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| Nelson Mandela deserves better | Nelson Mandela deserves better |
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| Reality TV is funny business. Everyone knows that you get massive ratings when you allow an audience into the so-called real life of a celebrity. As spectators we have a love-hate relationship with the medium because it gives us unprecedented access yet we know that if you put a camera in someone's face they're bound to perform. | Reality TV is funny business. Everyone knows that you get massive ratings when you allow an audience into the so-called real life of a celebrity. As spectators we have a love-hate relationship with the medium because it gives us unprecedented access yet we know that if you put a camera in someone's face they're bound to perform. |
| Now let's take the national broadcasters recent publicity stunt in airing the video clip showing former South African president Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg. This is a masterwork of the intention behind reality TV. And I'm not suggesting that this was by Mandela's design, at all. Eyes and lips firmly pursed after the flash went off in his face, the message was clear (and dare I say, commonsensical?) — "leave me alone". | Now let's take the national broadcasters recent publicity stunt in airing the video clip showing former South African president Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg. This is a masterwork of the intention behind reality TV. And I'm not suggesting that this was by Mandela's design, at all. Eyes and lips firmly pursed after the flash went off in his face, the message was clear (and dare I say, commonsensical?) — "leave me alone". |
| Just a few weeks ago, the opposition Democratic Alliance put out posters laying claim to Mandela, with images of him embracing Helen Suzman, and the words "We played our part in opposing apartheid". The resulting discussions questioned who had the right to make such claims. The ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, responded in Sunday World, saying, "Madiba is ours", citing that Mandela had not given up his membership of the ANC. This is not the point. Both approaches sideline the important issues at hand, reducing the legacy of the anti-apartheid struggle to a childish spat over who did what, and detracting from the necessary evaluation of how far we've come and where to from here. | Just a few weeks ago, the opposition Democratic Alliance put out posters laying claim to Mandela, with images of him embracing Helen Suzman, and the words "We played our part in opposing apartheid". The resulting discussions questioned who had the right to make such claims. The ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, responded in Sunday World, saying, "Madiba is ours", citing that Mandela had not given up his membership of the ANC. This is not the point. Both approaches sideline the important issues at hand, reducing the legacy of the anti-apartheid struggle to a childish spat over who did what, and detracting from the necessary evaluation of how far we've come and where to from here. |
| And it's not the only tug-of-war over Mandela. Members of the Mandela clan are tearing his legacy to shreds in their attempts to get a bite of the brand pie. And the ANC has stepped over hallowed threshold and paid our Madiba an intimate visit, just to reassert, that he should continue to be linked to brand ANC. Because, as we well know, without this assertion, the foundation crumbles. | And it's not the only tug-of-war over Mandela. Members of the Mandela clan are tearing his legacy to shreds in their attempts to get a bite of the brand pie. And the ANC has stepped over hallowed threshold and paid our Madiba an intimate visit, just to reassert, that he should continue to be linked to brand ANC. Because, as we well know, without this assertion, the foundation crumbles. |
| In a time where personal and corporate (and political) branding are seen as a market commodity, brand Mandela is close to topping the charts as media houses in South Africa and around the globe, sit with fingers on the button to press publish on ready-written obituaries and photo essays that will celebrate the legacy of a man whose name continues to represent iconic regime change, continues to inspire revolution the world over. | In a time where personal and corporate (and political) branding are seen as a market commodity, brand Mandela is close to topping the charts as media houses in South Africa and around the globe, sit with fingers on the button to press publish on ready-written obituaries and photo essays that will celebrate the legacy of a man whose name continues to represent iconic regime change, continues to inspire revolution the world over. |
| At 94, blessings, gratitude and full appreciation are due for an elderly statesman who has served his time and his people and then some. | |
| The overwhelming voice of the nation suggests that it's time to stop tearing to shreds the legacy of a leader, an activist, an intellectual of this continent and world, and to preserve the dignity of a human being. | The overwhelming voice of the nation suggests that it's time to stop tearing to shreds the legacy of a leader, an activist, an intellectual of this continent and world, and to preserve the dignity of a human being. |
| After everything, surely, some dignity is called for. | After everything, surely, some dignity is called for. |
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