Nelson Mandela is an icon of the 20th and 21st centuries. His charisma is undeniable when reading many of the stories of people who have encountered him. In this respect, I highly recommend the book Leading like Madiba by Martin Kalungu-Banda.
On the 2013 Mandela Day celebrations, I’m calling for 67 minutes of privacy for South Africa’s first democratically elected president. Madiba may be old, frail, in hospital and therefore not active in the public domain, but his legacy is tied to that of South Africa’s future. In the last two months, since he has been hospitalised, the media has gone into a frenzy.
His children are currently embattled in a family feud of megalithic proportions. My own sentiment is that the most valuable gift we can give Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel is 67 minutes of privacy from the Media. In my opinion, privacy is the most valuable commodity of the digital era. As technology has grown with the adoption of smartphones and CCTV cameras, so has the constant surveillance state grown in leaps and bounds. In China, the facial recognition technology is the most advanced in the world. There, people are often penalised for jaywalking and other small acts of disobedience, by having money deducted from their bank accounts and so on.
Most people realise by now that every single website and mobile app tracks your every move. In the same way, the media has tracked every single move in and out of the hospital of the global icon. In African culture, it’s a sign of respect not to look someone in the eyes.
Big Brother is not just a television show; it’s Google, YouTube, Apple and Microsoft, all in collusion with your governments, spying on you, as Edward Snowden has exposed. So even if you don’t care about Nelson Mandela, maybe you can spend 67 minutes reviewing your own privacy online.
Hell, just for fun, switch off your Smartphone, disable your Facebook & Twitter for 67 minutes. Not having a profile on social media sites is one of the most extreme yet practical ways of protecting your privacy. It will give you some sanity and some peace of mind, not to be constantly waiting and watching for notifications of likes or comments on your social media posts.