Nelson Mandela Approved of Necklacing

[Rev.Cambeul]

Nelson Mandela Approved of Necklacing - But that's a fact that will not be included in the official Mandela biography or widely printed or spoken about in the Mainstream Media ...


Nelson Mandela obituary

The Guardian (UK) | 5 December 2013

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/05/nelson-mandela-obituary

Extract: It has been long assumed that Mandela, in prison, would have strongly condemned necklacing. Indeed, it was reported, and widely believed, that after Winnie had raised the issue – in 1986, when she declared that South Africans would liberate themselves with matchboxes and tyres – her husband had summoned her to Pollsmoor prison, in Cape Town and reprimanded her for it. It has emerged, however, from a document that circulated among journalists and academics in South Africa, and which finally dribbled into print in 2005, that Mandela condoned his wife's statement. The document, the minutes of a meeting between Mandela, Winnie and Ayob inside Pollsmoor prison, said: "NM approved of WM's necklace speech. He said that it was a good thing as there has not been one black person who has attacked WM."

It transpired that the document had been found by the renowned South African editor Anthony Sampson, while he was working on Mandela's authorised biography. Sampson has since died, but his chief researcher, James Sanders, said there had been a row over whether the document should be published, with threats from the Mandela camp to withdraw co-operation if he used it. Eventually, Sampson pulled the document.

As a speaker, Mandela was no Churchill. Other than the Rivonia defence, few of his utterances will stand the test of time. His command of MK was brief, and notable for little more than the arrest of the high command, including himself. The incompetence of the ANC government in South Africa under his leadership – while understandable in the light of ministerial inexperience and the sabotage of their efforts by the old guard civil service – offered little testament to his administrative abilities. Arguably the single most significant contribution he made to the governance of South Africa during his presidency was his decision to stand down in 1999 after one five-year term, a gesture intended to discourage his successors from extending their time in office beyond the limits allowed by the constitution.

One suspects that this move came as something of a relief to the ANC leadership, who spent much of their time assuring the media that Mandela's presidential policy announcements – such as his intention to extend the franchise to 14-year-olds – were not to be taken seriously. Mandela himself conceded in retirement that his government should have paid greater attention to the HIV/Aids epidemic. When his son Makgotho died from the disease in 2005, Mandela announced the fact openly, and called for the fight against it to be redoubled.

It was also an open secret that Thabo Mbeki was running the government from behind the throne, buoyed up by the international goodwill attracted by Mandela. Mandela's presidency was spent doing little more than playing host to the celebrities and politicians who flooded into the country to shake the great man's hand. One suspects that he seized on the suggestion that he stand down after a single term with relief at the prospect of escaping a job that was little more than a burden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2UO1JGAtU