Treasure MaMbeki's legacy
A FEW day ago our country and our people lost one of our most beloved daughters, MaMbeki. Since then the Mbeki family, and we with them, have carried a heavy burden of grief in our hearts.
Our souls have refused to be stilled. Our spirits have sunk under the unbearable weight of an unexpected and numbing shock.
Silent tears of despair have watered our cheeks and our motherland. The mournful cries of the bereaved continue to echo within our innermost being.
The flags have flown at half-mast. Many within our country and without have stood in perfect silence to pay their respects.
A few days have passed since her death, but nothing has happened to dull the pain. We will say our last farewells and turn our backs on the grave of a patriot.
Had we the signs that sooner or later we would lose one so dear to us, we would not have questioned our loss, nor wondered at her departure. But death has struck suddenly and without warning, with the frightening mystery of a flash of lightning that splits the clear blue skies. Without notice, death has taken from us the apple of our eye.
It is our right and privilege to celebrate that we were blessed with so rare a gift of a fellow South African, who was simultaneously a genuine friend, a trustworthy colleague, an activist and a leader, a patriot, an internationalist, a human titan who surrendered her life to the cause of all humanity, a principled revolutionary, and a true comrade.
We as South Africans are proud to have had a mother like MaMbeki in our midst.
Forever loyal to the principles of her movement and incapable of betraying the humanity of its cause, MaMbeki stood in the front ranks of those to whom we should bestow the accolade blessed are the peacemakers!
She was a fearless warrior who loved her family, her people and all humanity. Fearless in war, she was unashamedly unrestrained in her love, human passion, loyalty to her friends and her people, to her cause, to her life's pursuit.
Our country conveys its condolences to the entire Mbeki family and expresses its appreciation that you surrendered your mother to the nation. Our nation will, for all time, treasure and honour what she did, so that we should be human again.
Sitembiso Dlukulu, Motherwell, Port Elizabeth
