A final farewell

IT was Mandela’s wish to be buried next to his family.

Mandela’s father Mphakanyiswa Gadla Henry, his mother Noqaphi Nosekeni and his son Magkatho Lewanika Mandela are buried at the family grave site in Qunu.

About 5 000 people attended the state funeral, among them Britain’s Prince Charles, African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, and US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson.

Mandela began his final journey home to Qunu on Saturday as an air force plane carrying his casket took off from Pretoria.

The funeral started at 8am and will conclude at noon.

The AbaThembu chiefs will receive the body to bury it according to royal protocol.

 

 

13 DECEMBER 2013

Madiba’s Zululand protection connection

WHILE most of us would have cherished the opportunity to have met Nelson Mandela in person, not many of us would have dreamed of working closely with him for over seven years.

Gqkinsimbi Stanley Qwabe, a born and bred Zululander, was Madiba’s protector for seven years as part of his security detail since Mandela’s release in 1990.

He remembers Madiba with much fondness.

‘He loved people and never thought he was better than anyone else. As bodyguards we had to keep the crowds away from him. One day he asked us why we were doing this, so we had to explain that it was for his own safety.

‘He nodded his head in understanding, but then requested us to at least smile while doing so.’

Qwabe says Madiba was exceptionally fond of his children and grandchildren.

‘One day he called and said he wanted to go and buy his grandson a watch. We were in the Mthatha watch shop for only five minutes when I had to tell Mandela it was time to go. The news had spread that he was in the shopping centre and a massive crowd had congregated to see him. If we had stayed any longer we would not have been able to get him out. Sometimes it was pretty hectic.

‘He always encouraged us to do good and to take care of our families. He understood we spent a lot of time looking after him and away from our families, so he invited them over. He became a grandfather to my son, who was devastated when he heard the news of his death. I still have photos of him sitting on Madiba’s lap. It feels like only yesterday.

‘I was very fortunate to spend time with Mandela. I was able to see how much he cared and how much South Africa as a nation meant to him. South Africa has lost a great man, but he lives on in each of us and together we can keep his legacy alive.

Qwabe was transferred back to Zululand in 2004 where he was needed to intensify security for MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu.

 

12 DECEMBER 2013

Walk of remembrance

HE used his training as a lawyer in his struggle against apartheid, so it only seemed fitting for Empangeni’s legal fraternity to pay their respects to Nelson Mandela with a pledge to uphold the values he stood for.

The group, clad in black gowns and carrying yellow flowers, walked from the courthouse to the Mandela memorial site at the Empangeni Civic Centre yesterday (Wednesday).

In their hands was the oath to ‘respect human dignity, accountability, service excellence, passion for justice and integrity and people centered development’.

The walk was co-ordinated by the Legal Aid South Africa.

 

11 DECEMBER 2013

Zululanders pay their respects

MEMORIAL prayers in honour of former South African President Nelson Mandela have been held at municipal offices across Zululand.

The chain of services started at uThungulu House, proceeding to the uMhlathuze Municipality offices and then to other municipalities within the district where municipal staff, civil servants and community members paid tribute with prayers, the laying of flowers at different memorial sites and writing messages of support to the Mandela family in condolence books

Members of the public who still wish to enter their messages, can make use of condolences books at uThungulu House and City of uMhlathuze Municipality in Richards Bay from 7.30am to 4pm.

10 DECEMBER 2013

Mourning Mandela

HUNDREDS of people lined the streets in Pretoria this morning as Nelson Mandela’s funeral cortege began its journey to the Union Buildings.

Led by motorcycle outriders, the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of the former president left the 1 Military Hospital just after 7am and made its way through the streets.

Along the route South Africans formed a sombre guard of honour, some waving flags to pay their last respects.

The funeral procession to the Union Buildings will be repeated for three days.

The public will be allowed to view the casket each afternoon, before Mandela’s body is transported to his hometown of Qunu in the Eastern Cape for its eventual burial on Sunday.

 

 

19 DECEMBER 2013

Final farewell – Gallery

View the gallery of photos taken at Nelson Madela’s memorial service in Johannesburg.

 

THOUSANDS are gathering at the FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, for former president Nelson Mandela’s official memorial service today.
Rainy weather has not kept people away from the service that is scheduled to start at 11am.

Security is on high alert as a more than 90 world leaders will attend the memorial service.
US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle together with former first couple George W and Laura Bush will be present.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff would be accompanied by four former heads of state as well as Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace.

Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days from Wednesday, ahead of his eventual burial on 15 December in his home town of Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
On Wednesday 11 December, the Mandela family and VIPs will view the body from 10am.
The public will file past the body from midday to 5.30pm.
On Thursday and Friday, 12 December and 13 December, the public will be able to file past the body from 8am to 5.30pm.

Mandela Memorial programme. Click here  https://bit.ly/19eeB0u

 

9 DECEMBER 2013

KZN’s first lady remembers Madiba

Though Madiba’s death had been expected for some months, many readers said they had nevertheless been ‘shocked’ by the newsflash.

But the overwhelming attitude was one of relief that his long period of suffering was over, and an outpouring of thanks and tribute for the life he lived and the legacy he left.

‘A light has gone out in our world; we have lost a father and a hero, but his legacy will live on and echo throughout the world,’ said uThungulu District Mayor and First Lady of KZN, Thembeka Mchunu.

‘Tata Madiba was a noble humanitarian, a beacon of hope for reconciliation and nation-building, and an inspiration to our nation.

‘When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace.

‘The memory of Madiba will be a light that will guide us as we strive to fulfil his lifelong dream of achieving peace, equality and love in the great nation of South Africa.’

Tributes streamed in from all quarters, an indication of the widespread admiration Madiba commanded through his the unselfish love he showed to the entire cross-section of the population, and the special place he held for the oppressed and needy.

 

The  uThungulu District will hold a Nelson Mandela memorial service on Thursday at noon at the Richards Bay Sports Complex (Veldenvlei).

The public is invited to attend. All churches are encouraged to dress in their church attire.

The dress code for the general public is formal black attire.

Contact Rekha Naidoo on 083 6399028 for further information.

 

6 DECEMBER 2013

Zululand mourns Madiba

CONDOLENCE messages have poured in from Zululanders expressing their love and support for the former President of South Africa.

The Zululand Observer Facebook page has been inundated with tributes for Madiba.

Journalists took to the streets this morning to speak to the people.

 

 

Jenney Freese: I’m laying in hospital waiting to go to theatre and wearing my orange 46664 t-shirt under my theatre gown. He was my hero and I will aways respect his life and how he sacrificed it to see his people free from oppression.

Nombulelo Ndanya: May your soul Rest in Peace Tata, and may the love, peace and unity in this country stay with us forever because that was what you fought for.

Sandile Namih Mthembu:  The great father of our nation and the world RIP. Black and White united, Thank you very much Tata.

Rosemary Smith:  Rip Tata Mandela, a true icon – you taught the nation and the world forgiveness, humility, unity – may we all unite and continue your legacy.

Abigail Smith: You gave your life to fight for freedom and justice. You fought an evil, not a race. You were a model of servant leadership. I will always love and respect you. Thank you

Yogeshree Natasha Raghunandan:  A true legend and hero… gone, but will live on in each and everyone of our lives… Proudly South African.

 

6 DECEMBER 2013

The life of Madiba

BORN in Mvezo, a village near Mthatha in the Eastern Cape on 18 July 1918, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was introduced to politics when he was elected to the Student Representative Council while enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare.
Having joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, he was one of the small group of young ANC members who banded together in 1944 to found the ANC Youth League.

Mandela spent the early part of his political career travelling the country, organising resistance to discriminatory legislation.
After completing the Attorneys Admission Exam, in partnership with his friend Oliver Tambo, they opened South Africa’s first black law firm in central Johannesburg in 1952.

After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, the ANC was outlawed and the leadership picked up the threads from its underground headquarters.
It was here that Mandela emerged as a leading figure in the struggle.
Together with the other party leaders, Mandela introduced Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) as the new armed section of the liberation movement, of which he was commander in chief.

In 1962 Mandela travelled abroad under the name ‘David Motsamayi’, but was arrested soon after his return.
Since he considered the prosecution a trial of the aspirations of the African people, he decided to conduct his own defence.
Mandela was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment in May 1963, only to be charged with sabotage along with 10 others in July.

The Rivonia Trial, as it came to be known, lasted eight months with most of the accused having made a collective decision to use the trial as an opportunity to make public their political beliefs.

The statement given in court by Mandela has become a pivotal moment in the history of resistance to apartheid.
‘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 the 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.’

All but two accused were sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964, and began their sentences at Robben Island immediately.

Standing firm

Mandela’s 27 and a half years in prison was marked by many events which shaped the personality and attitudes of the man who was to become the first president of a democratic South Africa.While in prison, Mandela flatly rejected offers for remission of sentence in exchange for accepting the bantustan policy or on condition that he renounce violence.

He did initiate talks with the apartheid regime in 1985, which took the form of ‘talks about talks’. Throughout this process he was adamant that negotiations could only be carried out by the full ANC leadership, while setting up a secret channel of communication to get messages to the ANC in Lusaka.Released on 11 February 1990, Mandela plunged wholeheartedly into his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier.

In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after being banned for decades, he was elected president of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation’s national chairperson.

Nobel peace prize

In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel peace prize with former president FW de Klerk on behalf of all South Africans who suffered and sacrificed so much to bring peace to our land, a moment that was only shadowed by South Africa’s first democratic election on 27 April 1994.
Inaugurated as president of a democratic South Africa on 10 May 1994, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after only one term.

He never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning.
Despite terrible provocation, he has never answered racism with racism.
His life is an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived.

 

 

6 DECEMBER 2013

Madiba: What is expected over the next few days

THE Zululand Observer’s sister newspaper, The Pretoria Rekord outlines the procedure following Nelson Mandela’s death.

Former president Nelson Mandela will be accorded a State Funeral.

There will be both public and private farewells for Madiba.
Madiba’s body was flown to the Waterkloof Airforce Base around 03:30 on Friday before a military convoy transported the body to the 1 Military hospital.
The entrance of the hospital has since been barricaded by police.

His body is reportedly expected to be embalmed at this hospital over the next two to three days.
A memorial service will be held at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg. It is believed Heads of state may attend this public farewell.

For the period of mourning, Mandela’s body is expected to lie in state, guarded by South African National Defence Force personnel.
Madiba’s casket will be placed under a dome close to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 10 December for 3 days, the very same place where he took the oath of office when he became South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.

Next week, either on Friday or Saturday, Mandela is expected to be taken by military aircraft to his ancestral hometown of Qunu, which he had asked to be his final resting place.
Prime Minister John Key has confirmed he will attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral while White House officials have already privately indicated that Obama will be travelling to South Africa at some time during elaborate funeral ceremonies.

According to reports Obama will likely be joined on Air Force One by other key political leaders from the United States, including some of the living former presidents, who were quick to react to Mandela’s death with their own statements.

Heads of state and royalty from around the world are expected to make the journey to the rural homestead, where a state funeral will be held and Mandela will be laid to rest.

For live Twitter updates @RekordNewspaper > https://twitter.com/RekordNewspaper

 

6 DECEMBER 2013 7AM

Hamba Kahle Madiba

SOUTH Africa is in mourning.

Former President and an icon of peace, Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 last night.

The announcement was made by President Jacob Zuma shortly before midnight on Thursday.

He died peacefully in the company of his family.

From a live broadcast at the Union Buildings, President Zuma said, ‘Our people have lost a father. We knew that this day would come. Nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss. His tireless struggle for freedom earned him the respect of the world’.

‘What made Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves. In him we saw so much of ourselves,’ said Zuma.

Zuma said Madiba would have a state funeral and ordered all SA flags to be lowered to half mast today and remain at half mast until after the funeral.

Mandela, died just before 9pm at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, where his family had started gathering earlier in the day.

He had been admitted to hospital on 8 June with a recurring lung infection. He was discharged in September and had been receiving treatment at home.

View a gallery of Nelson Mandela photos here 

https://bit.ly/18HWkIz