To Lin, with Love from SA

[Baby-K]

Dear Lin

Firstly I have to apologise for taking so long in responding to your questions. I have been really busy of late & have not really had much time to spend on the research etc.

I have cut down the reply somewhat, to make it easier for you to read (I do not want you to lose interest midway through) and also to make it easier on myself (it was becoming quite long & I’m rather lazy to type so much).

So, herewith the replies to some of your questions – I have also included a few interesting links at the end.


APOLOGIES TO ALL OTHER MOOTERS FOR THIS – I HAVE UNFORTUNATELY DELETED THE PM CONTAINING LIN’S E-MAIL ADDY AND THE LENGTH OF THIS MESSAGE DOES NOT ALLOW FOR IT TO BE SENT VIA PM WITHOUT HAVING TO BREAK IT UP IN A MILLION DIFFERENT PM’S

OK, let’s start with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa on May 10, 1994 – after his release from prison. He served 27 years at Robben Island Maximum Security Prison for crimes against the government during what was known as the ‘Struggle’, whereby black South Africans rose up against the oppressive government & committed acts that were labeled as terrorism. After his release SA finally had our first democratic elections, in which ALL people of 18 years and older were permitted to vote. The ANC (African National Congress) won & Nelson Mandela (leader of the ANC) became president. This was his inauguration speech:

STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS,NELSON MANDELA, AT HIS INAUGURATION AS PRESIDENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, UNION BUILDINGS, PRETORIA, MAY 10 1994
Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades and Friends:
Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world,confer glory and hope to newborn liberty.
Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.
All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today.
To my compatriots, I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld.
Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change.
We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom.
That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict, and as we saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world, precisely because it has become the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression.
We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.
We thank all our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.
We trust that you will continue to stand by us as we tackle the challenges of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism,non-racialism and democracy.
We deeply appreciate the role that the masses of our people and their political mass democratic, religious, women, youth,business, traditional and other leaders have played to bring about this conclusion. Not least among them is my Second Deputy President, the Honourable F.W. de Klerk.
We would also like to pay tribute to our security forces, in all their ranks, for the distinguished role they have played in securing our first democratic elections and the transition to democracy, from blood-thirsty forces which still refuse to see the light.
The time for the healing of the wounds has come.
The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.
The time to build is upon us.
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.