Pohamba, Nujoma to join Madiba mourners

President Hifikepunye Pohamba is set to lead a Namibian delegation that includes Founding Father Dr Sam Nujoma, who will join a host of international leaders and other dignitaries to pay tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela, ahead of the icon’s funeral this Sunday. Nujoma’s senior aide John Nauta confirmed yesterday that he will be attending Mandela’s memorial service tomorrow. Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, said that he would be finalising with Pohamba today when the Head of State would be leaving for South Africa and who will accompany him. Minister of Foreign Affairs Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said she will also be accompanying the President. Mandela’s body will lie in state for three days from Wednesday, ahead of his eventual burial on December 15 in his boyhood home of Qunu. Page 4 and 5 of this edition of Namibian Sun has the full mourning and funeral arrangements for Madiba. American President Barack Obama, as well as his predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have already confirmed their attendance. Last Friday Pohamba expressed his deep sadness at Mandela’s death and called him “a giant”. Tributes The mood was sombre at the South African High Commission last Friday when first Pohamba and then Speaker of National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, signed a book of condolence a day after the death of the celebrated statesman. Consumed with sadness, a teary-eyed Pohamba was the first person to sign the book. “A giant has gone to rest. The icon of the anti-apartheid struggle has departed after accomplishing what he stood for. “Comrade Madiba will be missed, not only by those who knew him and by the people of South Africa who he loved and cared for so deeply and sacrificed for, but by all those who believe in human dignity,” he wrote. Pohamba later shared a few words with South African High Commissioner to Namibia, Yvette Myakayaka-Manzini, telling her that he tried to make contact with South African President Jacob Zuma, but could not reach him. Shortly after Pohamba left, Gurirab also arrived and signed the book. “We shall remember you forever by your bravery and loyalty to (the) African people’s cause for freedom, justice and liberation. “Out of imprisonment, you set high standards of what African Leadership can do for the citizens of Africa and the world at large,” he wrote. Gurirab shared his thoughts on Mandela and said he was everything a good and admirable African should be. He described Mandela as a man of great dignity, who treasured his heritage and never disconnected from village life. “He was a source of inspiration, joining the likes of Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu to give the apartheid regime a hard time,” he said. Asked what his fondest memory of Mandela was, Gurirab reflected on how Mandela attended Namibia’s first independence celebration in 1990. “We invited him as a special guest of the Swapo party and not as part of (the then SA) President (FW) De Klerk’s delegation. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and I were tasked with finding him suitable accommodation and we found him accommodation at Eros Park. He was my president too. Both he and Sam Nujoma were our presidents. Mandela was larger than life. He did so much, not just for Africa, but for the whole world. Nothing measures to the greatness that he was,” Gurirab said. Myakayaka-Manzini remarked that Namibians and South Africans are one people and are therefore feeling the same loss. “A revolutionary giant has fallen, a moral giant has fallen. A great leader and a statesman has fallen,” she said. Speaking about Mandela’s presidency, she said after 27 years of imprisonment he left jail unscathed by no bitterness. “He was a peacemaker and sacrificed his life for the struggle. His principles of democracy, justice, equality and good governance informed the new democratic South Africa,” she added. However, his iconic legacy will be formed for generations to come. In a statement, issued last Friday, Prime Minister Dr Hage Geingob said that what makes Nelson Mandela unique is that he was “a servant leader, inspirational leader, transactional leader and transformational leader”. “He served with a humble spirit, always endeavouring to serve first and then lead. He aspired to create a more just and caring world.” Geingob said Mandela had inspired many around the world because of his charm, which has left a profound effect on people across all generations. “He was transactional because he withstood what could have turned out to be a tumultuous period in South Africa. Mandela quelled the angst of the white minority who had ruled South Africa for centuries through the unlawful subjugation of blacks. He wore the number 6 jersey of the Springbok rugby team, which at that time was a sporting symbol of white minority rule.” Geingob said Madiba had invited racists to visit with him and had even accommodated Die Stem in his country’s hybrid national anthem.