Goodbye comrade Nelson Mandela

Goodbye comrade Nelson Mandela

Comrade Nelson Mandela has left us. After a lifetime of struggle he has gone, leaving us to say our goodbyes, and thinking of the people who will miss him. His family, his friends, his comrades, and the many millions of workers and left wing activists who learned politics and class struggle under the shadow of Apartheid.
Today we remember Nelson because of his own personal sacrifice, because he refused to give in, and because he personified the struggle against and the historic defeat of Apartheid.
Nelson was a political activist, leader of a revolutionary movement. This movement defeated the racist South African government, a regime that was supported openly and covertly by capitalist corporations and by Western governments. The movement won through mass struggle, armed struggle, industrial struggle and thanks to the assistance of a global solidarity campaign built by activists and working people.
Nelson's legacy is the defeat of Apartheid in South Africa. In Israel the struggle against Apartheid continues. In South Africa the ANC government has shown that capitalism after Apartheid gives nothing to workers, and legitimate struggle continues to be repressed, sometimes brutally.
Nelson was our leader. The struggle is conducted by millions. Being respectful to comrade Mandela and to the movement means that we continue talking about the situation that faces workers, about the brutality of global capitalism, and about the need for struggle as we create a way forward.
Goodbye comrade Nelson Mandela. Workers change the world
source:::http://www.aawl.org.au