Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2013

THE THATCHER FUNERAL AND SOUTH AFRICA TODAY

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 ...