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JOHANNESBURG. – Why must “everything” be named after former president Nelson Mandela? That is what his eldest grandson, Mandla, is asking, after opposing a move to rename Mthatha Airport after the late statesman. Mandla Mandela (42), the chief of Mvezo, has lambasted what he calls the “Mandelisation” of “everything in South Africa”.“People are so fixated on Nkosi Dalibhunga’s name (Madiba’s praise name) that they want to Mandelise everything. So every entity must now be named after Nkosi Dalibhunga, disregarding the entire legacy of the rest of the lineage of abaThembu,” he told City Press at his residence, Mvezo Great Place.
Mandla said his grandfather spoke to him about this before he died, saying he “had been a mere voice and face of the struggle for liberation”, but that there were many ordinary South Africans who sacrificed more than he did, because they died for the struggle.
“They are disregarded. Their stories are untold. Their contributions are unknown.
“Why? Because we have chosen to be a society that is fixated on the Mandelisation of everything.”
He then spoke of the name-change proposal regarding Mthatha Airport. Previously the KD Matanzima Airport, it was named after the former ruler of the Transkei and Madiba’s cousin.
“Last week, I was approached by the Aviation Board in charge of airports in the Eastern Cape, saying they would like to change the airport to the Nelson Mandela Airport. . .I cannot, when I am already the chief of the Mandela family, today be part of a plan to erase KD Matanzima’s name from history. Not me,” Mandla said.
He added that Madiba had called Matanzima “an elegant man” who taught him how to dress properly. He had also welcomed Mandla’s grandmother and Madiba’s first wife, Evelyn Mase, to Cofimvaba and given her a plot in town after her divorce. Mandla said a better option would have been to rename Port Elizabeth Airport after Madiba because the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was already named after him.
“But no. You are fixated on this name. . .So you run to Mthatha and delete Madiba’s own cousin’s name so that you can put Madiba’s name there. I will only support a decision taken by the Matanzima royal family.”- City Press.
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