Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end. – Nelson Mandela, Robben Island 1975
Today is the 95th birth anniversary of Mr Rolihlahla Mandela better known as Nelson Mandela and fondly called ‘Madiba’ (the name of the clan he was born into) and ‘Tata’ (an isiXhosa word that means father). Revered around the world for his decades of untiring struggle for human rights and social justice, Mandela is today gravely ill, hospitalised and possibly could die at any time.
Today is also the third annual commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day. The United Nations, in November 2009, adopted a resolution designating that July 18 be observed each year as Mandela International Day beginning in July 2010. This came about following an international campaign by the Nelson Mandela Foundation for the great man to be thus recognised. The foundation had already been observing his birthday as Mandela Day but believed that this should be done on a global scale. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon threw his support behind the initiative and it was positively endorsed by heads of state and government of countries in the Non-Aligned Movement.
Adopting the resolution, the UN General Assembly noted the long history of Mandela’s “leading role in and support for Africa’s struggle for liberation and Africa’s unity, and his outstanding contribution to the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic South Africa.”
It also recognised his values and dedication to serving humanity, “as a humanitarian, in the fields of conflict resolution, race relations, promotion and protection of human rights, reconciliation, gender equality and the rights of children and other vulnerable groups, as well as the upliftment of poor and underdeveloped communities.” The UNGA also acknowledged Mandela’s contribution to the international struggle for democracy and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.
The Mandela story is well known. He and others struggled against apartheid, which was then the legal official policy of the Republic of South Africa. In a nutshell, it involved the racial segregation of the people of that nation and political, legal, and economic discrimination against non-whites.
The struggle to free South Africa from this oppressive regime and make it a country where every person, regardless of the colour of his/her skin had equal rights, saw Mandela and his comrades being arrested and tried for treason in 1956. They were all acquitted. In 1962, he was again arrested and in 1964, sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mandela was released from prison in 1990. He was 72 years old. He had spent 27 years of his life behind bars because he chose to put the quality of life of the South African people ahead of his own.
It was around the time Mandela was released from prison that the “philosophy that [held] one race superior and [the other] inferior [Haile Selassie – UN address 1963]” began to end. Mandela’s political party, the African National Congress, which had been banned by the regime in 1960, had its ban lifted and contested South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. It won 62% of the votes and Mandela was elected president. He could have chosen to be harsh and bitter to those who stole 27 years of his life. Instead, in a move that defined him as a statesman and humanitarian, he formed a national unity government and made FW de Klerk, the last apartheid-era president of South Africa, a deputy president.
Having set his country on the path to freedom, Mandela stepped down at the end of his first term in office in 1999 and set up the Nelson Mandela Foundation through which he sought, with others, to pursue social justice on a global scale.
Nelson Mandela is certainly a man to be emulated and thus Nelson Mandela International Day aims to inspire all to do good works for people and the planet. Its theme is ‘Take Action, Inspire Change’ and persons are being encouraged today to spend at least 67 minutes doing some form of community service in honour of the 67 years of his life Mandela devoted to the fight for human rights and social justice.
