As the world mourns with us in the passing of an international icon, South Africans are left wondering what happened to our great leaders of old.
Nelson Mandela’s death has brought together a nation which remembers a great man and the sacrifices he made for this country, but it also has many questioning just who in our current leadership can fill his shoes. That answer is simple: no one can.
Just as the political landscape has changed so has its leaders, and sadly not for the better.
Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years and came out a changed man. He came out with forgiveness in his heart, eager to repair the problems of the past, uniting all races under one new flag. Thus the Rainbow Nation was born.
But how the Rainbow Nation has changed, sadly.
While Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years and came out a better person, Shabir Shaik is imprisoned for a few months and comes out with a terminal illness and an improved golf handicap.
Back in the day, the struggle was the fight for equal rights; now the struggle is deciding whether to use taxpayers’ money on either Nando’s or KFC for lunch. Gone are the days when the sight of the President inspired a rugby team to win a World Cup.
Now the sight of the President is usually followed by a speech in which he manages to insult some sector of the public, which is then quickly covered up by government spokesmen who say that the media misquoted his speech. Gone are the days when the national broadcaster showed programmes worth watching, or being unbiased and free and fair in its reporting. Now it’s just a mouthpiece for the government, supplying ‘need-to-know’ information.
The morals and values on which the Rainbow Nation was built have sadly been lost, and one can hope that through Madiba’s passing it can be found again. He was a man who did so much in his life to bring people together – can he do it in his death as well? Will his passing be the catalyst the country needs to come together and live the way he wanted everyone to, or will it be an agent of division, dividing our glorious Rainbow Nation?
Whatever the case may be, only time will tell.
The hope is though that Madiba Magic will live on even after his death, and unite South Africans once more, so that we can all live as one.