Conflicting Reports on Nelson Mandela Death at 94 (Update)

This is an update to the original article that I wrote last night. It has upset a lot of people and I have written an addendum with new facts that will prove our assertions that the great man is dead. If you want to read the original article please scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Despite the fact that reliable sources have revealed that after Nelson Mandela’s life support machine was shut down and he died with his family around him, the South African government continues to insist that Mandela is recovering and not dead yet. According to our sources in South Africa Nelson Mandela has died in the hospital aged 94.

We stand behind our original article and have provided the following information that has been supplied to us by our local South African sources.

Our sources have relayed to us that there is a massive cover-up being undertaken by President Zumba and the South African government. While the world still waits for official confirmation about the truth about the great man’s death, we have been informed that he has, in fact, already died.

Again, according to our South African local sources, the iconic Mandela died while he was still in the hospital for the recurring lung infection that left him in critical condition for several days.

Rumors have flooded the newspapers and the internet with several sources reporting his death days earlier in a cruel attempt to fool the public and to upset the many people who have respect for this great humanitarian. The loss of the great man will be felt across the world. Our report is an effort to reveal the truth behind the conflicting reports on Mandela’s death.

Yesterday one of our South African journalists, Laura Oneale, wrote an article questioning whether or not Nelson Mandela was still alive. He had been in the hospital 19 days for a recurring lung infection. Speculation surrounding his health continued to grow with many asking whether he was still alive or if, in fact, he had died. Authorities have thus far only confirmed that he was on a life support machine and that he remains in critical condition.

Some sources have gone so far as to say that the world-respected humanitarian is actually improving. These statements appear to be a part of the larger “smoke screen” that has South Africans calling for President Zuma to tell the truth about whether Mandela is dead or alive.

Authorities have confirmed that Nelson Mandela has been taken off his life support machine, adding fuel to the speculation that he had died. Because of this, the rumor has been spreading that Nelson Mandela died last night and that the government and his family have “kept a lid” on the news because of American President Obama’s upcoming trip to South Africa. Obviously, the president’s visit will be overshadowed by the announcement of the Nobel Prize winning Mandela.

The Nobel Prize winning humanitarian Nelson Mandela had his life support shut down after he died last night aged 94 at the end of a long battle with illness that ended with his hospitalization and finally his death. While his health problems started in 2011, it was the summer of this year when his condition worsened.

On June 8, 2013, Mandela’s lung infection worsened and he was re-hospitalized in Pretoria in  serious condition. After four days, it was reported that he had stabilized and that he remained in a “serious, but stable condition”.

While on his way to the hospital, the ambulance carrying Mandela broke down and was stranded on the roadside for 40 minutes. The South African government was criticized for the incident when it confirmed the report weeks later. President Jacob Zuma protested: “There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care.”

On June 22, 2013 CBS News reported that Mandela had not opened his eyes in days and that he was unresponsive. The family began discussing just how much medical intervention should be given.

On June 23, 2013 President Jacob Zuma issued a statement saying that Mandela’s condition had become “critical.” Zuma, who was accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met with Mandela’s wife Graca Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.

On June 25, 2013, Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Graca Machel Mandela “at this hard time of watching and waiting.”

On June 26, 2013, Nelson Mandela was taken off life support after his condition deteriorated further. Sources have said that the 94 year-old Mandela died last night after his life support was shut down. A medical source explained to us that no one is left on life support after 24 hours as they are then technically brain dead.

The Las Vegas Guardian Express writer Laura Oneale also wrote that in Qunu, the home town of Nelson Mandela, his family got together with the elders to discuss specific events surrounding the well-being of Mandela. It has been confirmed that they were talking about highly sensitive issues, but trying to get further information has been difficult.

Our local writer also said, “Nobody wants to talk, it is a big cover up. The family reports he is gravely ill, then Zuma tells the media Mandela is getting better. The people here in SA are upset with Zuma and don’t believe him. A lot of people are believing he is dead. [There are] Plenty of remarks about the integrity of Zuma.”

In the home town of Qunu, where Mandela will be buried, they are repairing the roads, and continue to clean up the city. Allegedly they are expecting a large contingent of journalists who will be travelling down there.

There is other “evidence” that points to Nelson Mandela having already died, like the presence of the “red blanket.” Mandela’s daughter, who was seen wearing a red blanket, and other family members were at the great man’s gravesite. It is part of Xhosa tradition that family members cover themselves with a red blanket when there has been a death in the family, not in preparation of someone dying, but only when a family member has died.

We have gotten a lot of angry remonstrations for reporting the real news as has been passed on to us from reliable sources. One source works for the government owned TV station and does not want to be named for fear of losing their job or worse. Our sources are reporting the truth, completely the opposite of what the South African government is doing.

We have been warned that if we persist in exposing the fact that Nelson Mandela has already died that it will cause severe problems for the South African government. Out local journalist has told us that “the majority of people will take to the streets to morn his death and the weeping and wailing would be a nightmare; the economy will suffer and the different tribes will make a massive drama about his death.”

Our writer also goes onto say “They have different ways of preparing and performing funerals here.”

We have also learned that a lot of the bad publicity and anger that we’ve received at the Las Vegas Guardian Express is based on “jealousy and from support for the Zuma team.” President Zuma has gone on record stating that Nelson Mandela is improving and the South African public have said that he is lying. The backlash from his “covering up” of Mandela’s death will be severe.

Our local journalist also pointed out that there have been many cases in the past of world leaders dying and the truth not being revealed for days, or even weeks. Mandela’s death, coinciding with President Obama’s visit, would be a potential security nightmare for the South African government. It has been alleged that the SA government is in talks with the US government right now regarding how and when Mandela’s death should be revealed.

Our local Journalist has been attempting to get further confirmation on Mandela’s death, but nothing is being mentioned. Our sources have said that local people believe he is dead and that the government is covering up the story. The reasons given for this cover up is the American president’s visit and the economic situation. There are rumours that the government will announce his death beginning of July and declare July Mandela month.

His birthday is on July 18.

We have been told that the government spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, had a slip of the tongue by saying the elders who were meeting in Qunu were “arranging the funeral.” It was also reported is that Zuma cancelled a trip abroad and that this indicates more evidence of a cover up or is an indication of how serious the situation is.

SABC News showed the gravediggers on television last night and this has caused the local people to now believe he is dead. People are angry and they are blaming SA President Zuma for the cover up.

We have had two sources (the second being a SA publication) confirm that Nelson Mandela has already died last night after his life support was shut down and that the respected iconic humanitarian has died age 94. It is our understanding that despite the conflicting reports on Nelson Mandela’s death, that the world respected Noble Peace Prize winning humanitarian has gone and the world will mourn his death.

By Michael Smith

Source

A reliable source has revealed that Nelson Mandela’s life support machine was shut down and he has died in the hospital aged 94. According to the source, the iconic Mandela died last night while he was still in the hospital for the recurring lung infection that left him in critical condition for several days.

Rumors have flooded the newspapers and the internet with several sources reporting his death days earlier in a cruel attempt to fool the public and to upset the many people who have respect for this great humanitarian. The loss of the great man will be felt across the world.

Earlier today one of our writers, Laura Oneale, wrote an article questioning whether or not Nelson Mandela was still alive. He had been in the hospital 19 days for a recurring lung infection. As speculation surrounding his health continued to grow with many asking whether he was still alive or if, in fact, he had died. Until recently authorities would only confirm that he was on a life support system and remained in a critical condition.

Authorities have confirmed that Nelson Mandela has been taken off his life support machine, adding fuel to the speculation that he had died. Because of this, the rumor has been spreading that Nelson Mandela died last night and that the government and his family have “kept a lid” on the news because of American President Obama’s upcoming trip to South Africa. Obviously, the president’s visit will be overshadowed by the announcement of the Nobel Prize winning Mandela.

The Nobel Prize winning humanitarian Nelson Mandela had his life support shut down after he died last night aged 94 at the end of a long battle with illness that ended with his hospitalization and finally his death. While his health problems started in 2011, it was the summer of this year when his condition worsened.

In February 2011, he was briefly hospitalized with a respiratory infection, attracting international attention. He was then re-hospitalized for a lung infection and gallstone removal in December 2012. After his successful medical procedure in March 2013 did not prevent his lung infection from recurring he was briefly hospitalized in Pretoria.

On June 8, 2013, his lung infection worsened and he was re-hospitalized in Pretoria in a serious condition. After four days, it was reported that he had stabilized and that he remained in a “serious, but stable condition”.

While on his way to the hospital, the ambulance carrying Mandela broke down and was stranded on the roadside for 40 minutes. The South African government was criticized for the incident when it confirmed the report weeks later. President Jacob Zuma protested: “There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care.”

On June 22, 2013 CBS News reported that Mandela had not opened his eyes in days and that he was unresponsive. The family began discussing just how much medical intervention should be given.

On June 23, 2013 President Jacob Zuma issued a statement saying that Mandela’s condition had become “critical.” Zuma, who was accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met with Mandela’s wife Graca Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.

On June 25, 2013, Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Graca Machel Mandela “at this hard time of watching and waiting.”

On June 26, 2013, Nelson Mandela was taken off life support after his condition deteriorated further. Sources have said that the 94 year-old Mandela died last night after his life support was shut down.

The Las Vegas Guardian Express writer Laura Oneale also wrote that in Qunu, the home town of Nelson Mandela, his family got together with the elders to discuss specific events surrounding the well-being of Mandela. It has been confirmed that they were talking about highly sensitive issues.

The grandson of Nelson Mandela angrily left the meeting over a disagreement of where the former president was to be buried. Mandela’s daughter, who was seen wearing a red blanket, and other family members were at the gravesite. It has been reported that the “red blanket” is part of a tribal ceremony of the Xhosa. According to Xhosa custom the blanket is used when a family member has died.

Later in the same day, gravediggers arrived at the Mandela burial site.

Sources have confirmed that Nelson Mandela died last night after his life support was shut down and the respected iconic humanitarian has died age 94. Details of the funeral arrangements will be released when they become available.

By Michael Smith
United Kingdom

http://guardianlv.com/2013/06/nelson-mandela-life-support-shut-down-as-respected-humanitarian-dies-age-94/

Open letter to SA from the foreign media

Richard Poplak

Dear South Africa,

Please get the fuck out of the way.

Wait, that probably came out wrong. Let us explain.

As you may have noted, we’re back! It’s been four long months since the Oscar Pistorious bail hearing thing, and just as we were forgetting just how crappy the Internet connections are in Johannestoria, the Mandela story breaks.

We feel that it is vital locals understand just how big a deal this is for us. In the real world—far away from your sleepy backwater—news works on a 24-hour cycle. That single shot of a hospital with people occasionally going into and out of the front door, while a reporter describes exactly what is happening—at length and in detail? That’s our bread and butter. It’s what we do.

And you need to get out of the way while we do it.

It’s nothing personal. In fact, we couldn’t do this successfully without you. In many cases, our footage is made more compelling by your presence. Specifically, we are fond of small black children praying and/or singing in unison. Equally telegenic are the Aryan ubermensch blonde kids also praying/singing, who help underscore the theme that Mandela united people of all races under a Rainbow umbrella.

Also very important, thematically speaking, are Mandela’s successors. We very much like the idea that your ex-president was “one of a kind”, and that despite his best efforts, the current batch of idiots prove that he was an exceptional presence, sui generis, and we don’t have to worry about someone else like him coming along in Africa ever again. We enjoy your leaders’ bumbling ways, their daft non-sequiturs, the glint of their Beijing-bought Breitlings. That “Vote ANC” truck parked outside the hospital? If that doesn’t speak to moral degeneration of the first order, what does? In other words, this story would lack a tragic arc without Jacob Zuma. May he keep on keeping on.

Then there’s the Mandela’s family. Really, where would we derive our soap operatic undertones if it weren’t for the infighting and the blinged-up brashness of that clan? We love subtly implying that a saint sired a generation of professional shoppers and no-goodnicks. In our biz, we call that “irony”. Makes for great copy.

In fact, we love everything about the country that doesn’t live up to Mandela’s legacy. We will take every opportunity to mention how everything you do flies in the face of everything Mandela would’ve wanted from his people—how you’re basically a nation of under-achieving screw-ups. All of this is fantastic, we thank you profusely for your individual and collective contributions to this essential storyline, and urge you to keep squandering your potential.

But like we said, we’re busy.

We need to be fed, constantly and without respite, big juicy mouthfuls of new information regarding every aspect of the story. Each piece of data, no matter how seemingly trivial or inane, is to us the rich, fatty gravy that we will slather over this one essential fact: the father of your nation is gravely ill, and we’re banking—literally, banking—on his not making it. The geraniums in the hospital planter, beating the chill of winter? Metaphor. Again—no detail too small.

Indeed, you need to brace yourselves. We’re about to engage in the single greatest orgy of industrial-grade mourning porn the world has ever known. Your little country will forever be honoured as the site that made the Princess Diana thing look like a restrained wake for a loathed spinster who perished alone on a desert island. Oh man, this is going to be big.

But that’s then. For the meantime, we need you to behave yourselves. We’re going to be pushy, and we make no apologies for it. This is the news—and news, after all, is the concrete foundation of democracy, a principle Mandela was willing to die for long before he was dying.

Note the solemn tone of our television reports. Ken the funereal passages published in our great papers. At times, the scramble for information may seem like a pursuit entirely free of dignity. But remember that watching a sausage get made can be a grisly process.

We would like to respect the fact that you’re going through a period of great sadness and protracted grieving. But we all need to be grown-ups about this.

So, we ask again, and this time with feeling:

Please. Get the fuck out of the way.

http://ewn.co.za/2013/06/28/OPINION-Open-letter-from-the-foreign-media-to-SA

Mandela: I Will Rest In Qunu - Keep It Simple

Nelson Mandela never gave detailed instructions for his burial, but nearly 20 years ago he made his wishes clear: he wanted to be buried in Qunu.

Former president Nelson Mandela never gave detailed instructions for his burial, but nearly 20 years ago he made his general wishes clear: he wanted to be buried in Qunu, and he wanted to keep things simple, even while recognising that his funeral would inevitably be a state affair.

And it seems that Mandela stuck to his wish for simplicity, although details of his latest will are not available.

Those instructions provide the clearest insight available into Mandela's own wishes on what should happen after his death, well before the Presidency and family started making arrangements for that eventuality, and well before the family this week apparently fell out about the details of those arrangements.

In January 1996, Mandela gave three broad instructions with regard to his burial. He did not want any interference with a state memorial service and various associated ceremonies; he wanted to be buried in his ancestral home of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, rather than in a more prominent location in the capital; and he wanted a grave marker of simple stone on site of his grave.

At the time Mandela was 78, and still held the office of President. While it is possible that his wishes may have changed over the following years, he included those wishes in subsequent wills, and those close to the Mandela family say it is unlikely.

"He never gave death a great deal of thought, but he never wanted anything fancy," said a family friend of long standing.

Funeral instructions
Such an attitude is corroborated by papers that were placed before the courts during disputes around the sale of artworks bearing Mandela's signature, including wills drafted from 1995 onwards. Although the actual disposition sections of the wills were redacted to guard Mandela's privacy, each version presented occupied no more than a single A4 page – for a man who, in the early 2000s, held cash in South Africa and abroad amounting to at least several million US dollars.

Wills of even moderately affluent people are typically many times that length, with funeral instructions alone often running to several pages.

Mandela's wealth at the time mostly flowed from the sale of his books and various pieces of memorabilia, including artworks bearing his name. Various business people also established initiatives intended to provide for Mandela in his old age, and to ensure the wellbeing of his family after he left office.

The money raised in those initiatives now mainly resides in family trusts. Control of those trusts is currently a matter of dispute.

Though not among the wishes expressed by Mandela himself, a source close to the family this week said the intention was to create a garden of memory in Qunu, one that could satisfy the expected need for a place of pilgrimage for tourists without necessarily opening Mandela's grave itself to the public.

Graça Machel has not been involved
But plans around both the specific grave site and the garden project appears to have suffered from internal family disputes, delaying final decisions, even amid widespread recognition that the matter is now urgent.

Though technically Mandela's next of kin, his wife Graça Machel has not been involved in the disputes – or in decisions around Mandela's burial – according to well-placed sources. Though Mandela lived in Houghton in Johannesburg until his most recent hospitalisation, Machel maintained her own home in nearby Sandton. However, during his hospitalisation in Pretoria she stayed at his bedside, or slept in the hospital, the only member of the family to stay in such close proximity to the ailing elder statesman.

Much of the decision-making within the family appears to have devolved to Mandela's daughter Makaziwe, who has consolidated her control over what has at times been a fractious extended family.

Makaziwe and her sister, Zenani Dlamini, in March launched a joint application to remove advocate George Bizos, lawyer Bally Chuene and housing minister Tokyo Sexwale as directors of Mandela-linked holding companies. However, Dlamini is the ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay, and she this week returned to her post in South America even as her father was in a critical condition in hospital, leaving Makaziwe to deal with family matters at home. Between them, insiders say, they wield more influence than ANC MP, chief Mandla Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, who has struggled to maintain the respect of elders and family amid divorces and claims of infertility and infidelity even though he is, technically, the family patriarch.

'Strictly a family sacred place'
"Makaziwe and Zenani are effectively the heads of the family now," said a source close to the family this week. "Zenani brings in Winnie [Madikizela-Mandela, Nelson Mandela's former wife] and Makaziwe is very close to Lindiwe [Sisulu, minister of public service and administration]. That gives them the weight they need in the family and in government, so they can bring everyone together. The other kids look to them for direction."

In their application around directorships of companies housing Mandela assets earlier this year, the two daughters submitted powers of attorney signed by 17 others, which Zenani described as "all of the major children and grandchildren" of Nelson Mandela. Mandla Mandela was among those who effectively appointed them as his agent in the matter, although he subsequently partially retracted his support.

In a rare interview on Thursday, Makaziwe indicated that Mandela's grave will likely be considered private, and will not be opened to visitors.

"Family grave yards … they're not for public," she told the state broadcaster. "They are for public once when you've buried a loved one and you invite people to that. And that is the end. After that it becomes strictly a family sacred place."

http://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-28-00-mandela-give-me-a-simple-grave-in-qunu

Opportunistic ANC

ANC Supporters drive past the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria where former president Nelson Mandela is being treated.

Thousands of ANC supporters descended on the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital this evening to pray for former president Nelson Mandela’s speedy recovery.

Tshwane mayor Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa and the ANC regional leadership led ANC supporters in song, dance and prayer as the night vigil largely resembled a political rally.

Over 30 buses started arriving from around 4pm this afternoon, ferrying supporters who wore ANC colours, waving the party’s flag and singing struggle songs associated with he 94-year-old, who is in a critical but stable condition in the hospital.

Most ANC supporters said they were not concerned about perceptions that their behavior would be viewed as electioneering, and dismissed criticism that the party was attempting to gain political traction from Mandela’s hospitalisation ahead of next year’s elections.

Traffic grounded to a halt as buses, with supporters hanging from windows, used the busy Park Street, adjacent to the hospital, to drop off the supporters who marched up and down Celliers Street before gathering at the nearby lawns of the Pretoria Art Museum.

The ANC leadership, including City of Tshwane chief whip Jabu Mabona, addressed throngs of ANC members, mostly from Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville, while perched on a stage erected at the back of a truck.

The truck was decorated in ANC posters with party president Jacob Zuma’s image.

They sang gospel songs and made it clear that Mandela was an ANC man, a statement which was reiterated by his eldest daughter, Makaziwe, in an interview televised earlier in the day.

Metro police had their hands full trying to direct traffic, which was still moving slowly past the hospital three hours later.

Children, the elderly and various interests groups, including Hare Krishna devotees, were still gathered at the entrance.

http://www.citypress.co.za/politics/mandela-night-vigil-resembles-political-rally/