SERZH SARGSYAN SENDS LETTER OF CONDOLENCES TO PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
19:51, 6 December, 2013
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Today, the President of the Republic
of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan sent a letter of condolences to the President
of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma on the occasion of the
death of former President of the Republic Nelson Mandela.
“Armenpress” was informed from the Department for Mass Media and
Public Relations of the President’s staff of the Republic of Armenia
that the telegram says in particular:
“Your Excellency,
Today, untiring pioneer of the noblest human values and a symbol of
justice and human dignity Nelson Mandela who left an indelible imprint
in the pages of the world history peacefully preached his spirit.
Being in prison for more than a quarter century, he did not stop to
believe and fight for the freedom of others. It was that boundless
faith that led his political and humanitarian activities for the sake
of call to life and rooting of the ideas for freedom and equality.
The heritage of Mandela extends beyond the borders of the Republic
of South Africa. The ideas and the passed way of Nelson Mandela will
inspire and guide for many generations, as his adopted values and
bio-philosophy are endless and sustainable”.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a
South African anti-apartheid revolutionary as well as a politician
and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994
to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office,
and the first elected in a fully representative election. His
government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through
tackling institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and
fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist
and democratic socialist, he served as the President of the African
National Congress(ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was
the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.
A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort
Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied
law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial
politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its
Youth League. After the South African National Party came to power in
1948, he rose to prominence in the ANC’s 1952 Defiance Campaign, was
appointed superintendent of the organization’s Transvaal chapter and
presided over the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer,
he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC
leadership, was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the Treason Trial from
1956 to 1961. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, he
co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961 in association
with the South African Communist Party, leading a sabotage campaign
against the apartheid government. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted
of conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life
imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
Mandela served 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and
later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. An international
campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid
escalating civil strife. Mandela published his autobiography and
opened negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid
and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC
to victory.
As South Africa’s first black President Mandela formed aGovernment
of National Unity in an attempt to defuse racial tension. He
also promulgated a new constitution and created the Commission
to investigate past human rights abuses. Continuing the former
government’s liberal economic policy, his administration introduced
measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand
healthcare services. Internationally, he acted as mediator between
Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial,
and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for
a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki.
Mandela subsequently became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable
work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela
Foundation.
Although Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life,
he became widely popular following his release. Despite a minority
of critics who continued to denounce him as a communist sympathizer
and terrorist, he gained international acclaim for his activism,
having received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace
Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order
of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where
he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata
(“Father”); he is often described as “the father of the nation”.
From: A. Papazian