Singing Mbeki’s praises

My friend Don has often accused me of being on Mbeki's payroll. I've been a tireless defender of his policies and I continue to be an unabashed fan. Perhaps his leadership style is not palatable to the in your face, podium booging, sing-the-tune -of- everyone, tastes but as far as politicians go, he is a true statesman. I remember seeing him at a family funeral a few years ago- Being young and impressionable makes meeting the president of the country just cause for a gripping wave of awe inspiration but I remember there being such an aura about him. I felt reassured, 'This is our president'. I've grown up in the periphery of a politically active family, so I've heard the stories of how, on his arrival back from exile, with nothing but the clothes on his back, Mr Mbeki slept on the floor of the lounge of my aunt's home in Mayfair. I remember also, during the Mandela years my dad asking my uncle about Mbeki, my dad at the time unconvinced as to Mbeki's credentials, and my uncle telling of Mbeki's curiosity of Islam that led him to ask for a copy of the Quraan. For me, it was a defining moment in my impression of the man.

Let's not forget that he ignored calls for a harsher stance on Zimbabwe and amid ostensible hopelessness fostered a workable solution to that country's woes. I read last week that Mbeki would leave office with a mixed legacy. I say he leaves office with a fine legacy. Think economic growth, the African Union, Nepad, Sadec, Zimbabwe- a towering legacy that any future president would do well to emulate.

A couple of years ago, the staff in the office of the president, took out a full page ad in the Sunday Times to wish Mr Mbeki a happy birthday. I've kept it because it astounded me the level of affection and respect he inspired in those who worked close to him. I find it apt to include here:

Dear Mr. President, the burdens of leadership are many and the rewards few. No more so than in the political arena especially at a time of our history when we stand on the edge of a new society whilst the old refuses to die.

In seeking to build a new society there are many paths. The road less travelled is often the most difficult and more lonely but ultimately the more rewarding. You have on many pivotal issues clearly chosen the road less travelled, challenged what passes for conventional wisdom and asserted on behalf of the African people the right to design our own future.

The fabric of our society has been torn asunder. The grinding poverty that apartheid and its beneficiaries burdened us with, is a form of violence that those who have never had to sleep on an empty stomach cannot ever comprehend. Even as we the signatories, begin to benefit from policies of your government we are, through ties of blood and conscience, connected to those condemned by apartheid to a living hell. It is for this reason that we identify completely with your commitment to reduce poverty.

You have taken this country on a giant leap, not of blind faith, not of just hope but to a carefully constructed future of dignity and prosperity. Because of your leadership we can envision an Africa free of poverty. We can boldly assert in public our right to speak our languages, choose our own heroes, reclaim our history and fashion our future free of interference from those who seek to trap us in a past, present and future designed to serve their interest more than ours. Placing an African consciousness at the centre of the government's policies, you have created the space and means for us to find our place in the world.

When you said 'I am an African', we walked taller than we did the day before. When you gave back land to those who has it taken from them, we shared the joy of the beneficiaries. When you promote women and their interests we know that we really hold up half the sky. When you declared our solidarity with Haiti, we felt the spirit of Toussaint L'Ouverture coursing through our blood. When you pledged to help Mali preserve the ancient manuscripts of Timbaktu, we knew that our children would one day know the brilliant contribution our continent made to world civilization.

When you declared the 21^st century, the African century, we were inspired. Your mission is our destiny.

Mr. President, in those quiet moments when the burdens of statehood threaten just for a moment to overwhelm you, we would like you to remember that you have our support and that of the overwhelming majority of our people.

We are proud of you.