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‘It will take another generation to produce leaders like Tutu and Madiba’: Mandla Mandela

Former president Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla and Palestinian solidarity supporters paid their last respects to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Friday.
Former president Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla and Palestinian solidarity supporters paid their last respects to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Friday.
Image: Philani Nombembe

Chief Mandla Mandela believes it will take another generation for SA to produce leaders of the calibre of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

Mandela's grandson was speaking on Friday outside St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, where Tutu’s remains lay in state. The chief was with a group of Palestinian solidarity supporters paying their last respects to the cleric.

“Arch and the generation of my grandfather were remarkable individuals and it’s going to take another generation to produce such leaders in SA,” he said.

We are picking up the baton where the Arch left off and we will continue to be the voice of the Palestinians and many other oppressed nations around the world.
Mandla Mandela

“But the hope is there. I see young people are starting to revolt against corruption and femicide and you are beginning to see young South Africans coming to the forefront speaking out against these things.

“We are saying that it is the time for a young generation to emerge and take up the baton.”

Mandela sang Tutu’s praises.  

“We are the Palestinian solidarity supporters who have always been the voice of oppressed nations around the globe, having been mentored and inspired by the work that Arch Desmond Tutu did over the years,” he said.

“We used to appreciate seeing him marching, leading protests and he was very vocal on the Palestinian issue.

“Having visited the West Bank and the holy land, he said what he had witnessed there is far worse than what we had witnessed during apartheid in SA and therefore made a call that if you remain silent in a situation of injustice, you have already chosen the side of the oppressors.

“We are picking up the baton where the Arch left off and we will continue to be the voice of the Palestinians and many other oppressed nations around the world. We are therefore here today to honour him and say farewell to him.”

Mandela urged the youth to pursue education.

“My grandfather always regarded education to be a weapon one could utilise to change the world,” he said.

“We are continuing to say that the generation of the past were highly educated, they were skilled and intellectuals of their generation and we need that institutionalisation within young people [to] ensure that they are highly qualified and highly placed in decision-making arenas so they can affect change.”

TimesLIVE


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