THIRTY YEARS ON: A NOBLE LEGACY IN PERIL By Asithandile Gxumisa
" I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. " These wise and truthful words could only have been said by a man of advanced years, who had lived through the ennobling fire of sorrow and had tasted of the bitterness of human moral frailty even as he bravely strove for that nearly unattainable pinnacle of virtue. Thus did Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela honestly testify about himself in his twilight years. Today marks the 30th anniversary of Mr Mandela's release from prison on the 11th of February, 1990. That historical event marked the beginning of a " New Dawn " for South Africa even as George H. W. Bush would later, in that same year, memorably announce the advent of a " New World Order ". It was no coincidence. Apartheid was slowly unraveling and communism in the East was sinking into the abyss of memory. Indeed, of all the men who stood tall during the trying days of white minority rule Mr Mandela had a ...