I mourn Mandela

Madiba,

Son of the Tembu

Son of South Africa

Son of Africa.

I mourn Mandela

Not the caricature of Mandela they impose on us

Not their Mandela

The one they tried to remodel in their prison houses

I will not share my Mandela with them

They made a saint of him

They who declared him a terrorist

For wanting to pull down the economic pillars that made Apartheid possible

For wanting to destroy the political power that sustained Apartheid

They, International Capital who watered the economic garden of Apartheid

They the imperial rulers of our time.

I mourn Mandela

One of us, son of our people

A human Mandela

Fallible as all of us.

I mourn Mandela

Our own Mandela who tried to do good

Our own Mandela who won some things and lost some

Our own Mandela

Who walked the burning sands of colonial and racial oppression

We mourn and celebrate

The fact that he tried

The fact that he gave his best years to the people’s struggle

The fact that after his and our losses he could still forgive

The fact that he refused to soil his heart with bitterness.

As we mourn and celebrate Mandela

We know that the economy is shackled with imperial chains

We know that the pillars of economic Apartheid are alive and well

We know that we do not have a hand in the economic pot

We know that the gap between us and them is huge

We know all this and much more.

We mourn and celebrate Mandela

For trying

For uplifting us in our consciousness of the battles to come

For teaching us not to let our hearts be corroded by bitterness.

As I mourn Mandela

I call upon my people, the people of South Africa

To embrace the struggle we began in 1912 in Bloemfontein

The struggle that saw us defining ourselves

Yes, through the Freedom Charter at Kliptown in 1955

Yes, the struggle that saw us planting a democratic government in April 1994

I call upon you my people

To organize and organize for bitter struggles ahead

For the demon of capital and social oppression is alive and kicking

We can only try as Mandela tried

This time around with more insight, we will win

We will win for our sake and for Mandela’s sake.

I mourn Madiba of the Tembu people

I mourn Madiba, a son of South Africa

I celebrate Mandela, a son of Africa

I celebrate Mandela a friend to all progressive people, the world over

I celebrate Mandela, our own Mandela for trying

I celebrate Mandela as I take over the spear he left

Our determination, insight and focus

This, is the spear of our nation today – Umkhonto weSizwe.

As I mourn and celebrate Madiba

I give my final salute

Go well son of our people, son of humanity

Hamba kahle Rolihlahla Mandela Madiba.

Duncan Mbonjani
12 December 2013