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Not much at the beginning of a historic moment: the 100th anniversary celebrations of the birth of one of the world's most famous men, Nelson Mandela . The activist and politician born July 19, 1918 in Mvezo, a small village in southeastern South Africa, detained in South African prisons in full apartheid – racial segregation against "non "for 27 long years before being released on February 11, 1990 and becoming President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, one remembers from to today after- noon July 17 with a series of national and international events. The departure is at 14:00 (local time and Italian time) with the 16th edition of the "annual conference of Mandela", a reading that this year will take Barack Obama directly from the stadium Wanderers in Johannesburg and you can follow live from this Facebook page, by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
"It is a person who based his message on reconciliation, on building bridges with his jailers to find solutions to the problems of all South Africans". Lorella Beretta, independent Italian journalist expert in South African themes (she also lived there between 2010 and 2014, also participating in the funeral of "Madiba" Mandela, died December 5, 2013, who has documented live on Public Radio Swiss), clearly shows the right way to interpret the thought of the man who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 – and who was portrayed in the 2013 film "The long road to freedom "- whose motto is" Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world ". "Mandela was a man who had chosen the armed struggle before focusing on peace and reconciliation, this is remembered especially in Europe and the rest of the world where he is often approached by figures like Gandhi." rather from a different path, from a very strong choice towards reconciliation between whites and blacks ". And he succeeded, because South Africa is the only African country to have avoided the civil war and sold blood and violence and even after his death, the "legacy" of his compatriots was to continue in its "valorisation path". differences under a single flag, that of the rainbow nation: still today, it is the blacks, who represent 78% of the population, that the whites (10%), the colored (10% meticci) and the others sing together the national anthem "Beretta
" Be the inheritance "," Be the inheritance "is actually the expression that has always accompanied the 39; activism after Mandela's death (with the hashtag). #bethelegacy you can find all the global initiatives that take place between July 17 and 18: even in Italy there are several, from Bolzano to Naples), in a country like South Africa, today. hui, partly betrayed by the governors post Madiba, especially that Jaco Zuma will remember the nine-year presidency as dense corruption and malfeasance. "The number of people in townships, slums, is increasing because there is no work in the countryside," says Beretta, "but people live here full of dilapidated toilets and violence against the stars , unfortunately also badual towards minors ". Canton where you will find stories of redemption, like Alexandra and the same slum, Soweto, that of the riots of 1976 against apartheid, but which remains the most concrete symbol of a country with strong disparities. "The new president, Ciril Ramaphosa (Mandela's right hand man during negotiations for his release and for the end of apartheid, is immediately visible behind him in a bright suit in the famous photo of the release in which Madiba holds the hand at the time the wife Winnie), coming to power in February 2018, revives the national congress Anc-African, the Mandela party, fell into the consensus during the Zuma period – reaffirming the relations with the country. The West cut by the Zuma and introducing an important agrarian reform to slow the Populist Eff Party of Julius Malema which foments the anger of the black population of the townships. "
Attempt to take back a country on the edge of the instability, therefore in which however Mandela's message still resonates strongly and clearly and is hope for the immediate future. The 27-year prison, 18 in the Robben Island Institution (the small cell was faithfully reproduced at the Nelsons Mandela Forum in Florence, opened in February 2018 and open to visitors), then to Pollsmoor and finally to the Victor Penitentiary Center From where she was released, I am a living memory. "Also tomorrow, as every year on July 18, millions of Africans will express the moral legacy left by Mandela in a very precise way: by doing 67 minutes of voluntary choice, dedicating them to the needy according to their own conscience ", concludes the reporter. Italian. Countless collective initiatives underway, including the ritual of a large badociation of motorcyclists who donated useful materials in the townships: this year will be given thousands of sanitary napkins. "This is not an official holiday in South Africa, but in all areas, from the world of work to school, Madiba will be remembered without rhetoric but with the awareness that to improve things , we need the commitment of all. All with five digits engraved in the mind and heart: 46664, the serial number that had Nelson Mandela as an inmate.
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