Winnie Mandela’s Comeback

By Vusi Moloi © 2009

The celebrated African icon and mother of South African liberation struggle Ms. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has topped the list of the ANC to contest that country’s general election scheduled for April 22 of this year. This represents an unheard of comeback for someone who was silenced, vilified and written off by the white establishment for so long. Now the mother of South African freedom can be silenced no longer. She is dusting off her tools of the trade to advance the interests and wishes of the economically oppressed majority of South Africa.

South Africa’s General Elections

South Africa is going to the polls to elect a new government and consequently a new President. This is the fourth election since the African natives smashed the chains of ruthless apartheid in 1994 under the perpetual legend Nelson Mandela. It has been a long and arduous road for Ms. Madikizela-Mandela given the vicissitudes she has had to endure from those who sought to punish her for her uncompromising role in the fight against apartheid.

Despite South Africa setting itself apart as a model of peace and reconciliation, the credibility of that status is fast eroding under the new system of economic apartheid where the colonial descendents enjoy a larger share of the mainstay of the economy (inherited under apartheid) while the African natives continue to be crushed by economic disenfranchisement (also inherited under apartheid). This system, which disinherits the African natives, was buttressed under the peace and reconciliation in which the African natives forgave those who destroyed their lives in exchange for nothing by way of reparations. South Africa’s white establishment appears satisfied with this system that denies economic justice to the African natives and this is demonstrated by the consistent defense of the white privileges at the back of the African natives.

The Unbought/Unsold Madikizela-Mandela

True to her deep seated love for her people, the unbought and unsold Madikizela-Mandela has entered the hotly contested race under the unconquerable and formidable leadership of the ANC President Mr. Jacob Zuma who added her to the ANC list of those headed for Parliament should the ANC win the elections in spite of the rumblings of the white establishment.

The Forces of Reaction

The forces of reaction are not taking her comeback kindly. South Africa’s machinery of the white establishment has gone into high gear on a collision course against the wishes of that country’s majority by seeking to block Madikizela-Mandela’s desire to serve the economically disenfranchised majority of the land as a member of parliament. The legal experts as well as the Independent Electoral Commission and the Electoral Court all agree that Madikizela-Mandela is legally qualified to stand for elections. This is, however, not enough to stop the forces of reaction against Madikizela-Mandela. It’s interesting to note that the white establishment will attempt to block someone who is sent by the majority to serve their interests while they [the white establishment] defend and protect a small minority of 50 000 white farmers who hold a stranglehold on more than 80% of the food producing land despite the African mothers and their children scratching for food on the garbage dumps and eventually succumbing under the death blows of such a harsh struggle for existence.

Why Is The White Establishment Afraid of Winnie?

Why is South Africa’s white establishment so afraid of Winnie? If you have read the previous articles of The White Establishment Part I, Part II and Part III, you will know that the English created a system of racial capitalism, which required a master servant relationship. The modus operandi of this system is to serve the economic interests of the English masters at the back of the expendable non-English. Today’s master servant relationships are not as clear cut as they were in the past but using modern psychic tools of obfuscation, ambiguity and voodoo economics, the English continue that system of master servant relationships with the sophistication that bamboozles, confuses and at the same time endears the non-English.

Most people would be ok with such a system because it has a very nice cosmetic interface and unless you want to get under the hood to unravel its subtleties, you should be content with your station in life. After all, it’s a black art to look under the hood. Right? Wrong! How can you be content when your people are being daily crushed by a system of economic apartheid?

A celebrated Afrikaans poet Nicolaas Petrus Van Wyk Louw (awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Gold by the South African Government) wrote a powerful epic poem Raka. In Raka, Van Wyk Louw tells a story of an African hero who battles a grotesque beast bent on a deliberate mission to subjugate and disinherit his people. When people display an unquestioning obedience to Raka (because of fear of reprisal), Raka smiles at them and people consequently develop a warm and fuzzy feeling. The one who questions and challenges Raka becomes exposed to the full might of its raw crushing power. This is the case in point. Winnie Mandela is an intellectual threat to the white establishment because she brings deadly weapons to the situation of political discourse such as superior brainpower, oratory, analysis, and unbought commitment to the cause of the economically disenfranchised people of South Africa.


Conclusion

As the April 22nd elections draw nigh, Winnie is determined to serve her people in order to bring to life and fulfill Nelson Mandela’s stated purpose “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.” That oppression is already happening on the economic front and unless a formidable leader like the daughter of the highly regarded Madikizela together with the unconquerable Msholozi takes the stand, Mandela’s words will never be fulfilled.

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About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet. In addition to writing, Mr. Moloi also works as a software engineer.