The grandson of Nelson Mandela is speaking out to slam Meghan Markle this week after she compared her marriage to Prince Harry to the South African leader being released from prison.
Bathong Meghan Markle 😳
We didn’t rejoice in the streets when you married Prince Harry. It was nothing like Mandela’s release after 27 years… like the rest of world, we watched on TV…
Who is the cast member that lied to the Duchess of Sussex 👀 pic.twitter.com/1Acr4juTZI
— Mrs Noma 🔆 (@MrsNoma) August 30, 2022
Meghan’s Mandela Comparison
While speaking to The Cut, Meghan claimed that while attending the 2019 London premiere of the live-action Lion King film, she was approached by a South African cast member who told her, “When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.”
Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela told Daily Mail that the 1990 release of his grandfather from prison “can never be compared to the celebration of someone’s wedding.”
“Madiba’s celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of a brutal apartheid regime in South Africa,” he stated. “So It cannot be equated to as the same.”
“Every day there are people who want to be Nelson Mandela, either comparing themselves with him or wanting to emulate him,” he continued, referring to Meghan. “But before people can regard themselves as Nelson Mandelas, they should be looking into the work that he did and be able to be champions and advocates of the work that he himself championed.”
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‘Not The Same As Marrying A White Prince’
Mandela served 27 years in prison before going on to become president of South Africa.
“Overcoming 60 years of apartheid is not the same as marrying a white prince,” Zwelivelile said. “We are still bearing scars of the past. But they [Mr. Mandela’s celebrations] were a product of the majority of our people being brought out onto the streets to exercise the right of voting for the first time.”
“He spoke for oppressed minorities, children and women and protracting the most vulnerable people in our society,” the African National Congress MP added. “He always spoke about oppressed nations around the globe and yet people are silent on those issues. But this is what we like to see (from) people when they regard themselves as being a ‘Nelson Mandela.’ Then you could be a champion of the causes that he represented.”
Zwelivelile’s Advice
Zwelivelile then offered some advice to the public.
“My advice to everyone is to live the life Nelson Mandela lived and support the causes he supported,” he explained. “That is the ultimate litmus test. What is the value of people dancing in the street and chanting President Nelson Mandela’s name when what they stand for is diametrically opposed to what he stood for?”
“Nelson Mandela’s release from jail was the culmination of nearly 350 years of struggle in which generations of our people paid with their lives,” he concluded. “It can never be compared to the celebration of someone’s wedding.”
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Meghan’s Backlash – History With Mandela Family
This comes after Meghan received widespread backlash for the comment.
“How long is Meghan going to pour out her drivel?” said royal expert Angela Levin. “It’s enough already. Not a surprise to learn that Mandela’s grandson is cross Meghan compares her wedding to Mandela’s release from prison.”
Just last month, Harry gave a speech at the UN General Assembly for Nelson Mandela Day, and both he and Meghan met with Graca Machel, the widow of Mandela, on the last day of their tour of Africa in 2019. The year before that, they both met Mandela’s granddaughter Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela during a visit to the Nelson Mandela centenary exhibition at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Mandela himself died in 2013.
Meghan will undoubtedly be humiliated to hear what Mandela’s own grandson had to say about her comparison. Perhaps she’ll think twice before she does something like that again in the future.