Nelson Mandela Dead

[Gambit]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former South African President and anti-apartheid revolutionary hero Nelson Mandela has died at his Johannesburg home. He was 95.

He had returned home on September 1 in a critical condition after being in a Pretoria hospital for almost three months -  the fourth time he had been admitted to hospital since December. He had battled a series of lung infections and respiratory illnesses in the past few years.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison after being found guilty of being sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow his country's government before being released in 1990, became South Africa's first democratically elected president, holding office from 1994 to 1999.

One of the world's most famous people, he has long been a figurehead for racial unification, following his efforts to heal his own country after centuries of division.

News of his death has prompted an outpouring of grief from all corners of the world.

Mandela had a history of lung problems, after falling ill with tuberculosis in 1988 toward the tail-end of his prison term before his release and subsequent presidency.

While doctors said at the time the disease caused no permanent damage to his lungs, medical experts say tuberculosis can cause problems years later for those infected.

The Nobel laureate had an acute respiratory infection in January 2011.

Following the chaos that surrounded his stay at a public hospital then, the South African military took charge of his care and the government took over control of the information about his health. It released little, mostly saying early in his last hospital stay that he was in a "serious but stable condition'', but in late June it said he was "critical but stable''.  In July the government denied that he was in a vegetative after a lawyer for some of his family told a court his life support system should be shut off.

 

AN EVERLASTING LEGACY:

Mandela was one of the most revered leaders of the 20th century and his legacy will forever be the abolition of apartheid in South Africa.

The man endearingly known throughout South Africa as Madiba - his Xhosa clan name, which literally translates to grandfather - cemented his place in history when he became the first democratically elected president - black or white.

As a founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), which was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist from a young age.

He was sentenced to life in prison after being charged and convicted of sabotage in 1962.

Left to the mercy of the prison guards in a white supremacist South Africa, his release 27 years later in 1990 set in motion the cogs of an anti-apartheid movement that had the backing of much of the world.

His release was all the more astonishing for a total lack of animosity toward his captors. In a speech on the day of his release, Mandela quoted his own words, which he spoke at his trial in 1962:

"I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

"It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Four years later apartheid in South Africa had ended and in 1995 Mandela became the first elected president - ending the irony behind the name the Republic of South Africa.

His presidency was spent building what his inaugural address called a "rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world".

As the ANC party under Mandela began to dismantle the racial divide, his attention turned to the issue of HIV/AIDS, which according to the World Health Organisation, affects about 6.5 million people in South Africa.

But the crusade was more personal for Mandela, who lost his eldest son in 2005 to the disease at the age of 54.

After his departure from politics, Mandela also sought to step away from the public eye with appearances in recent years becoming fewer and farther between.

His last public appearance was in 2010 when South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup.

[Jonny b]

R.i.P to a great man!!

[Gambit]

I have to agree not been a good month.

Paul walker Now Nelson Mandela.... Not to forget Brian Griffin :( <<< Was that a bit to soon   

[Gambit]

Just incase it did offend anyone I didn't mean it to 

And would like to leave this quote that I think says a lot 

 

[Gambit]

Seeing lot's of mixed views on this guy now.Saying he's not the freedom fight that we are being told he was with mass bombings on public people. 

[Jay762]

there are always two sides to the story - one persons freedom fighter is another persons terrorist - the situation back then cried out for change that was how some people chose to approach it.

[Gambit]

I was just reading through that even when he got voted as President he didn't really change anything white farmers was still being murdered in South Africa by the same group he was in and still brushed shoulders with some of the worlds more powered people to put it nicely. I can't remember much about it was either to young to remember or was to busy still playing with toy guns :D  

[Jay762]

Still a lot of challenges on that continent for sure - certainly not going to be fixed over night

[Gambit]

I'm just curious now though with always seeing him as this great iconic figure :)

[Jay762]

there is a fair amount of reading to be done just on SA alone, Dutch / English occupancy, discovering diamonds unsurprisingly a big fight, it goes on - throw in massive inter tribal hatred between Black nationals as well as white settlers and ever shrinking natural resources, its a bit of a powder keg.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africa

 

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html

 

http://www.indyweek.com/triangleoffense/archives/2010/07/08/a-short-history-of-the-dutch-in-south-africa-1652-2010

[Gambit]

Cheers will give them a read too been doing loads, not sure how much is right and so on amazing how quick some people turn it to being racist. Not my words just what someone felt the need to say whilst I have been reading up that "Africa was never a black country they took over it." in as many words not sure why that had anything to do with Mandela  but gives you an idea of the crap I'm reading through. I do know the only people to brand him a terrorist was Ronald Reagan and Thatcher, And it was Reagan that helped put him in prison and also got him out   

I think this will call for a drink soon :D   

[Jay762]

its not a light subject, that is for certain.

[Gambit]

I like to find facts before I judge just seems to me some people read something and take it as gospel :) 

[Jay762]

best approach - that tends to be the way with most things particularly when people have something to gain

[Gambit]

3 Things You Didn’t (Want To) Know About Nelson Mandela

The hero of the anti-apartheid struggle was not the saint we want him to be.

The image of Nelson Mandela as a selfless, humble, freedom fighter turned cheerful, kindly old man, is well established in the West. If there is any international leader on whom we can universally heap praise it is surely he. But get past the halo we’ve placed on him without his permission, and Nelson Mandela had more than a few flaws which deserve attention.

He signed off on the deaths of innocent people, lots of them

Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. At his trial, he had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilising terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists. Here are some highlights

-Church Street West, Pretoria, on the 20 May 1983

-Amanzimtoti Shopping complex KZN, 23 December 1985

-Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court, 17 March 1988

-Durban Pick ‘n Pay shopping complex, 1 September 1986

-Pretoria Sterland movie complex 16 April 1988 – limpet mine killed ANC terrorist M O Maponya instead

-Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, 20 May 1987

-Roodepoort Standard Bank 3 June, 1988

Tellingly, not only did Mandela refuse to renounce violence, Amnesty refused to take his case stating “[the] movement recorded that it could not give the name of ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ to anyone associated with violence, even though as in ‘conventional warfare’ a degree of restraint may be exercised.”

 

 As President he bought a lot of military hardware

Inheriting a country with criminally deep socio-ecnomic problems, one might expect resources to be poured into redressing the imbalances of apartheid. Yet once in office, even Mandela’s government slipped into the custom of putting national corporatism, power and prestige above its people. Deputy Minister of Defence Ronnie Kasrils said in 1995 that the government’s planned cuts in defence spending could also result in the loss of as many as 90,000 jobs in defence-related industries.

Mandela’s government announced in November 1998 that it intended to purchase 28 BAE/SAAB JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft from Sweden at a cost of R10.875 billion, i.e. R388 million (about US$65 million) per plane. Clearly, the all-powerful air armadas of Botswana weighed heavily on the minds of South African leaders…

Not content with jets, in 1999 a US$4.8 billion (R30 billion in 1999 rands) purchase of weaponry was finalised, which has been subject to allegations of corruption. The South African Department of Defence’s Strategic Defence Acquisition purchased a slew of shiny new weapons, including frigates, submarines, corvettes, light utility helicopters, fighter jet trainers and advanced light fighter aircraft.

Below are some of the purchases made, presumably to keep the expansionist intentions of Madagascar at bay…

 

Description

Original Qty

Illustrative total cost

Corvettes

4

R4 billion

Maritime helicopter for corvettes

5

R1 billion

New submarines to replace Daphne

4

R5,5 billion

Alouette helicopter replacement

60

R2 billion

Advanced light fighter

48

R6-9 billion

Main Battle Tank replacement of Olifant

154

R6 billion

Total cost in 1998 Rand

 

R25-38 billion

 

Mandela was friendly with dictators

Despite being synonymous with freedom and democracy, Mandela was never afraid to glad hand the thugs and tyrants of the international arena.

General Sani Abacha seized power in Nigeria in a military coup in November 1993. From the start of his presidency, in May 1994, Nelson Mandela refrained from publicly condemning Abacha’s actions. Up until the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November 1995 the ANC government vigorously opposed the imposition of sanctions against Nigeria. Shortly before the meeting Mandela’s spokesman, Parks Mankahlana, said that “quiet persuasion” would yield better results than coercion. Even after the Nigerian government announced the death sentences against Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists, during the summit, Mandela refused to condemn the Abacha regime or countenance the imposition of sanctions.

Two of the ANC’s biggest donors, in the 1990s, were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and President Suharto of Indonesia . Not only did Mandela refrain from criticising their lamentable human rights records but he interceded diplomatically on their behalf, and awarded them South Africa ‘s highest honour. Suharto was awarded a state visit, a 21-gun salute, and The Order of Good Hope (gold class).

In April 1999 Mandela acknowledged to an audience in Johannesburg that Suharto had given the ANC a total of 60 million dollars. An initial donation of 50 million dollars had been followed up by a further 10 million. The Telegraph ( London ) reported that Gaddafi was known to have given the ANC well over ten million dollars.

 

The apartheid regime was a crime against humanity; as illogical as it was cruel.  It is tempting, therefore, to simplify the subject by declaring that all who opposed it were wholly and unswervingly good. It’s important to remember, however, that Mandela has been the first to hold his hands up to his shortcomings and mistakes. In books and speeches, he goes to great length to admit his errors. The real tragedy is that too many in the West can’t bring themselves to see what the great man himself has said all along; that he’s just as flawed as the rest of us, and should not be put on a pedestal.

[Gambit]

Thats from a clip I have read. Like I say I will read more before I make my mind up but I will say I won't judge his actions based on other peoples thoughts 

[Gambit]

Right after doing much reading up on this, this has become my conclusion :)

Yes he did do attacks on people but was more forced to have to do them to get a voice heard. With being black in those times he would have been shot just for trying to bring dispute to the already corrupt power that was in place. Now this is a bit of a dark patch and couldn't find much out about this. But was he fighting for these rights he's spoke about when he was in the group (ANC) And was they with him in the same quest when doing the bombings. Or was it later on when he was in Prison he thought about it. But anyway I couldn't find answers to that. But Ronald Reagan

is the guy who 1st called him and the group terrorists followed by Thatcher who also wanted him executed. Reagan got him put in prison and also got him back out of prison. yada yada 

I'm waffling now :) 

But I'm guessing from what I have read, he did do things that is seen as bad but was left no choice in that time. But turned all his wrongs into good. That is my view so faith is restored :D 

[Jay762]

pretty succinct ;)

[Gambit]

Yeah it would be like a book time I had finished Haha. And I have a bottle of vodka to drink now so a day well spent ;)