Hollywood Good

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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela bitterly lashed out at Nelson Mandela in an interview published in the London Evening Standard this week, saying the old man had become a “corporate foundation”.

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“Mandela let us down,” said Madikizela-Mandela, “He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks. Economically, we are still on the outside.”

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“The economy is very much ‘white’. It has a few token blacks, but so many who gave their life in the struggle have died unrewarded,” said Madikizela-Mandela, in the interview published on www.standard.co.uk.
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She said Mandela had no control over the ANC anymore and was just being used by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to get funds.
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“Look what they make him do. The great Mandela. He has no control or say any more. They put that huge statue of him right in the middle of the most affluent ‘white’ area of Johannesburg. Not here where we spilled our blood and where it all started.”

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“Mandela is now a corporate foundation. He is wheeled out globally to collect the money and he is content doing that. The ANC have effectively sidelined him but they keep him as a figurehead for the sake of appearance.”

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Now what scares me about this interview is that the sentiments expressed are exactly the same as those expressed by the current administration. Being in government and having power is seen as a reward for having been in the struggle. This means the looting will not end any time soon, and that government will never serve the people (translated citizens and not members of the rulling party).

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Kenyan writer Michela Wrong’s book It’s Our Turn to Eat, captures the greed that consumes African leaders. The ones standing outside trying to get in are not there to correct the wrongs but are only getting in to loot for themselves.