Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 Jul 1918 – 5 Dec 2013)

Nelson Mandela, champion of the fight against white domination who faced up to the repressive apartheid government of South Africa, died yesterady at the age of 95. Well remembered for his passionate belief in humanity, he is equally renowned for his ability to motivate millions with his words. On subject of civil society, he was quoted saying:

“A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.” —International Press Institute Congress, 1994

Try explaining to the guys mangling the constitution for their own ends. Their interpretation of the constitutional right of free speech and expression is that it is limited by the necessity of protecting reputations of both private and public individuals. You know they are clutching at straws when they lump the judiciary with plastic surgeon Woffles Wu, who so obviously eluded a more severe penalty for breaking the law. Whatever happened to the laws of defamation and libel available for the protection of the private, or public, individual wrongly maligned? Lee Kuan Yew used them quite effectively, some will even say profitably, whenever he felt his reputation was in danger of being tarnished. And the judiciary was, rightly so, always maintained at arm's length.

Interviewed on Larry King Live, May 16, 2000, Mandela said, “I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists."

Mandela spent 27 years behind bars,  first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. His record is broken by Chia Thye Poh, imprisoned for 23 years without charge or trial and subsequently placed under conditions of house arrest for another 9 years, during which he was first confined to the island of Sentosa and then subject to restrictions on his place of abode, employment, travel, and exercise of political rights. All because he disagreed with their definition of a "communist". Mandela had a better deal with P.W. Botha, the "Great Crocodile", the snarling embodiment of death and destruction in the apartheid era of white minority rule.