Which African leader will take up after Mandela?

A year after the death of Nelson Mandela, we must start asking which African leader will take the mantle from the esteemed South African leader, Nelson Mandela. Mandela was not perfect, but even with his weaknesses, he transcended South Africa, and Africa, to become a global paragon of virtue, morality, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Even more poignant, he ruled for just five years, and surrendered power when he could easily have been re-elected for a second and final term.

Sure, Nelson Mandela had his weaknesses, but the fact is that he was able to rise above those weaknesses and become a global icon. Which African leader can then rise up to take Mandela's place. Sure, there is a lack of leadership in many countries across the world. But in Africa, the lack of effective leadership is of crisis proportions. The Mo Ibrahim leadership Prize, a 5 million dollar
leadership prize, has not been awarded for four years now, showing the dearth of leadership in the continent. The question to ask is whether any of Africa's current leaders can have the will and the tenacity to fight for their people, and most importantly, to unite their people irrespective of their tribe, ethnicity, or economic background. By creating a rainbow South African nation, some termed Mandela as a sell out, but in this, he was able to build a more prosperous and united South Africa. True, the blacks still comprise a disproportionate number of poor South Africans, but the gap between the blacks and the whites is closing every day. The ruling party, ANC. is still encumbered with infighting, and the old tired charade of relying on emotions of the anti-apartheid party may be a thing of the past soon.

Across the continent, there are two contrasting narratives. There is a democratic and peaceful Africa, an done in which power is changed willingly. However, there is another Africa that is encumbered by war, disease and poverty, and this is an Africa that belongs to the past and not the present and the future. A leader with Mandela's ideals must then emerge so that (s)he can help reconcile these two contrasting narratives of the continent.