The late former President Nelson Mandela‘s successor Thabo Mbeki has joined President Cyril Ramaphosa and other former Presidents in strongly defending Madiba’s legacy.
Mbeki has rejected any notion that Madiba sold out during the negotiations preceding democratic South Africa.
“You had this argument, some people saying that Nelson Mandela sold out because of the negotiations. This is a very false proposition. It’s very wrong. If there was any mistake, it was not Mandela’s mistake, it must have been the mistake of the ANC which present generation says it was a mistake.”
“Many things in South Africa have not changed. The legacy of colonialism and apartheid are still with us. So the challenges that we faced during the process of the negotiations about the transformation of this society remain to this day. Anybody who comes now in 2018 must understand why particular positions were taken in 1990,” Mbeki explains.
Former President Jacob Zuma earlier says those who are labelling the late former President Nelson Mandela as a sell-out are preventing South Africa from developing into a state of complete freedom and peace.
Zuma says Mandela fought to liberate the country.
“Madiba never sold out. Madiba fought for this country to liberate it. He sacrificed. He was the longest serving political prisoner. What people are doing is a failure to take SA forward and they want to blame the man who brought freedom. Some will liberate the country but others will have to develop the country.”
Also President Cyril Ramaphosa has weighed in and criticised those who have called Madiba a sell-out. Ramaphosa says Madiba has done a lot to liberate the country from the bondage of apartheid.
