Mandela Square at Sandton City, in Johannesburg Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Mandela died Thursday at his Johannesburg home after a long illness. He was 95. (AP Photo/Athol Moralee)

Floral tributes to former president Nelson Mandela, pile up beneath a statue of Mandela on Mandela Square at Sandton City, in Johannesburg Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Mandela died Thursday at his Johannesburg home after a long illness. He was 95. (AP Photo/Athol Moralee)

A poster of Nelson Mandela on which mourners have written their messages of condolence and support, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa’s vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers on Friday while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Mourners sing and dance to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa’s vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers on Friday while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Mourners sing and dance to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa’s vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers on Friday while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied. (AP Photo / Ben Curtis)

A man wears keyrings showing the face of Nelson Mandela taped to his ears to mimic earrings as he and others celebrate his life, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa’s vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers on Friday while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — What next for South Africa?

This racially charged country that, on Nelson Mandela’s watch, inspired the world by embracing reconciliation in all-race elections in 1994 is again in the global spotlight after the loss of such a towering historical figure. It is a time not just for grief and gratitude, but also a clear-eyed assessment of national strengths and shortcomings in a future without a man who was a guide and comfort to so many.

“It’s a new beginning,” said Kyle Redford, one of many outside the home of the anti-apartheid leader who became the nation’s first black president. “The loss of a legend is going to force us to come together once again.”

He acknowledged that there is a “sense of what next: Where do we go? What do we do? And how do we do it?”

Mandela’s resolve rubbed off on many of his compatriots, though such conviction is tempered by the reality that his vision of a “rainbow nation” failed, almost inevitably, to meet the heady expectations propelling the country two decades ago. Peaceful elections and relatively harmonious race relations define today’s South Africa; so do crime, corruption and economic inequality.

Mandela remained a powerful symbol in the hopeful, uncharted period after apartheid, even when he left the presidency, retired from public life and shuttled in and out of hospitals as a protracted illness eroded his once-robust frame. He became a moral anchor, so entwined with the national identity that some jittery South Africans wondered whether the country would slide into chaos after his death.

“Does it spell doomsday and disaster for us?” retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked rhetorically Friday before declaring that no, the country will not disintegrate.

“The sun will rise tomorrow and the next day and the next,” said Tutu, who like Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting apartheid and promoting reconciliation. “It may not appear as bright as yesterday, but life will carry on.”

A series of violent events since last year intensified worries over the state of the nation. The August 2012 shooting deaths of 34 striking miners by police at the Marikana platinum mine recalled, for some South Africans, state killings under apartheid. In February, a Mozambican taxi driver was dragged from a South African police vehicle and later died in a jail cell.

At the same time, tourism surged. Despite labor strife and credit-rating downgrades, resource-rich South Africa hosted Brazil, Russia, India and China at the “BRICS” summit in March. It has the biggest economy in Africa and aspires to continental leadership.

Mandela’s death will not destabilize race relations in the country, contrary to some fears, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations.

“For many years now, South Africans have got along with one another largely peacefully without Mr. Mandela having been active in the political sphere,” Lerato Moloi, the institute’s head of research, said. “In fact, Mr. Mandela’s passing may be cause for many to reflect on the remarkably peaceful and swift racial integration of many parts of society, including schools, suburbs, universities, and workplaces.”

Moloi said in a statement: “Although some of this had started to occur before 1994, as a symbol of racial reconciliation and forgiveness Mr. Mandela will be viewed by many as having played a pivotal role in creating such a society.”

Mandela’s life epitomized the fight for freedom and equality, said Human Rights Watch. It pointed out that South Africa’s education and health sectors are inadequate and the country remains divided by racial separation and deep economic inequality.

“Almost two decades into its democracy, South Africa is not the country that Mandela had said he hoped it would become,” the group said.

President Jacob Zuma evoked the idea of the 95-year-old Mandela as a beacon for the ages when he announced his death on Thursday night.

South Africans, Zuma said, must be determined “to live as Madiba has lived, to strive as Madiba has strived and to not rest until we have realized his vision of a truly united South Africa, a peaceful and prosperous Africa, and a better world.”

Mandela, also known by his clan name Madiba, admitted to weakness and failings, yet rose to greatness in a way that no contemporary or successor could match.

Zuma, for example, has credentials as an anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned with Mandela. But he and the ruling African National Congress, once led by Mandela, have been dogged by corruption allegations that have eroded support for the government. In the days before Mandela’s death, South African media were filled with reports on the alleged lavish use of state funds for construction at Zuma’s family compound.

The scene outside Mandela’s house embodied the mixed picture in South Africa, where political sparring between the ruling party and the opposition has sharpened ahead of national elections next year, the 20th anniversary of the pivotal vote in which Mandela became president.

Mourners outside the home mingled in an inclusive, celebratory atmosphere that prompted the Rev. Inigo Alvarez, a Catholic priest, to declare: “Now we experience what is South Africa, all kinds of people, all kinds of regions.”

Yet ANC activists in yellow jumpsuits pasted posters on the perimeter walls of the Mandela compound and handed out leaflets presenting the party as the heir to his tradition. In death, Mandela was still drawn into politics.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

South Africa begins life without Nelson Mandela

South Africa begins life without Nelson Mandela

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — What next for South Africa?

This racially charged country that, on Nelson Mandela’s watch, inspired the world by embracing reconciliation in all-race elections in 1994 is again in the global spotlight after the loss of such a towering historical figure. It is a time not just for grief and gratitude, but also a clear-eyed assessment of national strengths and shortcomings in a future without a man who was a guide and comfort to so many.

“It’s a new beginning,” said Kyle Redford, one of many outside the home of the anti-apartheid leader who became the nation’s first black president. “The loss of a legend is going to force us to come together once again.”

He acknowledged that there is a “sense of what next: Where do we go? What do we do? And how do we do it?”

Mandela’s resolve rubbed off on many of his compatriots, though such conviction is tempered by the reality that his vision of a “rainbow nation” failed, almost inevitably, to meet the heady expectations propelling the country two decades ago. Peaceful elections and relatively harmonious race relations define today’s South Africa; so do crime, corruption and economic inequality.

Mandela remained a powerful symbol in the hopeful, uncharted period after apartheid, even when he left the presidency, retired from public life and shuttled in and out of hospitals as a protracted illness eroded his once-robust frame. He became a moral anchor, so entwined with the national identity that some jittery South Africans wondered whether the country would slide into chaos after his death.

“Does it spell doomsday and disaster for us?” retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked rhetorically Friday before declaring that no, the country will not disintegrate.

“The sun will rise tomorrow and the next day and the next,” said Tutu, who like Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting apartheid and promoting reconciliation. “It may not appear as bright as yesterday, but life will carry on.”

A series of violent events since last year intensified worries over the state of the nation. The August 2012 shooting deaths of 34 striking miners by police at the Marikana platinum mine recalled, for some South Africans, state killings under apartheid. In February, a Mozambican taxi driver was dragged from a South African police vehicle and later died in a jail cell.

At the same time, tourism surged. Despite labor strife and credit-rating downgrades, resource-rich South Africa hosted Brazil, Russia, India and China at the “BRICS” summit in March. It has the biggest economy in Africa and aspires to continental leadership.

Mandela’s death will not destabilize race relations in the country, contrary to some fears, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations.

“For many years now, South Africans have got along with one another largely peacefully without Mr. Mandela having been active in the political sphere,” Lerato Moloi, the institute’s head of research, said. “In fact, Mr. Mandela’s passing may be cause for many to reflect on the remarkably peaceful and swift racial integration of many parts of society, including schools, suburbs, universities, and workplaces.”

Moloi said in a statement: “Although some of this had started to occur before 1994, as a symbol of racial reconciliation and forgiveness Mr. Mandela will be viewed by many as having played a pivotal role in creating such a society.”

Mandela’s life epitomized the fight for freedom and equality, said Human Rights Watch. It pointed out that South Africa’s education and health sectors are inadequate and the country remains divided by racial separation and deep economic inequality.

“Almost two decades into its democracy, South Africa is not the country that Mandela had said he hoped it would become,” the group said.

President Jacob Zuma evoked the idea of the 95-year-old Mandela as a beacon for the ages when he announced his death on Thursday night.

South Africans, Zuma said, must be determined “to live as Madiba has lived, to strive as Madiba has strived and to not rest until we have realized his vision of a truly united South Africa, a peaceful and prosperous Africa, and a better world.”

Mandela, also known by his clan name Madiba, admitted to weakness and failings, yet rose to greatness in a way that no contemporary or successor could match.

Zuma, for example, has credentials as an anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned with Mandela. But he and the ruling African National Congress, once led by Mandela, have been dogged by corruption allegations that have eroded support for the government. In the days before Mandela’s death, South African media were filled with reports on the alleged lavish use of state funds for construction at Zuma’s family compound.

The scene outside Mandela’s house embodied the mixed picture in South Africa, where political sparring between the ruling party and the opposition has sharpened ahead of national elections next year, the 20th anniversary of the pivotal vote in which Mandela became president.

Mourners outside the home mingled in an inclusive, celebratory atmosphere that prompted the Rev. Inigo Alvarez, a Catholic priest, to declare: “Now we experience what is South Africa, all kinds of people, all kinds of regions.”

Yet ANC activists in yellow jumpsuits pasted posters on the perimeter walls of the Mandela compound and handed out leaflets presenting the party as the heir to his tradition. In death, Mandela was still drawn into politics.

Associated Press

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Top Headlines

South Africa begins life without Nelson Mandela

CHRIS MATTHEWS ROAD SHOW: sometimes hijacked by the Willy Nelson 911 Truther Organization...

A few nice political satire images I found:

CHRIS MATTHEWS ROAD SHOW: sometimes hijacked by the Willy Nelson 911 Truther Organization…


Image by roberthuffstutter

WHO WILL PREVENT ELECTION FRAUD IN THE NEXT TWO ELECTIONS?


Image by roberthuffstutter

Do you think the next elections should have a foreign nation monitoring the boothes to prevent election frauds?

CHRIS MATTHEWS ROAD SHOW: sometimes hijacked by the Willy Nelson 911 Truther Organization...

As Nelson Mandela Turns 95, South Africa Celebrates

Enlarge image i

Supporters of Nelson Mandela rally outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, where he has been treated for more than a month. The anti-apartheid icon turned 95 on Thursday.

Jonathan Blakley/NPR

Supporters of Nelson Mandela rally outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, where he has been treated for more than a month. The anti-apartheid icon turned 95 on Thursday.

Jonathan Blakley/NPR

While South Africa celebrates the 95th birthday of Nelson Mandela on Thursday, the former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains at a Pretoria hospital, where he’s been hospitalized since June 8 with a recurring lung infection.

President Jacob Zuma’s office has said that Mandela is in “critical but stable” condition, though Mandela’s daughter Zindzi said Wednesday that her father was making “remarkable progress” and could be released soon.

Enlarge image i

A wall dedicated to Mandela in the Alexandra Township in Johannesburg. It’s near the place where Mandela rented a room when he first moved to Johannesburg in 1941.

Jason Beaubien/NPR

A wall dedicated to Mandela in the Alexandra Township in Johannesburg. It’s near the place where Mandela rented a room when he first moved to Johannesburg in 1941.

Jason Beaubien/NPR

The Nelson Mandela Center of Memory asked South Africans and people around the world to spend 67 minutes Thursday volunteering in their communities in tribute to the ailing former president. The 67 minutes represents the 67 years Mandela gave in public service fighting against the apartheid system of segregation and later as a statesman.

Ever since he was hospitalized more than a month ago, small shrines to Mandela have popped up all across the country. His picture hangs in shop windows. The newspapers and TV stations give daily updates on Madiba, his clan name that many use when referring to him.

Brenda Motseari, a teacher in the township of Soweto, says Mandela remains a huge figure in South African life. “Nelson Mandela is a father, a mentor, a motivator, a director. He’s everything to South Africans,” she says.

Motseari had just come out of a Mass at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in the Rockville section of Soweto. A stained glass window depicts Mandela in a jacket and tie with his hands raised as he addresses a crowd.

An Enduring Image

The scene resembles the one on Feb. 11, 1990, when Mandela was released from prison. Standing on the balcony of Cape Town City Hall, he greeted a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people.

Enlarge image i

Well-wishers leave flowers, stuffed animals, posters, cards and balloons outside the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital.

Jonathan Blakley/NPR

Well-wishers leave flowers, stuffed animals, posters, cards and balloons outside the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital.

Jonathan Blakley/NPR

Motseari says she remembers that day clearly. She’d just had a baby, and she was glued to the television. She says that day is still the most powerful image she remembers of Mandela.

“That’s my memory [of him], the first day when he picked up the fist after coming out of prison,” she says. “I was watching attentively and then he clenched the fist to say, ‘Amandla’ [power].”

In that speech, Mandela declared, “Today the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future.”

Before those remarks, most South Africans didn’t even know what Mandela looked like. Pictures of him had been banned by the apartheid government.

Stepping out from prison, Mandela called for a negotiated end to apartheid and an end to white minority rule. That eventually happened and in 1994 Mandela was elected president in South Africa’s first nonracial, democratic elections.

Drawing Inspiration

The pastor at the Regina Mundi church, Sebastian Rossouw, says Mandela’s life continues to be an inspiration to South Africans.

Parallels

The Day Nelson Mandela Walked Out Of Prison

“Growing up in apartheid years as a young boy one was not free,” the priest says.

Rossouw and his family couldn’t travel freely. His father wasn’t allowed to set foot in certain parts of town. Blacks weren’t allowed to vote. There were separate buses, schools and toilets for whites. Interracial marriages were forbidden. Blacks and coloreds ended up in the worst jobs. Educational options for Rossouw were restricted by law.

Parallels

Nelson Mandela’s Prison Adventures

But the priest says Mandela made it clear that any obstacle, any injustice can be overcome.

The Two-Way

Mandela Has Made ‘Remarkable Progress,’ Daughter Says

“The legacy that Mandela brings is that despite what the past has dealt you, do not allow it to determine your future,” Rossouw says. “For many of us, myself included, that’s a message that we’ve taken to heart. Yes, we have a bad past but this will not affect the future we are looking towards.”

News

As Nelson Mandela Turns 95, South Africa Celebrates

Family visits ailing Nelson Mandela

He has been vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis while imprisoned. | AP Photo

Nelson Mandela received visits from family members on Sunday at a hospital where the former president and anti-apartheid leader was being treated for a recurring lung infection, while South Africans expressed their appreciation for a man widely regarded as the father of the nation.

There was no official update on 94-year-old Mandela after his second night in the hospital. His condition was described as “serious but stable” on Saturday.

Continue Reading

The office of President Jacob Zuma had said that Mandela was taken to a Pretoria hospital after his condition deteriorated at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The anti-apartheid leader has now been taken to a hospital four times since December, with the last discharge coming on April 6 after doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and drained fluid from his lung area.

Members of Mandela’s family on Sunday were seen visiting the Pretoria hospital where he is believed to be staying. They included Makaziwe Mandela, the eldest of the ex-leader’s three surviving children, and Ndileka Mandela, one of his 17 grandchildren.

Worshippers at a Sunday church service in the Johannesburg township of Soweto prayed for the recovery of Mandela, who was freed in 1990 after 27 years as a prisoner of white racist rule and won election to the presidency in all-race elections in 1994. He retired from public life years ago and had received medical care at his Johannesburg home until his latest transfer to a hospital.

At the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, Father Sebastian Rousso said Mandela, seen by many as a symbol of reconciliation for his peacemaking efforts, played a key role “not only for ourselves as South Africans, but for the world.”

There is a stained glass image of Mandela with arms raised in the Catholic church, a center of protests and funeral services for activists during the apartheid years.

“We still need him in our lives because he did so much for us,” said Mantsho Moralo, a receptionist who was in the congregation. Siyabonga Nyembe, a student, described Mandela as a “pillar of strength” for South Africans.

A stream of tourists visited Mandela’s former home, now a museum, on Vilakazi Street in Soweto. Visitors and vendors wished a quick recovery for the man whose sacrifices in the fight against apartheid made their lives better, even if South Africa today is struggling today with high unemployment and other severe challenges.

“He’s like one in a million. I don’t think we’re ever going to get a leader like him. We’re living the life that we have because of him and for that we wish him well,” said Seponono Kekana, who toured the brick, one-storey house.

On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the ruling African National Congress to Mandela’s home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage – the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year – showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his long imprisonment. The bulk of that period was spent on Robben Island, an outpost off the coast of Cape Town where Mandela and other prisoners spent part of the time toiling in a stone quarry.

The Sunday Times, a South African newspaper, quoted Andrew Mlangeni, an old friend of Mandela, as saying he wished the former president would get better but noted his infirmity had become a drawn-out process. He said Mandela had been taken to the hospital “too many times” and that there was a possibility he would not be well again.

“The family must release him so that God may have his own way. They must release him spiritually and put their faith in the hands of God,” said Mlangeni, a co-defendant of Mandela in the 1960s trial on sabotage charges that led to a sentence of life imprisonment for them and other anti-apartheid leaders.

“Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too,” Mlangeni told the newspaper.

Nhlanhla Ngcobobo, a street vendor who works a few steps from the Mandela Family Restaurant next to the former leader’s old home, said the ailing Mandela was a kind of psychological anchor for his compatriots. South Africa has held peaceful elections since 1994 and remains an economic powerhouse on the continent, but many worry that the sense of promise that Mandela represented in the early years of democracy is in peril.

“There’s a lot of corruption and when Mandela dies, people will start feeling they can do what they like and corruption will be worse than it is,” Ngcobobo said. “By him being alive, there’s a lot more order.”

POLITICO – Congress

Family visits ailing Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela hospitalized

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View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa’s first black president.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was hospitalized Saturday after suffering a recurrence of a lung infection, according to a statement released by the nation’s current leader. The statement said the 94-year-old Mandela was in a serious but stable condition.

“During the past few days, former President Nelson Mandela has had a recurrence of lung infection,” said the statement by President Jacob Zuma. “This morning at about 1:30 a.m. [7:30 p.m. Friday ET] his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a Pretoria hospital. He remains in a serious but stable condition.”

“The former president is receiving expert medical care and doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable,” it added.

A spokesman for the South African presidency, Mac Maharaj, told Sky News that Mandela was “able to breathe on his own,” adding “I think that’s important.”

Maharaj said he was trying not to paint “a rosy picture” but added “neither do I want to paint a bad picture and say ‘let’s give up.”

“He’s a fighter. He’s been through this many times, he’s been through worse issues and he has survived,” Maharaj said.

Asked about Mandela’s general state of health, the spokesman said “there are moments when he looks terribly frail, within minutes he changes so you think he is completely normal and usual.”

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and longtime political prisoner led the nation’s battle against the white-minority apartheid government.

He became the first president of the country to be elected following the fall of the apartheid system, leading his country as head of the African National Congress from 1994 to 1999.

Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis while being held in prison under the apartheid regime. 

He has been in and out of the hospital several times in recent months, most recently being discharged from a hospital on April 6 after having been treated since March 27 for pneumonia and other problems.

Zuma’s ANC government was recently criticized for allowing a visit by the president and other party leaders with Mandela to be broadcast on national television because of his ailing health.

The use of the word “serious” to describe Mandela’s condition was a cause of concern for ordinary South Africans.

“It’s such painful news but I pray for him that he can get better and better and better as he is the best man in this country,” Pretoria resident Khodani Mulwena told Reuters. 

“He is going to survive,” Willie Mokoena, a gardener in Johannesburg, told The Associated Press. “He’s a strong man.” 

Concern for Mandela’s health united the ANC and the opposition.

“We will keep President Mandela and his family in our thoughts and prayers at this time and call upon South Africans and the peoples of the globe to do the same for our beloved statesman and icon, Madiba,” the ANC said in a statement.

“Nelson Mandela is a father to South Africa and South Africans; every time he is admitted to hospital we feel saddened along with the rest of our country,” the Democratic Alliance, the main political opposition party, said in a statement. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• ANC defends broadcast of visit with ailing Mandela


• What will happen to the ‘Rainbow Nation’ after Mandela?

This story was originally published on Sat Jun 8, 2013 2:14 AM EDT

Nelson Mandela hospitalized