Mandela’s philosophy and Africa’s under-development

By Princewill Alozie Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela as a human being and as a phenomenon was never static. He lived up to the age of 95 years. He did not develop any particular philosophy with the title: Mandelaism. We can distil his political, economic, and social philosophy from his speeches, political activities and behaviour. His initial involvement in South African politics was based on the non-violence principle. This stance was changed to military intervention when he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe with the South African Communist Party. He was eventually tried and imprisoned for life, on treason charges. After 27 years in prison, Mandela reverted to his former non-violence political philosophy. We can therefore say that Mandelaism encompasses: Freedom, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation. Considering the report that no fewer than 91 Heads of State who attended Mandela’s burial on December 15, it is important to remember that it was the British Government in 1909, that passed through her parliament The Act of Union. This Act of Union handed over power to the whites in South Africa, while at the same time did not protect the owners of the land. Various White South African leaders articulated the view: “It is our aim to make South Africa, a white man’s country”. There was then the Native Land Bill under which about 1 million white South Africans will own over 90% of the land, while about 7% is left for the more than 4 million black populations who owned the land initially. The very productive, fertile land was confiscated by the white – ruled South African government. Despite this unjust social order, the African National Congress (ANC) as a political organization drew up in 1955 the Freedom Charter. The Charter states that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people”. Chief Albert Lutuli canvassed for a better social order through non-violent channels. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Non-violence philosophy Mandela embraced had a knock by one of the practitioners. Chief Albert Lutuli stated: “Who will deny that 30 years of my life have been spent knocking in vain, patiently, moderately and modestly at a closed and barred door? What have been the fruits of moderation? The past 30 years have seen the greatest number of laws restricting our rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all”. This statement was made in 1960. Fundamentally, not much has changed, even after the official end of apartheid policy. Some tenets of Mandelaism could be drawn from Mandela’s defence speech at the Rivonia trial in 1964. Again, the charge that Mandela betrayed his revolutionary colleagues is not strictly correct at all times. The four and half hours speech, as summarized by Guy Arnold in his – AFRICA. According to that summary, which has been corroborated by other sources, Africans “want a just share in the whole of South Africa; we want security and a stake in society. Above all we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent”. What the Africans now have is “equal political rights”. If the emphasis had been on “equal economic rights”, then the charge of betrayal could stand. The above summary can fit in perfectly into the neo-liberal ideology that helps Africa march backwards in all spheres. It was this interpretation of the Freedom Charter that Mandela referred to in his historic declaration: “During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”. There are however, other interpretations of the ANC’s Freedom Charter different from Mandelaism. These include: “The People shall govern… the national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people; the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole; all other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people”. It is widely reported that Mandela subscribed to the tenets of the ANC Freedom Charter even before he left the prison. That may well be so. There is need for an explanation of how the iconic anti-apartheid nationalist, who was prepared to pay the supreme price for the attainment of the tenets of the Freedom Charter will turn almost 360 degrees against the wordings of the Freedom Charter. continued