Long walk after Madiba’s death
WIDOW: GRAÇA ’S ‘HEART STILL HEAVY’ AFTER A YEAR He is no more, but keep Mandela’s legacy alive nationally and internationally, Machel asks.
As the commemoration of Nelson Mandela’s death approaches, his widow Graça Machel said it was still too soon to accept his passing. “The more we approach December 5, my heart becomes heavier and heavier. It’s still too early to live with the reality Madiba is no more,” Machel said.
She was speaking at the launch of the Nelson Mandela Remembrance Walk, set to take place in Pretoria on December 13.
Gauteng MEC for sport, arts, culture and recreation Molebatsi Bopape said the walk would ensure Mandela’s memory lived on, promoting social cohesion and unity. “The life and service by Mandela to our people is inestimable. It’s a life embodied in our history; our present, as well as our future,” said Bopape.
Machel said it was “initiatives like this that remind me and my family we have to live up to expectation of joining the national and international movement of keeping Madiba’s legacy alive.
“I embraced this initiative warmly because it tells those who have lived the times of Nelson Mandela, but more importantly the generations to come, there was a time when we had leaders – a collective leadership which mobilised all of us – to learn and accept there is no bigger surprise when it comes to a fight for freedom,” Machel said.
The Remembrance Walk starts at Freedom Park, past the gallows at Kgosi Mampuru Prison, to the Palace of Justice in Church Square, past Lillian Ngoyi Square, to end at the Union Buildings.
Various struggle veterans, such as Andrew Mlangeni and Ahmed Kathrada, will be at points along the walk to give historical insight into the struggle for democracy.
“We have achieved political freedom,” Mlangeni said. “Economic freedom we haven’t achieved yet.
“I believe once we achieve that we will have completed this long walk to freedom.” – amandaw@citizen.co.za