Moderate words of an elder statesman

AS South Africa’s elder statesman – and as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – Nelson Mandela is a man who carefully weighs his utterances and well knows that they will command attention.

Clearly much thought and doubts over his initial reaction to the September 11 outrage have led to his decision this week to write to President Bush qualifying his position on the Afghanistan campaign launched in the wake of the New York horror.

Like many people in the world, Mandela has had time to think since that gut reaction support for Bush.

With television viewers everywhere, he has witnessed the sufferings of the Afghan people, many of them innocent bystanders, in the bombings and displays of military strength that have led to the deaths of many civilians, including women and children, as well as the displacement of tens of thousands who have become refugees.

Before Mandela’s statement is condemned by those seeking vengeance for what happened in New York on that cataclysmic day, world leaders might well consider his words coming as they do, not from a head of state, but from a man of compassion and wisdom.

His condemnation of terrorism remains unequivocal but the gung-ho show of force, bringing death, suffering and the displacement of so many is clearly no way to secure the capture of Osama bin Laden who should anyway then be tried according to the laws international justice.

It’s the measure of Mandela’s stature that he can reconsider the implications of his response to a global trauma.

Those who want to criticise him now should consider all his words and interpret them as a sensible call for proper justice to prevail in place of retaliatory violence that is already polarising factions in the world with the ominous threat of an ever-increasing spiral of terror and death.

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Let’s plan now for next year’s crowds

WHO can blame people for wanting to flock to the beaches on summer holidays like those we have experienced this Christmas and New Year?

The numbers were astonishing – more than 350 000 on the metro’s beaches on Tuesday, according to estimates.

Clearly the forces of law and order are inadequate to cope with the influx. And there is no way matters will be easily controlled in the future.

But the toll was high in damage and suffering – a body found in the dunes, parking areas strewn with shattered glass, retail outlets vandalised, pillaged and some mindless crowd behaviour.

Such crowds are almost impossible to police but it is time now to start planning how to handle similar influxes in future.

Port Elizabeth’s tourism industry is growing increasingly strong. Its leaders and municipal officials must meet the police to work out a strategy for the future.

We want people to enjoy themselves, not to cower at home or in their hotels and holiday flats.

We need tourists, we have a long coastline and ways must be found to ensure that everybody has fun in safety.

There’s plenty of time to ensure that things go better in the next holiday season.