Is Nelson Mandela too soft on white South Africans? Robert Mugabe says so.
鈥 version of this post ran on the blog聽.聽The views expressed are the author's own.
Nelson Mandela is an international icon for the politics of reconciliation and the rule of law. Since its transition to non-racial democracy, South African elections have been credible, following the pattern of the first all-race elections in 1994. Mr. Mandela voluntarily stepped down after a single term as chief of state, and most South Africans regard him as the father of democratic, non-racial South Africa.聽
Robert Mugabe is notorious for shredding the rule of law, uncountable human rights violations, and resorting to violence to maintain his power. He has been chief of state for more than thirty years, during which Zimbabwe devolved from being one of Africa鈥檚 most successful states to one of the worst in terms of international social and economic indicators.聽(Zimbabwe鈥檚 standing has improved of late.)聽He faces national elections this year.聽Zimbabwe鈥檚 electoral track record over the past decade does not bode well for them to be non-violent. For many, he is the iconic 鈥渂ig man鈥� African tyrant.
This background provides some context for an astonishing, soft-focus聽聽by Dali Tambo on Mr. Mugabe, the first part of which was aired in South Africa over the weekend.聽The documentary is focused on a State House lunch that humanizes the Mugabe family and provides the chief of state with a platform to comment on personalities ranging from Margaret Thatcher (favorable) to Tony Blair (unfavorable).聽
聽that Mandela 鈥渨as too much of a saint鈥� with his emphasis on reconciliation. According to Mugabe, Mandela did not do enough for black people. 鈥淢andela has gone a bit too far in doing good to the non-black communities, really in some cases at the expense of [blacks],鈥� he says in the film, according to Agence France Press.
Mr. Tambo鈥檚 soft-focus treatment of Mugabe has predictably generated hostile reaction. Cape Town media presenter Kieno Kammies criticized Tambo鈥檚 glossing over Mugabe鈥檚 human rights violations and land grabs.聽In a shouting match between the two presenters, Tambo replied that his program, 鈥淧eople of the South,鈥� is about people, not politics. 鈥淚 present the man as he actually is, and you must take what you want from it," he said.聽
Tambo is the son of Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle, who were also close to Mugabe. The Johannesburg airport, South Africa鈥檚 principal international hub, was renamed for Oliver Tambo in 2006.
Mandela and Mugabe together are symbolic of the contradictions of southern Africa. For if many regard Mandela as a democrat and a healer and Mugabe as a thug, others see the latter as an African liberator who drove the whites out and restored the land to black Africans.聽In post-Mandela South Africa, most blacks remain impoverished and land reform has proceeded very slowly.聽Accordingly, Mugabe has many admirers in South Africa.聽
Perhaps the best known is the now officially-disgraced former leader of the African National Congress Youth League, Julius Malema, who famously called for the nationalization of South Africa's mines and of white-owned farms without compensation. Still, Mugabe鈥檚 criticism of Nelson Mandela will not go over well with many South Africans. As one blogger commented: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 next, vacations with Hitler?鈥�
