Madiba magic

Celebrating Mandela. Photo by Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

Earlier today, over 90 world leaders, including millions around the world joined South Africa and South Africans to mourn the loss, and  celebrate the life of a lion of our time.

Since Nelson Mandela's passage into history on the 5th of December 2013, we the peoples of the world have vacillated between grief and eulogy as we attempt to grapple with the extent to which we are bereft of the wisdom, foresight and steadfastness of the man.

As he readily attested to whilst in life, he was not a saint, and certainly wasn't always perfectly sensible in all his decision making.

It is however clear that over time- much of which was spent in incarceration- Madiba grew into his calling, and utilised the opportunity bestowed on him by destiny, to engineer a striving for peaceful co-existence amongst South Africans. This has also served as a beacon for the rest of the world, laying the foundations for meaningful dialogue whilst shunning destructive conflicts.

The legacy of Madiba is not lost on the world, as the emotional out-pouring shows.

As aptly put by the Secretary- General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, even in death "Nelson Mandela connected people with each other and with the true meaning of peace".