Posted on 07/02/2003 1:35:38 PM PDT by Pokey78
Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton joined Tony Blair at Westminster last night to praise 100 years of Rhodes scholars and announce a new foundation to fund development programmes in Africa.
The former South African President told an audience of 1,800 dignatories and former scholars in Westminster Hall that the new Mandela Rhodes Foundation would "contribute to a better life for the people of South Africa and the African continent".
He praised the work of the Rhodes Trust, set up with a bequest from Cecil Rhodes, the founder of Rhodesia, and announced the appointment of Shaun Johnson, a leading South African commentator, former Rhodes scholar and deputy chief executive of Independent News and Media (South Africa), as executive director of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation. He said Mr Johnson "contributed enormously to democracy in our country".
Mr Mandela highlighted the plight of South Africans infected with HIV, which Tony Blair described as a "scourge" that represents "a call to the people of the world to act." He said it was "the proudest achievement" of his Government to direct more than £1bn of aid to Africa in the coming years.
He praised the work of the Rhodes Trust, saying that it was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford who first interested him in politics.
Mr Clinton, the world's best-known Rhodes scholar, praised the trust for giving him "two of the best years of my life" and allowing him to meet South Africans for the first time when he was at Oxford.
For Cecil, not just any old white would do.
I am not sure, but I did hear he was a one world government type person. Did you hear anything like that?
"We love you...we respect you...ain't too proud to beg...."
And if I remember correctly he started the Rhodes Scholarship so that whitey would rule forever!!!!
And so now Mandela is celebrating this? What kinda of happy grass are they smoking down there? I would like to have some for special occasions.
Cecil John Rhodes (1853 - March 26, 1902) was a British entrepreneur, now remembered as an exploiter of southern Africa's natural resources and the effective founder of the state of Zimbabwe (originally named "Rhodesia" after himself).
Rhodes was born in Bishop's Stortford, the son of a vicar, and travelled to South Africa as a young man for the benefit of his health. He soon began making a profit off mining the Kimberley diamond mines, and he formed his own company, De Beers Consolidated Mines in 1888.
Rhodes was gay, notable in an era that did not encourage homosexuality. He employed a number of strong young male companions, ostensibly as bodyguards and secretaries.
On his return to England, he studied at Oriel College, Oxford, but was obliged to return to a better climate and went into politics, becoming a member of the Cape House of Assembly. By 1890 he was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. He also became managing director of the South Africa Company which administered a territory roughly equivalent to present-day Zimbabwe. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1896, following the outcry over the "raids" into Transvaal by his friend Dr. Leander Starr Jameson.
Although he remained a leading figure in the politics of southern Africa, especially during the Boer War, he was dogged by ill-health throughout his relatively short life. As a result of his will, the Rhodes Scholarships, which enable foreign nationals to study at Oxford, came into being. - - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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