ST.GEORGE’S, GRENADA, JULY 18, 2011 − In acknowledgement of the international statesmanship and advocacy of His Excellency, former President Nelson Mandela, Prime Minister Tillman Thomas today faxed a Happy Birthday letter to Mandela on the occasion of his 93rd birthday.
Today is also celebrated as “Nelson Mandela Day” in South Africa and elsewhere.
The following are excerpts from letter which was faxed to His Excellency, former President Nelson Mandela:
“The government and people of Grenada present our compliments and best wishes on the celebration of your 93rd birthday.
You have distinguished yourself not merely as a statesman of the highest order, who played one of the most significant redemptive roles in the history of your nation, but also as an empowering, community organizer and advocate for justice and democratic freedoms.
Your twenty-seven years in prison for a cause that went way beyond your individual interest, will forever remain a lucidly instructive testament to the exceptional sacrifices and exemplary attitude of reconciliation and forgiveness, which you asserted as necessary elements in the healing process that you presided over in your nation.
May I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the fact that your life and your messages on the value of respect for the civil and human rights of every individual, regardless of colour, class or creed, have been inspirational in my political journey as well. I began as an activist-human-rights lawyer, advocating for freedom of expression and other civil rights, which resulted in my imprisonment. Since then I have been repeatedly elected to office and is currently serving as Prime Minister.
You have and continue to touch and influence lives by your dogged resolve to uplift and benefit humanity by your extraordinary acts and messages, which you have manifested with sincere humility and balanced assertiveness.
My wish and that of my administration and people, is that your birthday and this new year of your life, will be happy and blessed in every possible way.”
Some related facts and quotes in tribute
Former President Nelson Mandela, who is now 93 years old, has spent a total of 67 years of his life in the struggle for justice and democratic freedom of his people. 27 of these years were spent behind prison bars. In fact, he was a ripe young 71 years old when in 1990, he was released from prison and made a dignified return to politics.
In 1994 Mandela’s life-long dream was realized when South Africa became a free country in which blacks and whites had equal political freedom.
Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu in a recent interview with journalist Elizabeth Braw, said the following about his fellow South African and Nobel Prize winner, Mandela: “He has given so much of himself and has been fantastic as an icon of reconciliation and forgiveness. The best memorial to him is for us to become the kind of people he gave his life for — a free, caring and compassionate South Africa…that belongs to all who live in it.”
Mandela in his own words
Following are four different quotes which epitomize the wisdom of former President Nelson Mandela:
i) “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
ii) “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
ii) “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
iv) “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
Status of Grenada’s relations with South Africa
South Africa and Grenada have been enjoying friendly, non-resident diplomatic relations since February 25, 1998.
Only recently, on July 12, Grenada and South Africa pledged to build on the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation which exist between the two countries.
President of South Africa, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, on the day in question said he was pleased to receive credentials from Grenada’s newly-accredited (non-resident) High Commissioner to South Africa, Her Excellency, Ms. Ruth Elizabeth
Rouse, and thanked the Government and people of Grenada for past support to South Africa’s struggle for freedom.
