Life’s Littered Paths

by Editor · April 15, 2018

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at her 80th birthday celebrations held at Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. (Photo: GCIS – Gov flickr)

When Pope Francis was elected to the Chair of St Peter, he reportedly whispered: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are many lessons in that brief statement. The most important of these relates to God’s infinite mercy, but it is also a reminder that none of us travel on our pilgrimage through life without the baggage of our own sins. Hard as we try, we are always in the presence of temptation and prone to succumb to sin, big or small.

The roads we travel are littered with our transgressions — but they are also illuminated by the good we have done.

The death on Easter Monday of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela gave South Africans opportunity to reflect on the paths she travelled on her 81-year journey in this world. Undeniably, it was a remarkable life. She is one of the great daughters of the nation. And to acclaim her as such, we need not and must not gloss over the cracks in her character, which are also part of her story. Heroism does not require an absence of failure.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was a great leader who articulated the frustrations and aspirations of most South Africans, under apartheid and even until her final illness. Especially during the dark years of apartheid, she gave leadership with immense courage, resilience and self-sacrifice.

She is one of the great daughters of the nation. And to acclaim her as such, we need not and must not gloss over the cracks in her character, which are also part of her story. Heroism does not require an absence of failure.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela made many misjudgements and she could not be said to be innocent of the sin of pride.

But for most South Africans these failings were secondary to her accomplishments.

South Africa’s bishops evidently shared that sentiment. In a statement, signed by Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, the SACBC said: “She has a complex history. Mistakes were made arising from a suffering and impetuous heart. To witness the deep humiliations of one’s people every day, to observe as a social worker the blanket inequality of access to welfare, health, schools, land and basic rights were bound to cloud the mind. One is inclined to remember Debora and some of the other great women of the Old Testament.”

The SACBC added that Mrs Madikizela-Mandela’s “courage, her thirst for justice for all, black and white, her inspired and persistent defiance towards an unjust system was historic and will inspire many in the future”. There was a minority who took a different view: one that saw Mrs Madikizela-Mandela as a wicked person whose death merited no mourning. Rather than recalling her pivotal role in defeating apartheid, that view focused on the murder of Stompie Seipei

There was a minority who took a different view: one that saw Mrs Madikizela-Mandela as a wicked person whose death merited no mourning. Rather than recalling her pivotal role in defeating apartheid, that view focused on the murder of Stompie Seipei — for which Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault — and her regrettable comments about necklacing.

If social media can serve as an indicator, these critiques tended to come from those who propose to leave the past behind. But there can be no selective memory: if one raises the killing of Stompie Seipei or the abhorrent practice of necklacing, then one must also talk about the context in which these took place, about the many children who were murdered by the apartheid regime or the torture of struggle activists in detention. Everybody’s life story has its cracks, some more and some fewer than others. Pope Francis has spoken of “the life of a human person” as “a land full of thorns and weeds”.

Everybody’s life story has its cracks, some more and some fewer than others. Pope Francis has spoken of “the life of a human person” as “a land full of thorns and weeds”.

We do not know what sins Pope Francis is thinking of when he identifies himself as “a sinner” — quite likely, these sins are more trivial than those of most people. Presumably, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela’s baggage of sin weighed more than that of the Holy Father.

As a Christian, she will have entrusted both her acts of sin and her works for good to Christ. We know that on Good Friday — just days before her death — she spent five hours in church, in the presence of the One who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4). The final judgment is God’s prerogative, not that of social media commenters. The Church teaches that God judges with mercy for those who seek it.

The final judgment is God’s prerogative, not that of social media commenters. The Church teaches that God judges with mercy for those who seek it.

Whatever we may think of her — a giant of the struggle or flawed individual — we must pray that when Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s passed from our world into the next, she was met with God’s merciful gaze.