At 82, former prisoner and president Nelson Mandela seems freer than ever, denouncing arrogance and corruption in the ranks of South Africa's black elite and calling on the ANC and the president to accept criticism.
In an interview with the weekly Mail and Guardian, the country's senior statesman, while pressing home his support for the African National Congress (ANC) government, made his reservations about the party and its grip on power clearly felt.
"Little did we suspect that our own people, when they got that chance, would be as corrupt as the apartheid regime. That is one of the things that has really hurt us," the former president said in the interview.
"Nothing in our struggle for liberation entitles an individual to think that he has a right to rob the public because he has reached old age," Mandela -- who was president until June 1999 -- added, referring to corruption scandals which have implicated state officials.
Asked whether he thought the ANC was becoming a single-opinion party with a lack of internal debate, Mandela said, "The proper thing to do is to have free and vigorous debate on every issue and to criticise everybody, including the president."
Then, he added, "when you have the consensus, we can go out and speak with one voice."
"We must welcome differences of opinion. They will always be there. One of the most effective weapons in dealing with different opinions is tolerance -- the ability to take criticism and not personalise it," he insisted.
This was the case "even if a prominent individual is specifically identified and becomes a target for criticism," he said.
"I can speak with authority of when I led the ANC, because one of the things I stressed is that members must not be lapdogs," the veteran campaigner stressed.
One of Mandela's closest allies, Jakes Gerwel, warned against depicting a rift between Mandela and the ANC, in an article published in the Sunday Independent.
"Attempts to cast him in the role of unofficial opposition to the government and the ANC are not only mischievous but fail to understand how this man's private being is inextricably bound up with his loyal membership of the ANC," he said.
Gerwel insisted that the comments "are not new... they represent the determination of Mandela, the government and the ANC to deal with corruption in whatever quarter."
In an interview with the Sunday Times last week, Mandela had said "some Africans themselves have made mistakes... they now throw their weight about as a majority."
"There are some Africans who inspire fear in the minorities because of the way they behave," he said, adding: "The ANC has to do something." – JOHANNESBURG (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
