A coworker asked me how did I pronounce “Botha”. I told her. Not knowing that PW Botha had recently died. (Shows you how in touch I am.) She did not know very much about him, so I told her, “I don’t think he is going to Heaven. I know one should not speak ill of the dead, but I think he will live out all eternity in a warm place.”
Then I found this article. Here’s an interesting excerpt:
President Thabo Mbeki, in his weekly column Friday, reiterated his condolences to Botha’s family and defended the decision to offer a state funeral. He said the government and the ANC had decided to honor all leaders equally, including the captains of apartheid, because of a commitment to national reconciliation.
In the column, Mbeki gave the history of Botha’s brutal leadership. But he said the new South Africa could only be built successfully based on unqualified respect for the “principle and practice of forgiveness, as well as acceptance of the eminently humane proposition that `the quality of mercy is not strained.’”
The diplomatic reactions to Botha’s death are a sign of maturing race relations in South Africa, said Lawrence Schlemmer, the vice president of the Institute of Race Relations.
“Race relations are quite good. No doubt given our past and the short time we have had an open system they are surprisingly good,” he said.
Amazing. The story of South Africa is truly amazing. It does one good to be reminded of that.
Meanwhile it is reported that Iraq is bracing itself for an onslaught of violence as the verdict in Saddam Hussein’s trial is announced. Go here.
And that set me thinking… would Iraq be better off if it decided to go the South African route of Truth and Reconciliation? Would that have been a better move? Would have all factions bought into that idea? Or would there be just as much strife and conflict?
On last week’s Battlestar Galactia, President Roslin decides not to prosecute human cylon collaborators and calls for a period of Truth and Reconciliation for the sake of humanity. Damn that show is good.
