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Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the last truly global character of the time that South Africa taught the world what courage and reconciliation could achieve for South Africa.
The last extraordinary generation of moral giants, the last to be made up of men and women who moved away from the atrocities of racial apartheid and the cliffs of the Civil War in the 1980s and 1990s, a troubled and traumatized country.
With the disappearance of Desmond Tutu, South Africa is not without a motto or leader, but in the end it is completely tied to the years of its greatness.
The contrast between these times of sacrifice and glory and the much more difficult political realities of today can certainly be seen as striking.
In the end, the country behind Tutu is in turmoil, trapped by deep economic woes, huge unemployment and persistent inequality, and is ruled by a former liberation party in open warfare, the National Assembly for Africa (ANC).
Tutu was too weak to comment on the political violence that erupted in July this year; In fact, supporters of former President Jacob Zuma have been jailed for alleged contempt of court. orchestrating an attempted rebellion.
But the archbishop, over the years, made it clear that his growing disillusionment with the ANC had slipped into factionalism and corruption. Those close to him spoke of his deepest concern, as he was wasting so many achievements on his release.
Disappointment is perhaps inevitably the price one pays for the duration.
Not surprisingly, some prominent figures in the ANC have chosen to remain silent in recent days, sometimes offering hypocritical tributes to a man who was accused of being “worse than the apartheid government”, some of them. he chose to ignore or insult her, or simply say “shut up”.
But this week, others have chosen to attack and attack Tuturi – on social media in particular, of course – as a kind of “sell”, as a man who prioritized reconciliation over justice, over white sensibilities. the needs of the black majority. The complaint is not new. But it is worth noting.
For years, some politicians here have sought to exploit the frustrations of impoverished South Africans – those who have benefited the least from democracy and years of economic stagnation – by accusing Tuturi and Nelson Mandela of being too quick to commit to apartheid leaders and business tycoons. .
Both men are accused of allowing white South Africans to maintain their wealth, and of enjoying comfortable retreats to the apartheid death squad.
In short, Tutu has been accused of over-selling the idea of a “rainbow nation” – a phrase he coined and defended.
The accusation is highly debated and debated here in South Africa.
But as a leader, he touches on something very specific about both Tutu and Mandela: the amazing ability to unite people and achieve international attractiveness in the astonishing capacity that was essential in those tense and desperate years during the fall and apartheid. Mandela was subject to some simple magnitude, eagerly sprinkled.
Tutu’s appeal was based on a more tumultuous mood, balanced with a willingness to show weakness and deep emotion.
He would make fun of apartheid leaders, calling for a “winning side, before it is too late” and laughing at the angry people in South Africa’s troubled black countries. And Tutu would publicly cry, in the mid-1990s, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) he chaired, addressing the grief and trauma of the millions of people he saw on television as a result of daily torture and ill-treatment. apartheid security forces were created.
TRC was imperfect, and was opposed by many in the ANC, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, whom he found. he committed heinous crimes and as a result, he felt unjustly paired with his oppressors. But it was part of a healing process that was essential at the time and would have been impossible without the presence of Tutu.
What Tutuk and Mandela simply had in common was the charm. And, focused in different ways, that charm was essential to his trip to South Africa and its success. The country was allowed to avoid a civil war just like the commitments made in the mischievous negotiations.
Now those who want to rewrite history, without context, and diminish Tutu’s legacy are a minority.
But it is true that especially in recent years, both Tutu and Mandela — so kind, so intrusive — have become the international mascot of tolerance and forgiveness.
And it’s easy to understand how some South Africans might feel uncomfortable, even angry, about the way these men — passionate and uncompromising fighting heroes — have been re-created as “rainbow” defenders of their “rainbow,” to the delight of West audiences, rock stars, and kings.
It is true, of course, that Tutu was a very different thing to many people. At death, like Mandela, it is proclaimed and debated. That’s the nature of an icon.
But what is Tutu’s legacy in today’s South Africa, a whole generation that helped lead the country to democracy?
It’s been so long since those smart days. Is it meaningful to think about what it means for a nation to stay away from the great moral leaders of the past?
Like Mandela, Tutu will never be forgotten. He will continue to live as an example and inspiration to many others. Sure enough.
And it may be difficult to say or argue, at a time when so many are mourning his death and celebrating his joyful, prayerful and extraordinary life, but it may not have been a bad thing for South Africa not to close another one in the end. chapter in the history of his struggle, but the whole book.
Why? Because it may be time, as political commentator Eusebius McKaiser told me, for South Africa to find “another kind of hero — a kind of boring hero”.
In a modern age of political tensions and economic turmoil, the nation needs someone who can move its focus away from its conflicted past and instead inspire people to focus on current technological and technological challenges and find solutions.
Above all, it is urgent to build and reshape an economy that will lift millions out of poverty and make it a reality that has always emphasized the nation of Tutu’s rainbow.
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