Sir, Glasgow, Liverpool and Dundee made Nelson Mandela a freeman of their cities when he was on Robben Island and in 1993 he flew into Glasgow to thank all three councils. I was present as Moderator of Dundee Presbytery and though underwhelmed by any other politician I had met, I was bewitched by his charm, modesty, humour and candour.
Of course one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter and he was jailed for political violence with his name remaining on the US watch-list until removed by George Bush. He was transformed rather than destroyed by prison and fortunate to have in FW de Klerk and Margaret Thatcher two powerful political leaders willing to swim against the tide.
His release and presidency as well that extraordinary period of reconciliation lifted the whole tone of African politics and he rightly shared the Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk.
Unlike the other great revolutionary politician with whom he was often compared Turkey’s Mustafa Kemal Ataturk he was not a good administrator and wisely served only one term. His legacy is to have set an example of forgiveness and statesmanship which has been an inspiration to mankind and he remains one of the planet’s most admired inhabitants.
Rev Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
A man of great compassion and humour
Sir, Like so many others, I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Nelson Mandela.
He was a man of great compassion and humour, and a statesman of great courage and integrity.
The image which most of us will probably hold of Mandela is of a jolly and benevolent grandfather. But he was also a dissident, an agitator, a rebel. He organised, he protested, he resisted.
He refused to accept the indignity of apartheid and dedicated his entire life to consigning it to the dustbin of history. He refused to believe that the status quo could not be changed.
We may know him by the name Nelson, but Mandela’s birth name was actually Rolihlahla. Fittingly, it means “pulling the branch of a tree” in Xhosa or, colloquially, “troublemaker”.
Today, in our age of apathy and inertia, of mass state surveillance and pervasive social injustice, we need all the Rolihlahlas we can get.
As Ian Hamilton has said: “There are times when a country needs troublemakers. This is one.”
David Kelly. 17 Highfields, Dunblane.
Why don’t they enforce it?
Sir, Once again an ill-prepared Scotland, despite warnings days in advance about severe weather, has been affected badly by mismanagement and incompetent travel planning.
My elderly parents were stuck for more than five hours in a massive traffic jam caused by a lorry overturning on the Friarton Bridge on Thursday.
The police advised lorry drivers not to use the bridges due to the high winds but some decided to go ahead anyway causing travel disruption to everybody else.
What earthly use is it for police to issue an order and then not to enforce it?
Lorry drivers should be heavily fined for disobeying police orders and there should be an investigation into why police are not enforcing their own rules.
How many more days of disruption do we have to face?
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.
Please bear this in mind
Sir, There is an unlikely link between our local argument over Madras College’s location and the national controversy over the high-speed rail project (HS2), despite the latter’s budget being one thousand times greater.
A former HS2 Ltd adviser, Professor Henry Overman (London School of Economics) now believes it is a waste of money, saying: “It is deeply depressing that Parliament was asked to vote on whether to start the project before the alternatives had been properly considered.”
These words express precisely the opinion of many Fifers to Fife Council’s proposal to locate Madras College at Pipeland and one hopes that our councillors will bear them firmly in mind in their upcoming vote on its planning in principle application. Councillors, there is an alternative site, the North Haugh, urgently requiring your “proper consideration”!
John Birkett. 12 Horseleys Park, St Andrews.
Lights money to charity?
Sir, There has been much criticism regarding the massive amount paid out to Mark Wright previously unknown to most to switch on the Christmas lights in Perth.
Wouldn’t it be an idea, to obviate a recurrence, if the honour of switching on was put out to tender, perhaps by bidding through the auspices of the silent auction, when the proceeds could be donated to some charitable cause?
G E Muir. 70 Abbey Road, Scone.