Weird that 2 monuments that depict totally different points of view from totally different epochs are situated on hills overlooking each other at Pretoria. Amazing and wonderful that the new monument will stand as an example of the new Nation’s philosophy of Ubuntu.

Freedom Park, Pretoria, South Africa - photo courtesy of Talk Radio 702

The following definition is by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

“A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”

Archbishop Tutu further explained (2008):

“One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity.

We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”