Mr Mandela No Longer A Prisoner

[Lycanthrope]

Former president Nelson Mandela "is no longer a prisoner" and could attend any election rally he wanted to, the ANC said on Monday.

"It's very clear that Mr Mandela is no longer a prisoner... He's not a prisoner... he wanted to go to a rally in the Eastern Cape... that was Mr Mandela's decision and his call," African National Congress spokesperson Jessie Duarte told SABC radio.

"We, the ANC, would never risk Madiba's life," she added.

Her comments followed a Sunday Times report that the party had abused the elderly Mandela for electioneering purposes to attend a rally in the Eastern Cape.

ANC leader Jacob Zuma said at the weekend that Mandela had requested to attend a rally in his home province.

But Sunday Times associate editor Brendan Boyle said the way in which Mandela turned up at the rally was "clearly unusual".

Boyle told the SABC that Mandela's attendance was an "unprecedented break in procedure".

Normally, among other things, Mandela would travel with a doctor after undergoing a medical examination and a helicopter would be on stand-by for any emergency.

Boyle also said it was unprecedented that the Nelson Mandela Foundation was not involved in the arrangements.

"How this trip was arranged, we don't know," said Boyle.

Duarte said the ANC did not want to alert the media to Mandela's planned presence at the rally last weekend because it was not sure "until the very last moment that indeed Madiba would come".

"We did not want to raise expectations," said Duarte.

Source: News24

I wonder how it was arranged? Did Madiba really go willingly?

 

[alloytoo]

Source: News24

I wonder how it was arranged? Did Madiba really go willingly?

One wishes to know whether one should be disappointed in him, or afraid for him.

 

[Abe]

From the Sunday Times article, I think his grandson "pushed" him into going. I would love for him to come out and call Zuma a lier for saying that he was the one who wanted to go.

 

[Flanders]

"No longer a prisoner" ??

Ya, those days ended a while ago. A pensioner, yes, but prisoner, no.

 

[Balstrome]

"No longer a prisoner" ??

Ya, those days ended a while ago. A pensioner, yes, but prisoner, no.

+46664

 

[blunomore]

This is what the daily ANC Newsletter said about this today:

"Idutywa rally was a Madiba rally

After the successful launch of the ANC Election Manifesto in East London on 10 January 2009, former President, Nelson Mandela called the ANC President, Jacob Zuma, to congratulate the ANC on a job well done and also expressed his wish to accompany Zuma to an ANC rally.

Zuma suggested that Madiba should attend a rally in Gauteng nearer to his home, but Madiba insisted that he specifically wanted an Eastern Cape rally and nowhere else. He called for the ANC to fulfil his wish. Madiba is a stalwart of our movement, when he gives the ANC a mandate it have no choice but to carry out such an order.

We are making a strong call to some sections of the media to stop the disinformation campaign against the ANC. The allegations published in the front page of Sunday Times that the ANC leadership forced Madiba to attend the Eastern Cape rally disregarding his ill health are false and insulting. We regret any problems that may have arisen in the arrangement of his travel.

The media should report factually and truthfully without carrying out a biased political agenda against the ANC. The ANC under Madiba defeated apartheid and laid the foundation to push back the frontiers of poverty.

Over the last 15 years, working together as a nation, we have made much progress in improving the lives of our people and we created opportunities that never existed before. This is what Madiba is proud to forever associate with the ANC for."

 

[marine1]

Like we are going to believe anything the ANC say anyway. They probably told him that he was going to a charity concert.

 

[Albereth]

So he went of his own free will. And he supports Zuma. What an idiot!

What do they call it? Senile dementia.

 

[Alan]

Oh this is so sad

First it was in the interests of "democracy and political tolerance" and now it's "he was forced to go". The poor flabbergasted useful idiots can't deal with the reality of the situation. When your demigod embraces your demagogue nemesis what else can you do but cling to tinfoil hat conspiracies. Not the first time these morons have had this happen to them. A bad case of dejavu of the events in Zimbabwe circa 2000 when their hero Mugabe suddenly "changed" on them.

 

[Albereth]

Oh this is so sad

when their hero Mugabe suddenly "changed" on them.

Blame prison and apartheid - worked for Niehaus.

But the way I see it is that 50% of the voters are below average intelligence. The ANC gets more than 50% of the vote and that just proves that our average intelligence is too low to begin with.

 

[JungleBoy]

Blame prison and apartheid - worked for Niehaus.

But the way I see it is that 50% of the voters are below average intelligence. The ANC gets more than 50% of the vote and that just proves that our average intelligence is too low to begin with.

I would say the ANC is reaping the fruits of the NP's labour, i.e. subjugate and keep the masses stupid...

 

[Albereth]

I would say the ANC is reaping the fruits of the NP's labour, i.e. subjugate and keep the masses stupid...

Actually they are benefitting from their own policy of liberation before education.