I woke up to very sad news: the passing of Nelson Mandela.

We knew he was unwell for almost a year, and so it didn’t come as a surprise, but it doesn’t change anything. South Africa is a poorer nation now.

Nelson Mandela was a great man, for one reason mainly: he overcame bitterness and anger, all too human traits, and totally understandable ones in light of what had been done to him, and yet he chose to forgive, even those who had been at the very heart of the apartheid regime. He wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t a saint, and many mistakes were done while in government. But he acknowledged them often, and often publicly wished things were done better than they were. It is this humility that made him tangibly human, and it is this humility that has totally left the current top of the ANC, which will make Mandela be missed all the more in the future. I still hope that the future of South Africa will be what the Madiba would have liked to see: a true Rainbow Nation, where race is irrelevant, and where all South Africans have equal chances and opportunities in life.

Rest in peace, Madiba!