Africa Is a Country

Nelson Mandela To Be Renamed

Nelson Mandela To Be Renamed

By
Imran Garda

The move comes in light of recent confusion over who owns Mandela’s legacy.

Nelson Mandela in London in 1999 meeting with Julian Ogilvy Thompson, Harry Oppenheimer and Nicky Oppenheimer of De Beers.

The South African Government announced on Thursday that former President Nelson Mandela will be renamed ‘Nelson Mandela of the ANC’ with immediate effect. A spokesperson for President Jacob Zuma says the move comes in light of recent confusion over who owns Mandela’s legacy, claiming it was more fitting that “(T)he name of the African National Congress is forever connected to Nelson Mandela and that Nelson Mandela is forever connected to the African National Congress.”

“Madiba of the ANC is old, 90-something,” said the spokesman, adding the party’s name to the anti-Apartheid hero’s affectionate nickname as well. “We feel at this age he is ripe for exploitation with people trying to make money using his name and people trying to claim he supports this thing or that and what what. This is why, we believe, he would support this initiative by our government,” he said.

The renaming will cost approximately R200 million ($22 million) and will begin with the official name change ceremony of all roads bearing the name of the global icon.

“One of these days when he is up and about and feeling good, we’ll take him to have a look at these amazing changes we are making for him, preserving his legacy and fighting poverty, injustice and inequality just the way he wanted. I am sure Madiba of the ANC will be proud,” he concluded.

Further Reading

A power crisis

Andre De Ruyter, the former CEO of Eskom, has presented himself as a simple hero trying to save South Africa’s struggling power utility against corrupt forces. But this racially charged narrative is ultimately self-serving.

Cinematic universality

Fatou Cissé’s directorial debut meditates on the uncertain fate and importance of Malian cinema amidst the growing dismissiveness towards the humanities across the world.

The meanings of Heath Streak

Zimbabwean cricketing legend Heath Streak’s career mirrors many of the unresolved tensions of race and class in Zimbabwe. Yet few white Zimbabwean sporting figures are able to stir interest and conversation across the nation’s many divides.

Victorious

After winning Italy’s Serie A with Napoli, Victor Osimhen has cemented his claim to being Africa’s biggest footballing icon. But is the trend of individual stardom good for sports and politics?

The magic man

Chris Blackwell’s long-awaited autobiography shows him as a romantic rogue; a risk taker whose life compass has been an open mind and gift to hear and see slightly into the future.

How to think about colonialism

Contemporary approaches to the legacy of colonialism tend to narrowly emphasize political agency as the solution to Africa’s problems. But agency is configured through historically particular relations of which we are not sole authors.

More than just a flag

South Africa’s apartheid flag has been declared hate speech by a top court. But while courts are important and their judgments matter, racism is a long and internationally entrenched social phenomenon that cannot be undone via judicial processes.

Resistance is a continuous endeavor

For more than 75 years, Palestinians have organized for a liberated future. Today, as resistance against Israeli apartheid intensifies, unity and revolutionary optimism has become the main infrastructure of struggle.

Paradise forgotten

While there is much to mourn about the passing of legendary American singer and actor Harry Belafonte, we should hold a place for his bold statement-album against apartheid South Africa.