Dear friends and fellow South Africans,
Baroness Margaret Thatcher's funeral aptly captured both a period of history and the dilemma of our future. For me, it was a cathartic experience that brought back memories of an intense personal and political relationship that spanned several decades, as Lady Thatcher was not only a kindred political spirit, but also a true friend of mine.
The funeral was attended by many surviving protagonists of the decades-long struggle against Communism, known as the Cold War, including trade-union icon and former President of Poland Lech Walesa, former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Speaker Newt Gingrich and many others.
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and many other world leaders, complemented the presence of the entire British political establishment at one of the most solemn funerals of our time.
South Africa was represented only by me, former President FW de Klerk, Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini MP, and our Deputy High Commissioner Ms Bongiwe Qwabe. It was not surprising that no political representative from our ruling party was there.
This reflects the deep-seated political idiosyncrasies in our country. More often than in other countries, some of our lesser commentators tend to explain world history from the viewpoint and within the dynamics of our own history, reducing everything to a struggle in support of or against Apartheid. Reality was much more complex and harder to admit for some of the government-aligned pundits.