The rainbow dream that died has left South African marked by inequality, with one of the world’s highest rates of murder and entrenched youth unemployment; cratered, litter-strewn roads; water and power more often than not switched off in townships like Soweto. Wealth and land have stayed largely in white hands or moved to a small, politically connected elite within the ANC, which is plagued by corruption and mismanagement claims.
All of which has led to a revision of the ‘saintly’ Nelson Mandela and the legacy he left as well as a revisioning of his former wife Winnie. She was an international symbol of resistance to apartheid but latterly became mired in personal and political scandal with accusations of corruption and murder. A journalist who knew her in the early days said her tragedy was that she was coarsened by her brutal treatment at the hands of the authorities. She was tortured, subjected to house arrest, kept under surveillance, held in solitary confinement for over a year.
One Soweto resident said: ““Her radical views now seem more relevant than the sentimentality attached to Nelson Mandela”. Her biographer said the recent revamping of her reputation “comes from disappointment with the transition that Mandela made. The movement that has picked her up and resurrected her is a movement of anger and disappointment, and Nelson Mandela is the abiding symbol of that disappointment.”
“Winnie fought for people who live in shacks. She would be doing that today. She would be fighting for water, for power, to stop violence against women — these are crises in South Africa.”
When Nelson Mandela because President in a moment of high hopes and great expectations in 1994 on 10 May 12.18pm Pretoria, a Taurus New Moon was close to the Midheaven from the expansive, rhetoric-boosting 9th. What might have given pause for thought is the South Node exactly conjunct the Midheaven plus Algol opposition Pluto conjunct the North Node in the 4th hinting at internal problems for a supressed populace ahead. The South Node can be a hint of a reversion to the past rather than a move to develop a future path.
1994 did see a Uranus Return on the South Africa 31 May 1910 chart, which at the time seemed like a bright new dawn. But like Putin taking over Russia in 1999/2000 on a Uranus Return to the Russia 1917 chart it did not deliver what was expected in terms of positive change.
Winnie Mandela, 26 September 1934, was a Sun Libra inconjunct rebellious Uranus. Her determined, confident T square of Jupiter Mercury in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto, would give her a tendency to be dominating and coercive though could also suggest she was in some ways ahead of her time. She also had Mars in Leo opposition Saturn which would make her familiar with harsh treatment.
What appeared to have done her most damage was her arrest in 1969 when she was held in a condemned cell, tortured and in solitary confinement for nearly 500 days. At that point tr Uranus was conjunct her Sun but more significantly tr Pluto was conjunct her Solar Arc Mars opposition SA Saturn which would be a brutalizing experience.
Her get-it-together 5th Harmonic was strong; as was her seeking-soul 7H; the obsessive-dream 11H and her leaving-a-legacy 17H.
Nelson Mandela, 18 July 1918 2.54pm (?) Umtata, South Africa, was a Sun Cancer inconjunct Uranus giving him an urge for freedom; with a confident Jupiter Pluto conjunct in Cancer trine Uranus and square Mars. When he became President in 1994 tr Uranus Neptune was opposition his Sun and tr Pluto in Scorpio was trine turning his former life upside down.
A new Netflix documentary series on Winnie Mandela has prompted a fresh look at her. Whether it has much effect on South Africa’s near future is uncertain. The 1910 chart does have tr Uranus conjunct the Gemini Sun in 2027 but whether that is strong enough to being about the complete reworking of a rotten political system remains to be seen.
What’s happening in South Africa is really sad, Nelson Mandela’s legacy has been destroyed like nothing. I don’t think Winnie Mandela left any legacy, her life was always full of controversy and scandals. There was hope with the new government of National Unity since the ANC list the elections back in 2024. Things were starting to look better economically, until Donald Trump hit Iran, oil prices have skyrocketed and the economy is set to go down again. South Africa’s current President Cyril Ramaphosa is also under pressure from the crime that occured at his farm, and apparently he concealed it in 2021. There was some dollars which were hidden at his farm, that he did not declare to tax authorities, and they were stolen by Namibians. The country’s Supreme Court has ordered impeachment proceedings on him, that were blocked by his parties majority in parliament back in 2022. Since the ANC does not have majority anymore in parliament, it remains to be seen if he will survive. Looking at his chart, there is no verified birth time for him, but his ascendant looks like it is in Aquarius, which shows Saturn on his 1st quadrant, he is on a low profile. He has Uranus in Cancer, and currently Jupiter is transiting Cancer, maybe they will help him survive the motion of confidence, if he is lucky. But his sweating in of 19 June 2024 looks fragile, it doesn’t look long lasting and persevering. It remains to be seen if he will continue to be the president going forward..