GARTMAN: I Fear For South Africa Now That Mandela Has Died
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Nelson Mandela, former South African president and anti-apartheid leader, died in Johannesburg Thursday at the age of 95. Mandela had suffered from a recurring lung infection.
Mandela's death prompted many to worry for the nation, even as they mourned his death.
Dennis Gartman, editor and publisher of the Gartman letter, writes that it was Madiba, as Mandela was fondly called, who "kept South Africa together after the end of Apartheid," and that he now "fears" for South Africa.
"It was Nelson Mandela who forced the blacks in S. Africa to push ahead with the reconciliation councils rather than physically attacking whites living there. It was Madiba who chided radical blacks bent upon revolution rather than reconciliation, and it was Madiba who brought the whole of S. Africa into the modern world and showed the world that the leaders such as Mugabe from Zimbabwe, or Mobutu Sese Seko of the Congo needn’t be the hallmarks of a new African leadership.
"We do fear for S. Africa now that Madiba has passed away, for we fear that it was his presence that kept radicals such as Julius Malema at bay and away from the wheels of power there. One “look” from Madiba... one comment... one statement was sufficient to force Malema to be ousted from his position of authority within the ANC’s Youth League. President Zuma... a man in which we’ve no confidence whatsoever and a man given to the most lunatic decisions and actions... at least had to remain within the bounds of common sense knowing that Nelson Mandela could and would call his hand at a moment’s notice.
"Hence we fear for S. Africa once the period of mourning for the passing of this great man is passed; but for now we mourn the loss of this truly great man... a man for the ages, the likes of which we shall not likely see in our lifetime again."
Gartman goes on to compare President Obama and Madiba, saying the President is a man of the left moving farther in that direction. Mandela on the other hand, he writes, "was a man of the Left who moved to the centre and created a nation."
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