Nelson Mandela death watch: photos of the ‘racist’ media ‘vultures’
THE Nelson Mandela Death Watch story is pretty unedifying. LIVE! TV news reports from outside the Pretoria hospital where the 94-year-old is resting are nightly. The BBC’s man on the scene calls it a “waiting game“. The world’s media is camped by the South African hospital. He’s 94. What are they waiting for? Do they expect Mandela to emerge from the roof on a golden charriot pulled by ethereal horses? This news story is about an elderly man being severely ill. Three reporters working shifts could cover the entire story for everyone. But this is competitive mourn porn. They all want to be there to shout ‘FIRST!’.
Mandela’s eldest daughter Makaziwe is not happy. She says:
“There’s sort of a racist element with many of the foreign media, where they just cross boundaries. You have no idea what is happening at the hospital. In the middle of Park Street they just stand. You can’t even get into the hospital. It’s like truly vultures waiting when a lion has devoured a buffalo, waiting there for the last carcasses. That’s the image that we have, as a family…
“Is it just because we’re an African country, that they feel they don’t have to respect this? I just think it’s crass. If people think they really care about Nelson Mandela, they should respect that. Part of him should be respected, not everything of him should be out in the public…
“I didn’t see this with Margaret Thatcher or when George Bush was in hospital. The manner in which it’s covered makes us incensed. Why don’t people think, ‘If it was my loved one, would I want all these details made public?’
“We appreciate all the love and support but the way it’s done makes our blood boil. It’s not been like this anywhere else. You guys want a pound of flesh. In the absence of details you speculate. We are going through a difficult time as a family and this doesn’t make it easier…
“I don’t think the South African media would go to London and camp outside Buckingham Palace.”
They would if they were allowed to get close enough.
And this is too close:
An unidentified member of the family is swamped by the media after collecting flowers from wellwishers outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Thursday, June 27, 2013. President Jacob Zuma canceled a trip to Mozambique on Thursday in an indication of heightened concern about Mandela, whose health deteriorated last weekend. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Granddaughters Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway, center, and Tukwini Mandela, center left, are swamped by the media after collecting flowers from wellwishers outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Thursday, June 27, 2013. President Jacob Zuma canceled a trip to Mozambique on Thursday in an indication of heightened concern about Mandela, whose health deteriorated last weekend. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Posted: 27th, June 2013 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
