The Mandela Foundation launched the “Mandela is Dead” anniversary exhibition in Johannesburg on Friday, marking ten years since Nelson Mandela’s passing.
Nelson Mandela, who is known for toppling South Africa’s apartheid regime in the 1990s, is still revered as a global hero.
Some South Africans are now debating his legacy and if it’s time to let go of the past.
In the midst of the nation’s current political and economic challenges, a common question is “what would ‘Madiba’ [Mandela] think if he were still here?”
South Africans are invited to participate in interactive exhibits at the Mandela Foundation exhibition to share their opinions in response to this query and the varying perspectives on the leader’s legacy.
Verne Harris, acting head of the Mandela Foundation and the late president’s archivist, said that each nation with a strong leader suffers for years afterwards from “deep nostalgia and this hanging on to that symbol.”
“What we are saying in this exhibition, is that maybe that becomes a destructive energy. Maybe we need to let him go. And look for new role models.”
The exhibition highlights “the weight of the loss we suffered” with Mandela’s death.
- Differing views
“We encourage discourse,” said Foundation spokesman Morongwa Phukubye. “We debate his legacy. His legacy isn’t one of a saint.”
Two colleges posted message boards for feedback. Divergences in opinions regarding Mandela’s legacy are seen in some of the shocking replies.
The late leader, according to many young people and left-wing parties, ought to have done more to reverse the damage done by the white minority’s nearly five decades of institutionalized discrimination under apartheid, which tore apart society.
“His legacy has done nothing but keep the poor poor and the rich rich, freedom is not free,” said one, written at a university in Braamfontein in Johannesburg.
“If everybody doesn’t strive to bring the dream of a truly free and progressive South Africa to life, then that dream dies with Mandela,” added another.
“So many of his dreams remain unfulfilled by his comrades,” said a third.
- South Africa’s future
Harris said foundation representatives who go to South African townships and schools pick up varied reactions.
“We encounter narratives like ‘Mandela was a sellout and that’s why we’re in so much trouble today’,” said Harris. Or, it can be “Madiba was a great leader and it’s a pity that his successors have been so poor.’ ‘
As the country approaches its 30 year anniversary of the end of apartheid, Harris says most important lesson he learned from Mandela is that “hope is not enough”.
“We need a deep belief that even if the future is worse than the present we still have to keep fighting, keep doing what needs to be done. So you endure. That keeps me going a lot.”
