A growing chorus of voices - including Annie Lennox, who sings at Mandela's 90th birthday concert in London on Friday - urges him to speak out against election-stealing Mugabe.
Mandela's reputation is soiled by the Zimbabwean crisis. As Zimbabwe's most important neighbour, South Africa could have exerted pressure on Mugabe to bow out of power gracefully. Just as Mandela did.
Nelson Mandela: will he publicly disown Robert Mugabe?
But Mandela's successor and protege, President Thabo Mbeki, has done nothing. He says everything is 'normal' inZimbabwe.
What is important to him is that those who fought for independence - or black rule, if you prefer - should stick together.
The clamour for Mandela to say something about Mugabe is a matter of timing. His three-hour, £65-a-ticket birthday bash inHyde Park comes as Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the presidential run-off election against Mugabe because of mounting violence and intimidation against his party.
With Zimbabweans being terrorised by Mugabe thugs, it's difficult for Mandela to avoid mentioning events there. Why hasn't he done so before?
Critics say the old man enjoys being a world hero and doesn't care what happens in Zimbabwe. Maybe he doesn't want to give offence to President Mbeki by rebuking him in public. Or to insult his old comrade in arms, 'Bob' Mugabe, by taking the side of the critics, including whites.
In 2000, he gave a speech attacking African despots, saying: 'Rubbing shoulders with the rich and the powerful has made some leaders despise the very people who put them in power, and they think it is their privilege to be there for eternity.'
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