Mandela is irony

Andile Mngxitama's piece, , is supposed to hold a mirror up to the struggles of Nelson Mandela and the nature of his statesmanship on the African continent - and the world at large, but rather than do that, it foreshadows an antinomy of a sort: what is wrong with the present crop of African leaders. Though a good piece, it does not point a flambeau to the way of moving South Africa from the doldrums of national asphyxiation, which Mandela's essence epitomises.

Wole Soyinka's reference to Mandela's statue as evident in the article, as ''soulless'', adumbrates the mess made of his fight to have a new South Africa - filled with the bliss of post-Apartheid as well as inter-racial brotherhood. The realities effulgent in today's South Africa, are a far cry from what Mandela and his comerades figured out.

Also, the writer's friend who reckoned in the wake of world's celebration of Mandela phenomenon, that we should sing ''Free Nelson Mandela Campaign'', should rather spare a thought for what I call ''Free African Leaders's Campaign''. African leaders serve as a foil to Mandela's statesmanship. The sqandering of Africa's bounties and the mortgaging of its future by African leaders in the marketplace of global one-upmanship and continental malaise, are a disturbing pattern that sends shivers down my spine as I reflect on our journey so far as a continent. For me, a more fitting title for Mngxitama's piece should be ''Mandela as South Afrca's Foil''. This titular reconstruction, would underscore more pointedly the meat of his preoccupation in the article.

In an interview which Mandela granted on his last visit to the United Kingdom - as a run-up to his 90th birthday celebration, he was asked what was his reading preference: the sort of books he reads. His answer was strikig. On top of the list was Tolstoy's ''War and Peace''. No doubt, African leaders would prefer Machiavelli's ''The Prince''. The logic of this book, underwrites their inhuman activities on the continent. I make haste to suggest Henry Kissinger's ''Diplomacy'' to African leaders. Its proemal gambit distils a road map to the philosophy of statesmanship. There is a lot to gather from Bill Clinton's ''Between Hope and History'' as well as other books that deepen the debate on moving humanity (Africa) from the margin to the centre. Mandela's senility and possible departure will mark a watershed in (South)Africa's liberation from the menacle of neocolonialism, class attrition and prebendalism.

Mandela is no metaphor for South Africa; he is rather a sheer irony of today's South Africa - a spooky antinomy that haunts South Africa, nay, the continent of Africa.