Members of the audience sing the South African national anthem at the A Life Celebrated concert to commemorate the life of Nelson Mandela. © Setumo Thebe Photography
The phrase “we sing when we are happy, we sing when we are sad” has become a trite shorthand for journalists, local and international, to describe the seemingly bonhomous atmosphere after the passing of Nelson Mandela on Thursday, December 5 2013. It is lamentable that local media pundits have failed to put this phrase into any kind of context, and have used it by and large as an immutable explanation for the way in which South Africans are mourning.
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The definitive turn-around moment of the memorial service came when Khanyo Maphumlo sang the lines “The year 1963/The people’s president/ Was taken away by security men/ All dressed in a uniform/ The brutality, brutality/ Oh no, my, my black president”.
Read the full article here: http://www.mahala.co.za/culture/mourning-song
