HomeOld_PostsAnother black leader’s biography by a whiteman

Another black leader’s biography by a whiteman

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Nelson Mandela
By Colin Bundy
Published by Jacana Media (2015)
ISBN: 978-1-4314-2203-6

A SHONA proverb goes: “Chinoziva ivhu kuti mwana wembeva arikurwara.”
Loosely translated, it means it’s only those close to a situation who know its joys, trials and tribulations.
This should be the message Africa must send to whites.
The whiteman is on the forefront of telling the story of Africa, its history and heroes.
Most biographies on African leaders are being written by whites.
But who knows these leaders better than Africans themselves.
The book under review this week is Nelson Mandela by Colin Bundy.
Yet another whiteman attempting to tell the story of a black hero.
The writer attempts to ‘relive’ the life of independent South Africa’s first President, Nelson Mandela.
Bundy writes: “So this biography locates Mandela in his time and place, indicating the social and political currents that bore him.
“It reminds readers of a point made frequently by Mandela himself that his own achievements were part of broader, collective efforts – and that cannot be otherwise understood.”
And the question is: Who is better placed to tell the life story of Mandela than fellow South Africans who interacted with him more?
Once more, the history of one of South Africa’s founding fathers is hijacked by whites.
Another white person who made herself an authority on Mandela was Zelda La Grange in her book Good Morning Mr Mandela.
To show how whites have ‘snatched’ Mandela from Africans, Bundy writes how Mandela’s memorabilia was all ‘taken’ by whites.
“The portrait, by Adrian Stern, depicted Mandela’s face in a hand-held mirror; it was sold to a New York private collector who wished to remain anonymous.”
Interesting to note is how Bundy, in the book, focuses more on visits by Mandela to the West.
The writer gives prominence to relations Mandela had with the Western community.
By so doing, he paints a picture of a Mandela who was not in touch with his African peers.
“Mandela travelled frequently,” says Bundy.
“His first trip in ‘retirement’, in 1999, was a swing through half a dozen states in the Middle-East and then as many cities in the US.
“In 2005, he made his last trip to America, where he enjoyed time with Bill Clinton and the Saudi Ambassador, Prince Bandar, both among an inner circle of associates; had an awkward, scratchy meeting with George W. Bush in the White House; and briefly met a youthful Senator Obama.
“In 2007, he was pressed by Prince Albert of Monaco to attend a fundraising event and although tired of travelling, ‘when royalty invited him, he was more eager to agree’.”
Bundy applauds Mandela for ‘holding South Africa together’ after independence.
“The ‘rainbow nation of God’ invoked a divinely favoured South African, diverse yet unified, emerging from a dreadful past but able to transcend that history through forgiveness and atonement,” he writes.
“For a few years in the mid-1990s, it was a powerful, inclusive metaphor for the ‘new South Africa’, made credible by the moral authority and personal appeal of Mandela.”
The writer also brings to the fore arguments on Mandela’s rule, which point to his failures, in a vain attempt to present a balanced view.
He highlights sentiments from people who argue Mandela failed to promote black empowerment and those who applaud the man for a job well done.
Bundy reckons for one to get a clear picture on Mandela, all aspects of his life have to be scrutinised.
As much as Mandela is a celebrated hero, Bundy argues one should not ‘avoid both the exaggerated superhero and the saintly father-figure.
“Mandela the global icon is reduced to a series of abstract nouns; forgiveness, conciliation, peace, humanity, love,” writes Bundy.
“More than any other politician, he represented the aspirations of the disenfranchised majority and yet was able to reassure white South Africans that they could be part of the new order.”
“Siki Mgabadeli said: ‘In 1994, we were marketed as the ‘Rainbow Nation’ like a fancy commodity in an ad’,” writes Bundy.
“But in truth, Mandela was too pre-occupied with white fears and not enough with black grievances and expectations of a better life.
“From the onset, Mandela was too timorous.
“In 1993, a young black driver told Jeremy Cronin that the real Mandela had been killed in prison, that his look-alike had been ‘trained for years by the Boers’ and ‘released’ in 1990 to hoodwink blacks and protect whites.”
“Its (Rainbow Nation dream) failure, proposes Adri Sitas, stemmed from two elevated responses: first, the ‘intransigence’ of white South Africans and their ‘self-serving indifference to the ‘new’ South Africa’ and second, a ‘backlash from the African intelligentsia and the emerging black middle classes,” he writes.
As Africa continues to celebrate its history and heroes, the onus is on her children to tell the world her story.

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