Mandla Mandela expresses concern about ANC infighting and corruption in open letter to Nelson Mandela

Mvezo village chief and grandson of former president Nelson Mandela, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela on Tuesday penned an open letter to Madiba in commemoration of Freedom Day. 

He expressed gratitude for the former president’s contribution to the liberation of South Africans and lamented rampant corruption.  

He said Mandela’s release from Robben Island after 27 years and casting his vote during the first democratic elections on April 27 1994 was symbolic of new beginnings and gave hope to millions. 

“It was symbolic of the rebirth of our nation, disenfranchised by three-and-a-half centuries of colonial occupation and decades of apartheid. 

“Our journey has not been an easy one but under your leadership, we chose nation-building, national reconciliation and social cohesion and we stepped away from the brinkmanship of civil war and chaos that some extreme elements on both sides of the political spectrum were gleefully intent on,” he wrote.

Mandela said SA had come “full circle” because it is experiencing the corruption and ANC infighting his grandfather fought against and challenged during the apartheid regime. 

“The corruption of the apartheid regime that you so vehemently decried has now insipidly entered our ranks and the threat of factionalism looms large,” he said. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa called on South Africans to vote out corrupt leaders who don’t deliver services. The president was in Botshabelo in Free State where he delivered his Freedom Day address. 

“Exercising our right to vote is the most powerful form of protest. If those who claim to serve you are not doing so, vote them out. Take them out because that is the one weapon we all have. Demonstrate to them you disapprove of the way they are running things. If they are stealing money, vote them out and take them out,” said Ramaphosa.