REFILWE MEKOA
Former South African President Nelson Mandela can be claimed by any other political party.
Political Analyst Theo Venter says Mandela has a specific personality and impact that make it possible for people from different backgrounds to associate with him. Venter says the ANC leaders who governed after Mandela could not do the same things he did. He says Mandela became the first ANC leader to demonstrate his ability to bring people together and to make everyone feel they belonged to the county.
“To get the image of a national leader who can cross all kinds of issues, whether it is race or ethnicity, Mandela had that ability. I can’t think of any other South African leader who ever developed this kind of national attraction and the level of an icon that Mandela is,” he says.
Venter says political leaders before Nelson Mandela couldn’t demonstrate the ability of nation building because of a period of abnormal politics.
The Minister of Public Enterprise, Malusi Gigaba, said that if other political parties wanted to claim Mandela as their leader, then they should also claim other ANC leadership members.
