Thabo Mbeki - what could have been
Pierre de Vos once again got me thinking on his blog Constitutionally Speaking today. In a post titled 'Those were the days...' he nostalgically thinks back to a time when Thabo Mbeki demanded respect with his intellectual discourse (see video clip lower down). A time when, at least for some of us, he made you sit back and take note. He could make you think again about, rethink, set ideas. But alas, HIV, Zimbabwe, Selebi and many other areas of denialism corrupted his legacy and did immense damage to South Africa. I need not elaborate on his short comings. It is painfully apparent in current public discourse - as it should be. Gains in housing and other areas such as water access fade into the background.
It reminded me about a post I wrote when PW Botha, Die Groot Krokodil, passed away (PW Botha 'defiant to the end') in 2006. I know it's a bit cruel to compare Mbeki to Botha, they presided over markedly different forms of government. In one human rights was severely curtailed and in another it is highly valued, at least in name. However, what a bitter irony that so much I wrote about Botha could also be applied to Mbeki. For the full context on what I said about Botha, follow the above link, but note how the excerpts below also applies to Mbeki:
...will mostly remembered for 'what could have been'. He is famous for an important speech he made, dubbed 'The Rubicon Speech' (((Mbeki - "I am an African")))...
...Sadly, he didn't follow through on the foundation that was laid... ...The challenge was huge though... ...South Africa ... its white population felt threatened from within and without... ...The rest of the world was viewed as simply being ignorant, as not grasping the complexities that was South Africa...
...However, all the potential was there for change...
...What was desperately needed was strong, visionary, leadership. ...was definitely a strong leader, as bold as they came... ...He showed promise of vision, but alas did not follow through on this...
I have no doubt that amidst all the damage, Mbeki also leaves a positive legacy - even if it is overshadowed by all the ills mentioned higher up. Below, with thanks to Pierre de Vos, follows a YouTube clip on Mbeki's famous speech as the then Vice President of South Africa in 1996 (not the full speech). For the full text of the speech go here. The clip was produced for South African Tourism and used in marketing South Africa. The campaign's punch line, still used today, is "South Africa - It's imPossible". The 'im' should be 'strike-through', i.e. a line should be drawn through it, but I haven't yet figured out how to do that in Blogger...
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