While the father of the country Nelson Mandela has spent over 30 days in hospital seeking treatment for a recurring lung infection, some have come forward to criticise the former president. His fight for freedom and democracy is not admired by all.

A youth leader with the black consciousness party the Azanian People’s Organisation, Amukelani Ngobeni, and others, are of the opinion that the agreement between Mandela and South Africa’s white rulers “ensured blacks would be disenfranchised for decades to come”.

Ngobeni has recently demanded that Mandela apologise for “selling out black people’s struggle” before he passes away. Ngobeni said:

Mandela and his friends… could not wait to occupy the global political space at the expense of the struggle for complete political, social and economic emancipation.

Sello Tladi, Pan African Congress youth spokesperson also blamed Mandela for being a “sell out”.

In 2010 Winni Madikizela-Mandela, Mandela’s ex-wife said in an article by Nadira Naipaul:

Mandela let us down. He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks. Economically, we are still on the outside.

Madikizela-Mandela denied ever saying that or conducting an interview with Naipaul.

A 22-year-old trainee technician, Khetha said:

There are small groups saying he sold us out, but they are a very small minority. He did his work, blacks still don’t have economic freedom, whites are more advantaged. If you compare the life of people from Sandton with those of Alex, it’s obvious.

While Joseph Mulaudzi feels that the steps Mandela has taken were necessary. Mulaudzi said:

He had to compromise on a lot of things during the reconciliation process. [In the early 1990s] there were a lot of tensions … if it was not for him, we would have had a civil war.

That’s why we can enjoy freedom. There had to be compromise.

[Source: News24]