PNG mourns Nelson Mandela

PNG mourns late Nelson Mandela. Getty

Prime Minister O'neill - The Government and People of Papua New Guinea join with me in mourning the passing of the most influential and inspirational statesmen of our time, the first democratically elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

President Mandela ended the cruel apartheid era in South Africa – an era during which he was unjustly and harshly imprisoned for more than two decades – and by his leadership and his example he unified a racially divided nation to create the modern, democratic and multiracial South Africa of today. Of all his many qualities, it was perhaps his unlimited capacity for forgiveness that stands out most of all. And he especially forgave those who mistreated him most of all.

It was his absolute forgiveness of the apartheid Government that imprisoned him, and treated him unjustly and harshly for so long, that laid the foundations for the transition from decades of undemocratic apartheid rule to a robust democracy in a very short period of time.

His influence for good on our World continued as strong and as wholesome as ever in his retirement from public life – and it will continue as strong as ever even after his passing, when we remember the struggles he endured, and his fellow freedom fighters endured, just to gain the freedom and democracy we all too often take for granted.

Under President Mandela’s leadership, South Africa returned to the Commonwealth of Nations, and provided ready leadership for the developing nations of the World. We mourn his passing, but we will always be in admiration of his leadership, his courage under enormous pressure, and the wonderful inspiration he has provided for so many, for so long. The World is a better place for the life and times of Nelson Mandela.

To his family, and to President Jacob Zuma and the People of South Africa, the Government and People of Papua New Guinea extend sincere sympathy at the passing of the founder of modern and free South Africa, and the finest statesmen of our time.

MAY HIS SOUL REST IN ETERNAL PEACE