His mind is probably still in hospital, and his soul, I pray, long gone….
This is why I was so bemused by the way South Africans rejoiced when Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital on Monday. Hell, the euphoria was such that one newspaper, The New Age, led its readers to believe that this joy was not just national but international, hailing Mandela’s discharge as it did with the headline: “World joy for Mandela.”
Except that, far from joy, this seems an occasion for profound sorrow. After all, when Mandela was admitted to hospital on June 8, for the umpteenth time, I felt moved to join his longtime friend, Andrew Mlangeni, in pleading that, “It’s Time to Let Mandela Go,” The iPINIONS Journal, June 10, 2013.
Alas, nothing vindicates our plea quite like misguided loved ones and political opportunists all celebrating the fact that his home has been retrofitted to effectively replicate the hospital’s intensive care unit that has been his home for the past three months.
The office of South African President Jacob Zuma said Mandela will receive the same level of intensive care that he did in the hospital, administered by the same doctors.
(Associated Press, September 1, 2013)
In other words, this move did not stem from any improvement in Mandela’s health – as many seem to believe. In fact, the Washington Post reported in its September 1 edition that he is still in the same “critical and sometimes unstable condition” he has been in since the day he was admitted.
Mind you, I would have been entirely sympathetic if Mandela’s family members had instructed his doctors to take him off life support, to let him go home to die in dignity and peace surrounded not by hospital staff but by loved ones.
Instead, they have made a mockery of his reported wish to die at home by reconfiguring it in such a way that, if he’s capable of any conscious thought at all, Mandela would surely think he’s still in hospital. So just imagine the cruelty of having family members assure him that he’s back home, and Madiba thinking they’re all taking him for a fool but being unable to express due indignation and dismay….
I clearly ascribe no devious motive to his family; notwithstanding behavior by far too many of them that might compel others to do just that. To be fair, though, given the veritable fortune tabloids would pay for a picture of Mandela in hospital, hooked up to all kinds of life-support tubes, it is highly commendable that no family member has sold him out … in this regard.
I’m just convinced that even his doctors would concede that keeping the 95-year-old Mandela on life support at this point is prolonging not only his suffering but all of the indignities of his vegetative state. This is why I pray his soul is already long gone….
Still I repeat: It’s time to let Mandela go!
Related commentaries:
Who does Winnie Mandela think she is…
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.