A deep and emotional appeal has been sent to late South African President Nelson Mandela not to grieve and turn in his grave because of the scandalous developments in the South African Parliament last year.
Personal assistant to ‘uTata’ the Madiba, Zelda Le Grange, who sent the appeal on the first anniversary of Mandela’s passing, urged Mandela to take it as merely the confirmation that he had truly died, and that things would improve.
Le Grange believes the incidents that took place in Parliament about the last quarter of 2014 – continuous filibustering by the opposition leading to the Speaker calling in the Police to eject an MP – were a reminder that Nelson Mandela was no more.
“I think events in Parliament over the couple of months have made it very clear to me that he’s gone. Madiba is gone. It’s as if he was the watchdog over our conscience and how we behaved and conducted ourselves, so it’s upsetting to see,” she said.
But she had a message for the Madiba, urging him not to despair: “We will keep on trying, we will keep on trying. We will never give up.”
In a letter that she wrote to Madiba for the first anniversary of his death, le Grange also told him about the book she had written.
“Khulu, I published a book; “Good Morning, Mr. Mandela”, and it has been received so well. I am, however, still happy that you didn’t read it because I don’t consider myself a good enough writer to subject you to the experience of having to read my writing.
“I am reminded how I one day told you something had been ‘broadcasted’ and you corrected me about four times, telling me that there is no such word as ‘broadcasted’.’It is just broadcast’.”
She said that she had realised that in his loss South Africans had lost respect for one another.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not only for you that we grieve, but also for our own loss – most importantly, loss of self-respect, which strains our respect for one another.
“One year on, we have to accept that you are gone forever. The only thing that remains is to learn from your example,” she said.