That said, the Madiba story brings to light a very important issue in South African media - where to draw the line between privacy and allowing the public to see their icon as he is right now.
Whenever he's admitted to hospital the media descend on whichever hospital they 'think' he's in, waiting almost vulture-like for some news. I'm not knocking this - it's the way this story inevitably will be played out. We can't pretend, as much as we'd like to, that he will live forever and when the day does come the world's media will be camped out in force wherever the action is.
But back to the SABC's 'exclusive' footage of the ANC's visit to the great man's Houghton home, where they said they wanted to share Madiba with the world and show he's still around. The footage shows a jolly beaming Zuma laughing and joking with his attending ANC colleagues, while Madiba simply stares blankly out, not taking part in proceedings at all.
Many took to Twitter to voice their outrage over this parading of our beloved Nelson Mandela, sharing their anger at the obvious lie in that the former president is in 'good shape'...
To quote some: @Debora_Patta 'Tasteless, tacky and totally shameless - and yet the ANC has the gall to criticise the media about respecting him.
@djshawnyb: So so sad. Our icon is slowly fading away with age and the government tries to cover up Madiba's frail condition.
Matshidiso Madia: Looks wrong to make him pose for a photo 'sooo wrong! Looks like an empty shell. I don't understand.
Actually it's not that hard to understand perhaps. In the last few weeks we've had the DA claiming Madiba as part of its heritage - so maybe this is the ANC's way of 'fighting back'...
Yesterday morning Jackson Mthembu came on 702 Talk Radio's John Robbie show to defend their actions explaining that "Some South Africans and even some people in other countries were saying we are economic with the truth when we said Madiba was still around. So the act was to show the South Africans that Madiba is still with us and also to share Madiba in his frail state."
The question remains: Do we want to see this once strong, heroic icon of freedom and democracy, without the dignity that he's world famous for? Yes, we want the truth on his condition and to know when his life is really in danger - but are we ready for what we saw last night?
