Flags on council buildings flown at half-mast as a mark of respect for Nelson Mandela

The Civic Mayor Cllr Joe Kitchen, was joined by senior councillors and staff as they queued to sign the Book of Condolence opened in memory of former South African president Nelson Mandela who died on Thursday 5 December 2013.

Cllr Kitchen said: “To mark his passing we have lowered the flags on our buildings to half-mast and opened Books of Condolence which are on display at Ashton’s town hall and customer services. If possible, please find the time to make the effort to sign it in memory of a man whose political legacy of non-violence and the condemnation of all forms of racism will continue to inspire us all.” Tameside Council

I am sure we all viewed in amazement the footage of mass hysteria in North Korea following the death of their Dear Great Leader Kim Jong-il. It was incredible to watch and if you need a reminder of those remarkable scenes click here to refresh your memory. At the time many Western commentators were asking what type of brainwashing could lead to such unbelievable scenes of grief for a person most of the mourners had never known. I wonder if the North Koreans are now asking themselves what kind of brainwashing has led many people in the West into a similar state hysteria following the death of Nelson Mandela? It is also worth remembering that as embarrassing as it was, the North Koreans were sent into a state of hysteria following the death of their own leader rather than the former head of state of a foreign country. 

As far as I am aware Nelson Mandela has never lived in, visited, or had any direct connection with the borough of Tameside so I find myself at something of a loss as to why local politicians are jumping on the Mandela bandwagon by lowering flags across the borough to half mast and opening this book of condolence. 

The passing of Mandela is undoubtedly a newsworthy event, but the media coverage which is the driving force behind the hysteria we are currently witnessing is way way out of proportion to the importance of the actual event of Mandela dying.

Cllr Kitchen talks of  Mandela's political legacy of non-violence but statistically speaking South Africa is one of the most dangerous and violent countries on earth. The shocking and rarely talked about taboo regarding violence and murder in South Africa is the targeted attacks and murders perpetrated against white farmers living in South Africa. For a real look at what life is like for some of the people of South Africa click here (warning: graphic content)

As for Mandela the man; it is an admirable quality to forgive ones former opponents. Mandela undoubtedly was a champion of his own people. If his legacy will be that of a better future for all South Africans remains to be seen.

To finish off I will list the things which lead to Mandela being jailed in the first place. The BBC are so emotionally involved in the event on which they are reporting that they are forgetting to report the whole Mandela story. This 'oversight' on behalf of the BBC and others is leading many uninformed individuals to believe that Mandela was jailed for no reason so to set the record straight:

Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. He had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilizing terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandela’s MK terrorists.

South African President P.W. Botha had, on a number of occasions, offered Nelson Mandela freedom from prison, if he would only renounce terrorist violence. This Mandela refused to do. - Invictus Idolatry

* The full list of munitions and charges read as follows:

• One count under the South African Suppression of Communism Act No. 44 of 1950, charging that the accused committed acts calculated to further the achievement of the objective of communism;

• One count of contravening the South African Criminal Law Act (1953), which prohibits any person from soliciting or receiving any money or articles for the purpose of achieving organized defiance of laws and country; and

• Two counts of sabotage, committing or aiding or procuring the commission of the following acts:

1) The further recruitment of persons for instruction and training, both within and outside the Republic of South Africa, in:

(a) the preparation, manufacture and use of explosives—for the purpose of committing acts of violence and destruction in the aforesaid Republic, (the preparation and manufacture of explosives, according to evidence submitted, included 210,000 hand grenades, 48,000 anti-personnel mines, 1,500 time devices, 144 tons of ammonium nitrate, 21.6 tons of aluminum powder and a ton of black powder);

(b) the art of warfare, including guerrilla warfare, and military training generally for the purpose in the aforesaid Republic;

(ii) Further acts of violence and destruction, (this includes 193 counts of terrorism committed between 1961 and 1963);

(iii) Acts of guerrilla warfare in the aforesaid Republic;

(iv) Acts of assistance to military units of foreign countries when involving the aforesaid Republic;

(v) Acts of participation in a violent revolution in the aforesaid Republic, whereby the accused, injured, damaged, destroyed, rendered useless or unserviceable, put out of action, obstructed, with or endangered:

(a) the health or safety of the public;
(b) the maintenance of law and order;

(c) the supply and distribution of light, power or fuel;
(d) postal, telephone or telegraph installations;
(e) the free movement of traffic on land; and
(f) the property, movable or immovable, of other persons or of the state.

Source: The State v. Nelson Mandela et al, Supreme Court of South Africa, Transvaal Provincial Division, 1963-1964, Indictment.

Tameside Citizen