Re: [xmca] Happy 90th Birthday to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela!

Hi Elinami
Yes, I also wish him many more years. He seems to be well, but has aged a lot in the last few years.
I suppose if he was 50 years younger he would not be what he is because the events which helped to form him would not have happened.
A local politician who was in prison with him said today: we must be careful not to just see him as a saint, he was a 'fighter', he lived through difficult times.

I was wondering how someone becomes an 'icon', and what is it that makes Mandela transcend other international figures. Was it the particular socio-historical time in which he lived? Is it his personal 'nature'? Is it what he did in response to those hard times? Is it his grandfatherlyness - ie a desire on our part to see him as a wonderful paternal figure?

And what will happen when he is no longer here? What will be 'lost'? There is sometimes a sense in SA that the honeymoon is over, and this is, in part a response to Mandela handing over to Mbeki who is handing over to Jacob Zuma.

so, what will become of us in SA (and us in the world) without a moral figure like Mandela?

Mary

understand that although he

Mary van der Riet; School of Psychology; University of KwaZulu-Natal
Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209

email: vanderriet@ukzn.ac.za
tel: 033 260 6163; fax: 033 2605809

>>> "Elinami Swai" <swaiev@gmail.com> 07/18/08 13:39 PM >>>
Thanks Mary. This is an exciting event. Mandela is one of a very few
leaders in the entire world whose heart is truly for the people, but a
large part of his energy was spent behind the bars. I wish he was
younger too, people like Mugabe, Kibaki and others would behave
differently.I wish him fifty more year, if he has no illness bothering
him.
Elinami.

On 7/18/08, Mary van der Riet <vanderriet@ukzn.ac.za> wrote:
> Madiba turns 90 today. A huge tent has been erected outside his house in a small village in the Eastern Cape Province of SA, called Qunu. The Provincial Minister of Agriculture has donated 500 goats to the surrounding residents.
> The national TV station is broadcasting live from Robben Island - the prison where Mandela was incarcerated.
> Children are interviewed on TV guessing his age and wishing him happy birthday.
> His picture is in the United Nations. What effect do you think he has had on the world?
>
> Personally I wish he was 50 years younger so that the world could be affected by him for much longer)
>
> Mary
>
>
>
> Mary van der Riet; School of Psychology; University of KwaZulu-Natal
> Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209
>
> email: vanderriet@ukzn.ac.za
> tel: 033 260 6163; fax: 033 2605809
>
> Please find our Email Disclaimer here: http://www.ukzn.ac.za/disclaimer/
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-- 
Dr. Elinami Swai
Womens' and Gender Studies
University Hall 4220-A
The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH, 43606
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