We Lost A True Leader/ Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa

When Nelson Mandela said:"Let my people go." ...he truly meant 'by any means necessary'.
With any other person in human history, I would say the title of leadership could justly precede that
person's name. In Nelson Mandela's case, however, the man greatly enhances the title.
Mr.Mandela was the consummate head of the hearts, minds, and spirits of his own people from the
time they espoused him as their own.
He did not decry peace, nor did he reject violence, so long as his people were subject to the big ugly
thumb of apartheid.
He lead his own brethren at home, in exile, out of custody, in government jails, his name praised,  his name forbidden- as we say in America, through hell and high water.
Whereas he could not agree with Shenge (Mongosuthu) Buthelesi, I always saw Buthelesi as a leader who said he wanted to share power, but really wanted an army which would obliterate white South Africa altogether. I don't see how the nation could have escaped even stricter sanctions, and even other world armies had such violence won the day among black South Africa. For one thing- way too much money, and way too much associated industry would have been up for grabs. even infighting
would have gotten worse among original tribes.
I have always felt certain Nelson Mandela was released from jail because he was the one and only
chance of keeping the peace in South Africa. Both Buthelesi's tribe and Winnie's boys would have
been happy to engender a new Mau-Mau.
I also mourned President Mandela's marriage to Winnie Mandela, because she held his coalition together in his name for so very many years; but when he asked her to help disarm her boys, she was more like Mr. Buthelesi. She had to consistently refuse.
At that time the average age in  South African black culture was only about 15. Winnie had nurtured
those boys from birth, and she vowed never to suggest they be uncomfortable in their security, even
though they may not have actually needed their guns in Mandela's new government.
I saw the inevitable split in the Mandelas as a tragedy of Shakespearean proportion.
I also always held a special place in my heart for Mr. Buthelesi, because his tribes opposed accepting
European foreigners into South African societies in the first place.
The film, Zulu, starring Mr. Buthelesi, shows that sentiment for tribal nation autonomy in a tremendously memorable way with some of the most stunning cinematography since 
Once Upon A Time In The West- a tale most decidedly Not fairy.
History shows us though, that for good or for ill- Nelson Mandela was the man to lead his people out
of apartheid- a system which would never have let them thrive in the land of absolutely every single
one of their ancestors. That system held a promise of continued unrest, naturally, for all of
South Africa.
As it is now, Nelson Mandela has given his country and his countrymen a chance to build the social and
economic freedoms they did not have as inhabitants of a modern society.
Hail to Mandela the Chief.