So day 1 (Thursday) of this year's National Arts Festival in Grahamstown was a bit of a wash-out, mainly as a result of the growing concern that former president Nelson Mandela was on his way out.
The question most often asked by one festino of another is: What have you seen? This year, most people are asking me: Have you heard anything qbout Madiba?
Apprehension wasn't helped by a patently false Guardian report about life-support machines having been switched off and the ailing statesman having died on Wednesday night.
The presidency hasn't quite got the message yet that a daily (perhaps twice-daily), pre-arranged media briefing by a real person who is able to speak with authority on behalf of both family and state is the only way to manage the extremely high interest in news of Madiba, beloved here at home and hugely respected globally. Of course that requires a little creativity, perhaps, in dealing with the challenge of not having anything to say today which is different from yesterday. And creativity is not another word for spin-doctoring. it means telling the truth, giving credible information, no matter how meagre the circumstances demand.
But it is essential. Instead, we get regular reprimands about how the media are not respecting the privacy of the former president and his family.
Returning to the substance of the festival, it amazes me that, true to past iterations when it was on cue with what was happening in our country, the 2013 festival has managed to weave Madiba, his life and dying, into the programme.
In both considered as well as more unconscious ways. Mandela is very much a part of this year's festival. - Ray Hartle
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