May the profound sadness of this day of death bring hope for the world which glimpsed his greatness. Whatever our color or nation, Mandela's passion and dignity touched us all, human to human.
I remember years ago dreading the fact that this had to happen relatively soon and thinking how strange it would be. Then when he went into hospital in June it was streaming on B.B.C. World with very much a tone of mourning already. When I came out of class I asked my colleague if he had died during that ninety minutes, as it really seemed that he was right about to. People were interviewed saying that They hoped at least he wouldn't suffer &c. It's unfortunately unlikely, but I hope that the last six months were relatively bearable for him.
A new beginning in South Africa is a unit in one of the coursebooks. I hope it's a sign for the good that younger students cannot really relate to it, as they are pretty ignorant about there being anything other than democracy there.
What a shame that he was followed by that imbecile (or worse) Mbeki. At the time he probably thought it fit to do just a single, almost ceremonial term, but now it's clear that if he could have managed to hang on for another, even as a figurehead, it would have saved huge numbers of lives.
RIP - Nelson Mandela
Posted - 12/05/2013 : 21:50:23
Free: Nelson Mandela 
