Nelson Mandela Fights Again As The Sun Sets

Nelson Mandela ,clearly ,is an example of one who has lived a meaningful life. As one of the world's most revered statesmen, he stands as a role model for all and in particular for those who have achieved the position of Head of State. On becoming South Africa’s first black President and a Nobel laureate, he did not attempt to hang on to power at all costs even though with his credentials he could well have succeeded. Instead he dedicated his life to the service of his people and to all oppressed peoples of the world. Mr Mandela stepped down as President in 1999 and became an icon in South Africa , travelling the globe encouraging peace efforts in many regions of the world ,campaigning against HIV/Aids and securing his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup.

His extra ordinary life story transcends the African continent and appeals to the entire world. He is truly a great son of our times.  Madiba, as he is fondly called by his people, led the struggle against the apartheid regime of South Africa and won. Today he is currently engaged in another struggle. A struggle against natural illnesses associated with old age. He is 93 years old and I am afraid this is a struggle he cannot win. Nature has not endowed any man with any instrument to live indefinitely. He is clearly in the last segment of his enviable life and we must all brace ourselves to that. South Africa must prepare for a post Mandela era and build a just and egaliterian society so that the sacrifices made by this great man will not have been in vain.

Mandela himself is not afraid of death for in 1964 while conducting his own defence in the Rivonia court room, he said: "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
And that should be the case for every one. We have to accept reality and avoid the fear of death. Man is a mortal being with a fixed lifespan. No matter how many years one lives, the end will surely come and someone who dies today will have just as long a period of non-existence as the one who died many years ago for death is eternal. This long period of non-existence as a human being on earth is the premise of discourse amongst all religions.
It is incumbent on us all, according to Plato, to live virtuous lives so that when the end comes we will have no regrets.