Apartheid Museum IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC ON SUNDAY 8TH DECEMBER 2013.

Tribute to Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Nelson Mandela the father of the nation affectionately known as “Madiba” has gone to rest but has left the world a legacy which will endure and inspire future generations in the knowledge that their freedom is owed to him and others in their struggle to overcome discrimination and prejudice.

His gift and message is not only pertinent to those who suffered under the draconian Apartheid concept of segregation and second class status for black South Africans, but to the millions who find themselves in similar circumstances today in other parts of the world. It is this identification with Nelson Mandela’s message of negotiation and reconciliation in moving beyond the yoke of servitude and conflict to a position of building a new nation based on the principles of equality, non racism, non sexist and equal opportunity that finds resonance in the hearts and minds of the international community and the world at large.

The 27 years he had to endure in prison as the consequence of his beliefs and humanity in wanting freedom for all, he saw as small measure for the reward of the freedom of his people both friend and foe alike, those who make up the citizens of South Africa and by extension the citizenry of the world. The principle of reconciliation he held up as his mantra and key to hope and new beginning, endeared him to all including his former jailers, standing in line for hours in 1994 to vote, many for the first time, in excitement and incredulity experiencing the previously unimaginable. Freedom!

The outpouring of admiration and gratitude tinged with sorrow spontaneously being articulated from every corner of the planet, Mandela would see as a collective salute to the millions who endured the excesses of an inhumane and brutal system which was overcome with courage and sacrifice, and he would discount his own role in this struggle for dignity and emancipation.

The acknowledgment of being awarded the Noble Peace Prize and the United Nations honoring his birthday on the 19th of July every year as International Nelson Mandela Day, ensures that this humility and undoubted leadership and pinnacle of human achievement is rightly recognized as we honor and remember him and share in his legacy as a beloved citizen of the world.

You will be with us always! “Hamba Khale Tata! ” Go well father!

Christopher Till

Director

Apartheid Museum