Praise for Juju’s speech
ON POINT: DE LILLE SAYS MALEMA HAS RIGHT TO HIS OPINIONS
But Mantashe says politicians should not use funerals for political points-scoring.
Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille has defended Julius Malema’s words at the funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the weekend. The official state funeral was largely characterised by two powerful speeches – one by Madikizela-Mandela’s daughter, Zenani Mandela-Dlamini, and that of Malema.
They both gave emotional, fiery speeches, hitting out at those who supposedly betrayed Madikizela-Mandela and those who harshly judged, ostracised and lied about her.
“I think I can’t answer for Julius, but he had every right to say what he wanted to say,” De Lille told The Citizen.
She was responding to Malema specifically pointing out that the funeral was attended by many of those who betrayed her.
“My relationship with Mama Winnie was [through] work that we did together in informal settlements [and] our time together in parliament,” said De Lille. “I never got involved in internal ANC politics, Julius comes from there so he would know better.
“I worked with her and I thought it was a beautiful sendoff. I mean, the speech by Zenani was the best. It just summarised Mama’s life and what she had to go through.”
Malema’s speech resonated with many who cheered him on at the funeral and those who watched on television.
A #MalemaChallenge even took off on Twitter and several public figures, including musician Thandiswa Mazwai, endorsed his and Mandela-Dlamini’s speeches.
“We see you betrayers, we see you sellouts,” Malema said on Saturday. “All those who resigned from the NEC of the [ANC] Women’s League because they said they can’t be led by a criminal, they are here playing all important roles at your funeral. Can we trust them or should we treat them with suspicion, Comrade Winnie?”
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said people should not use the platform for poitical points-scoring, but ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe had a more diplomatic response, saying guests at such ceremonies should focus on honouring icons and on nation-building.
“The ANC would encourage people who are asked to speak and that will participate in honouring legacies of our leaders, to focus on telling stories about these people they are there to speak about and making tributes that inspire others and to effectively use, in this case, Mama Winnie’s iconic life, to draw lessons about courage, about selflessness and about patriotism. And to understand what it means to be a part of a nation-building project and appreciate that the tasks that come with national liberation.” See more on page 4.
Some say blessed events are marked by rain and the coffin left in a thunderous storm.
It is often said in Xhosa at funerals in the Eastern Cape that the ceremony will always match the character of the person being buried. And this seemed to be the case, as many South Africans pointed out, at the funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Saturday.
Madikizela-Mandela was hailed as a unifier, albeit controversial, because of the sheer strength of her resolve.
She was also described as a humble fighter for the poor. These were only some of the characteristics that appeared to be personified at a packed Orlando Stadium in Soweto, where the funeral took place.
Despite stark political differences between the EFF and the ANC, both parties seemed to hold equal weight in terms of both attendance and representation.
Despite the unrelenting factionalism that exists within the ANC, at least on Saturday the party spoke with a unified voice to bid farewell to the heroine who transcended politics, class, gender and apartheid propaganda.
Thousands of mourners dressed in red EFF regalia marched up and down Mooki Street before pouring in their droves into an already packed stadium, where yellow, green and black peppered the bleachers.
Musical performances by artists like Zonke and Thandiswa Mazwai, who both had written specially dedicated songs for the struggle icon long before she died, elicited an emotional but festive atmosphere in the crowd and singalongs were heard in all corners of the stadium.
Still spoken about today, and likely for a while to come, were the fiery speeches of daughter Zenani Mandela-Dlamini and close friend and EFF leader Julius Malema.
This was very much in line with Madikizela-Mandela’s penchant for stirring up controversy with her honest candidness and refusal to be muzzled.
Speakers on the day did not mince their words in expressing their anger towards those they felt had betrayed the matriarch.
The crowd refused to be silenced, too, when parts of the audience booed former president Jacob Zuma, who was also in attendance.
Programme directors had their work cut out for them trying to keep those present quiet at the right times.
So festive was the atmosphere that mourners took to spontaneous bouts of cheering, singing and dancing.
And, shortly after Malema’s speech, the stadium seemed to be shaking as people sang Madikizela-Mandela’s favourite struggle song, Yibambeni.
Quite aptly, marking the end of the ceremony and in accordance with the African spiritual belief that blessed events are marked by rain, Madikizela-Mandela’s coffin left the event in a thunderous shower. –