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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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Necklaced
The ANC's implicit approval for black-on-black violence ushered in the final, apocalyptic chapter of the armed struggle as the system of apartheid was finally overthrown. In 1997 the Chairman of the Truth & Reconciliation2 Commission Archbishop Desmond Tutu paid tribute to Mandela after the former President confessed that "things went horribly wrong"3 after her husband's death in custody a decade before4.
Footnotes - Our purpose on this tale is to reflect on a tragedy averted. 1) Paraphrased Quote from History in Quotations by M.J. Cohen and John Major In OHM the wife of Nelson Mandela gave a reckless speech. Black South Africans suspected of collaborating with the Nationalist government were sometimes 'necklaced' - that is roasted alive with a burning tyre around their necks. 2) Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWH9K3044Vs on You Tube 3) Source - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie_Mandela#Post-Apartheid 4) We anticipate a more violent ending to Apartheid on the
same timescales where instead Winnie becomes President. This exchange between
Winnie Mandela and Desmond Tutu did occur, but not in this context.
Steve Payne, Editor Today in Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today. Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting fictional blog.
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On April
13 1986, Winnie Mandela pledged "Together, hand in hand, with our boxes of
matches and our necklaces we shall liberate this country" in The Times newspaper1.