The th!nc Foundation

  The passing of Nelson Mandela represents the passing of both an era, a consciousness, and a societal epoch. As an era, he represents a generation that refused to be subjugated by another. In his era, the call has always been that humanity was created equal in the eyes of God and humanity should live thus. As a consciousness, he represents the rise of the Africanist thought encapsulated within a Nationalist discourse and misunderstood to be accommodative of liberalism. It is his generation that taught many that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, and that no authority shall claim legitimacy unless it is based on the will of the people. This consciousness defines South Africa and the world as we know them today. As an epoch, he represents the rise of the human spirit beyond earthly standards. He epitomized the ultimate of forgiveness whilst not compromising the ultimate of freedoms. As we mourn him let us be conscious of what he and his generation stood for. His soul will n...

The Marikana shooting incident is now part of the annals of post-Apartheid South African history. It represents one of the most graphic interfaces between the need for law and order, and the wish for continued disorder in society. Whilst the police should be held accountable for the hard handed manner in which they have responded to the behaviour of the miners, there are questions that still need to be answered in respect of their actual responsibilities in similar conditions. The worker despair at established labour relations systems and ‘sweetheart’ or ‘otherwise’ union representation should be juxtaposed against the creeping despair of law enforcement officers at the altar of a yet to be defined post-Apartheid policing. The ‘platinum’ nature of the Marikana inequality does not match the ‘platinum’ benefits of the mineral to owners of the resource. As Chairman Mao taught “labour and capital have been in contradiction ever since the two classes came into being, only at first the con...

The death of Margaret Thatcher and the shenanigans surrounding it should come as a preview of events to come in South Africa when the passing away of Nelson Mandela is announced. Paraphrasing Jonathan Freedland of the Mail and Guardian we can also say; “after a life in politics, the politics of death will come. Underneath the envisaged protestations of decorum, the insistence that it will then not be the time for such things, that our thoughts should only be of condolence and tribute, something intensely political will be under way: our society will wrestle over the memory of its most towering figure ever. And, make no mistake, the debate over how to remember Nelson Mandela – whether on the streets, on Twitter or at his funeral – will not about the past. It will be a contest over South Africa’s and without doubt the ANC’s present and future. The thought of Nelson Mandela passing on has already started to create all manner of politicking with some in society wanting to angle at those ...