“After singing the national anthem for the crowds at Wanderers Stadium, where the Proteas and the Boks were playing a friendly game of cricket for charity in memory of Nelson Mandela, the following thoughts came to me about this complex South African icon and Zeitgeist.

I think his legacy is a set of ideas which he not only believed but enacted. What I can recall is this:

1. He made the geographical space of South Africa a redemptive space. That is a space in which all South Africans, good and bad, lost and found, old and new, male and female, traditional and modern could be redeemed. Redemption is when you hand over your old self, with all its failings, faults and unsavoury deeds and admit to them and in doing so, you receive the chance of creating a new one, a redeemed one, one in which you can explore … READ MORE»

Nelson Mandela (18 July, 1918 – 5 December, 2013).

One year ago, we lost a great world advocate, a man who sacrificed so much of his life for us all- a great hero of humanity. I share a tribute, written on behalf of Nelson Mandela, by another great South African brother, Johnny Clegg. We love you, Mandela.

Asimbonanga (We Have Not Seen Him) by Johnny Clegg

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonanga umandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph’ekhon (In the place where he is)
Laph’ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey
Look across the island into the bay
We are all islands till comes the day
We cross the burning water

A seagull wings across the sea
Broken silence is what I dream
Who has the words to close the distance
Between … READ MORE»