A TRIBUTE TO NELSON MANDELA …writt’n by Murstradamus [courtesy AceWorldTEAM]

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela [Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliːɬaɬa manˈdeːla]; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013] was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was South Africa’s 1st black chief executive, and the 1st elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress [ANC] from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

We at the AceWorldTEAM have decided to pay tribute to this great man in our own way and we sought to no other means other than the poetic prowess of a new, yet burgeoning writer here on our platform; give it up to Murstradamus who put up the beautiful piece below.

R.I.P Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

God bless Africa, I am a son of these sands. Sacred and old.
Sands which elegantly drape the Sahara in robes of gold
Passive and calm though
Radiating from the sweltering eye of Apollo.

These are the sands which ground my roots
Feeding my family tree from the foot
Indeed my fore-fathers were her seeds too
Often ploughing through the farms just to earn a plate of food.

Therein lies the irony of a paradox
Mama Africa! Within her bosom lies sufficient nourishment for her offspring
But instead my labour is reimbursed by way of a meal as a reward
Mama Africa is this land not our inheritance since the day we were born?
Why should we then work for what freely spawns
From your palms in the form of fruit trees and wild fields of crop?

Lost adrift in reflection
Entertaining the company of these sombre questions
Wearing the shoes of the million men who marched for answers
Reliving the struggle as I reflect for a second…

In loving memory of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
An icon. A leader of nations and a God above men.
The template for greatness but also the sacrificial lamb.
Our lips wax lyrical as we still struggle to conceive the depth of your heroic actions.

Father forgive me I’m not a blasphemer
But with my own eyes I’ve been blessed to have witnessed
Africa’s prodigal son, the anointed Black Jesus
Who was persecuted for his plight of liberation and freedom
Chain and ball he was cast in prison
For his rhetoric was perceived as an act of treason.

But yet and still Tata Madiba, you turned the other cheek
Opening your arms to embrace the people
Both believers and heathen as one nation which is free.
Free of all manner of oppression, a nation which is at peace.
Not just with itself but with the world- as you said at your inauguration speech.

Long live the idle there will never be a rival in magnitude or legacy
He may have passed on from flesh to spirit
But best believe it,
Tata Madiba, You’re still forever breathing
Cause your message is never leaving.

As South Africa lays your soul to rest
We shed tears for the father this land upon which we now stand
Not as slaves or masters but united as ever
Arm in arm, song and dance, as one brethren.

To mourn the death of a King
To pay homage and salute the cause you served while you still lived.

When you reach the gates of heaven
I pray the latter day saints – Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X,
will receive you in good stead with open arms and a feast prepared
For Black Jesus has finally been resurrected to be with his father … In Heaven.

In Loving Memory of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, you will forever be remembered and treasured.