Nelson Mandela, revered and almost elevated to sainthood, was anything but a saint.
He deserves recognition for preventing a South African holocaust after the Apartheid state disappeared, but his incarceration for what he did as a Marxist rebel in his earlier life was well deserved, and I think he knew that. He must have realized in his cell that violence only breeds violence, and burning opponents (black and white) by necklacing them with burning tires until death is not promoting freedom and justice. And, I think, nobody should receive a Nobel prize for peace by committing terrorist acts.
South Africa today is not what the world is led to believe: Government corruption runs high, so does crime, murder and unemployment — worse than under the white rule. The virtues of freedom, justice, integrity and honesty belong to all peoples, regardless of race or creed, and no one should be privileged to enrich themselves at the expense of others.
Rolf Loth
Penticton
