Showing posts with label Walter Sisulu's Obituary For Nelson Mandela. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walter Sisulu's Obituary For Nelson Mandela. Show all posts

Monday, December 9, 2013

The Obituary Walter Sisulu Wrote For Nelson Mandela


Towards the end of his own life, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela's fellow freedom fighter and friend, wrote this very moving obituary for Mandela. Although, Sisulu died before it could be published, it is, no doubt, a great tribute to Mandela's life and struggles...

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"Thank You For Your Life, My Friend"

By Walter Sisulu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nelson Mandela And Walter Sisulu In 1990

 

As he rests in his eternal sleep, I am certain of one thing: that Madiba's face is enveloped in a gentle, enduring smile. No, not the broad, beaming smile we are accustomed to. Not the one so full of warmth that one felt bathed in sunshine. Rather, the quiet smile, reflective, born out of looking over his life and times; a smile tinged with a hint of mischievousness for having beaten the odds, cheated the hangman and knowing he had helped make South Africa and the world a better place. Overarching his life of struggle, hardship, humiliation, pain and suffering there must be the sense of fulfilment that he has left an indelible footprint in the service of humankind.

His is a life that touched millions not only in South Africa, not only in our continent of Africa, but throughout the world. For the greater part of his life he was a beacon of the struggle.
In his later years he became the symbol of hope. In death he stands confirmed as the embodiment of humanity's hope for the future.