nelson mandela speech essay

‘I am prepared to die’: Mandela’s speech which shook apartheid

Sixty years ago during the Rivonia Trial in South Africa, Nelson Mandela delivered one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century. He expected to be sentenced to death but instead lived to see his dream ‘of a democratic and free society’ realised.

“Accused number one” had been speaking from the dock for almost three hours by the time he uttered the words that would ultimately change South Africa. The racially segregated Pretoria courtroom listened in silence as Nelson Mandela’s account of his lifelong struggle against white minority rule reached its conclusion. Judge Quintus de Wet managed not to look at Mandela for the majority of his address. But before accused number one delivered his final lines, defence lawyer Joel Joffe remembered, “Mandela paused for a long time and looked squarely at the judge” before saying:

“During my lifetime, I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against Black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

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After he spoke that last sentence, novelist and activist Nadine Gordimer, who was in the courtroom on April 20, 1964, said, “The strangest and most moving sound I have ever heard from human throats came from the Black side of the court audience. It was short, sharp and terrible: something between a sigh and a groan.”

This was because there was a very good chance that Mandela and his co-accused would be sentenced to death for their opposition to the apartheid government. His lawyers had actually tried to talk him out of including the “I am prepared to die” line because they thought it might be seen as a provocation. But as Mandela later wrote in his autobiography, “I felt we were likely to hang no matter what we said, so we might as well say what we truly believed.”

‘The trial that changed South Africa’

The Rivonia Trial – in which Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and seven other anti-apartheid activists were charged with sabotage – was the third and final time Mandela would stand accused in an apartheid court. From 1956 to 1961, he had been involved in the Treason Trial, a long-running embarrassment for the apartheid government, which would ultimately see all 156 of the accused acquitted because the state failed to prove they had committed treason.

And in 1962, he had been charged with leaving the country illegally and leading Black workers in a strike. He knew he was guilty on both counts, so he decided to put the apartheid government on trial. On the first day of the case, Mandela, known for his natty Western dress, arrived in traditional Xhosa attire to the shock of all present. He led his own defence and did not call any witnesses. Instead, he gave what has been remembered as the “Black man in a white court” speech, during which he asserted that “posterity will pronounce that I was innocent and that the criminals that should have been brought before this court are the members of the Verwoerd government,” a reference to Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd.

The Rivonia Trial, which kicked off in October 1963, was named after the Johannesburg suburb where Liliesleaf Farm was located. From 1961 to 1963, the Liliesleaf museum website notes, the farm served “as the secret headquarters and nerve centre” of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK, the military wing of the ANC). On July 11, 1963, acting on a tip-off, the police raided Liliesleaf, seizing many incriminating documents and arresting the core leadership of the underground liberation movement. Mandela, who was serving a five-year sentence on Robben Island from his conviction in the 1962 trial, was flown to Pretoria to take his place as accused number one.

Instead of charging the men with high treason, State Prosecutor Percy Yutar opted for the easier-to-prove crime of sabotage – the definition of which was so broad that it included misdemeanours such as trespassing – and which had recently been made a capital offence by the government. Thanks to the evidence seized from Liliesleaf, which included several documents handwritten by Mandela and the testimony of Bruno Mtolo (referred to as Mr X throughout the trial), a regional commander of MK who had turned state witness, Yutar was virtually assured of convictions for the main accused.

In his autobiography, Mandela explains their defence strategy: “Right from the start we had made it clear that we intended to use the trial not as a test of the law but as a platform for our beliefs. We would not deny, for example, that we had been responsible for acts of sabotage. We would not deny that a group of us had turned away from non-violence. We were not concerned with getting off or lessening our punishment, but with making the trial strengthen the cause for which we were struggling – at whatever cost to ourselves. We would not defend ourselves in a legal sense so much as in a moral sense.”

The accused and their lawyers decided that Mandela would open the defence case not as a witness – who would be subject to cross-examination – but with a statement from the dock. This format would allow him to speak uninterrupted, but it carried less legal weight.

Mandela writes that he spent “about a fortnight drafting [his] address, working mainly in my cell in the evenings”. He first read it to his co-accused, who approved the text with a few tweaks, before passing it to lead defence lawyer Bram Fischer. Fischer was concerned that the final paragraph might be taken the wrong way by the judge, so he got another member of the defence team, Hal Hanson, to read it. Hanson was unequivocal: “If Mandela reads this in court, they will take him straight to the back of the courthouse and string him up.”

“Nelson remained adamant” that the line should stay, wrote George Bizos, another member of the defence team. Bizos eventually persuaded Mandela to tweak his wording: “I proposed that Nelson say he hoped to live for and achieve his ideals but if needs be was prepared to die.”

On the evening of April 19, Bizos got Mandela’s permission to take a copy of his statement to Gordimer. The respected British journalist Anthony Sampson, who knew Mandela well, happened to be staying with her and he retired to Gordimer’s study with the text. “What seemed like hours” later, Bizos wrote, Sampson “eventually returned, obviously moved by what he had read”. Sampson made no major changes to the text, but he did advise moving some of the paragraphs because he felt journalists were likely to read the beginning and the end properly and skim over the rest.

Gordimer does not seem to have suggested changes to the address, but she did see several drafts. She, too, was happy with the final version.

The statement from the dock

Yutar, who had been hoodwinked by the defence team’s constant requests for court transcripts into spending weeks preparing to cross-examine Mandela, was visibly shocked when Fischer announced that Mandela would instead be making a statement from the dock. He even tried to get the judge to explain to Mandela that he was committing a legal error. But the usually stone-faced judge laughed as he dismissed the request. Mandela, himself a lawyer, was represented by some of the country’s finest legal minds. He knew exactly what he was doing.

“My Lord, I am the first accused,” Mandela said. “I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto we Sizwe and that I played a prominent role in its affairs until I was arrested in August 1962.” Thanks to the recent recovery of the original recordings of Mandela’s statement, we now know that he spoke for 176 minutes , not the four and a half hours regularly cited.

As Martha Evans, author of Speeches That Shaped South Africa, explained, Mandela “candidly confessed some of the crimes levelled against him before giving a cogent and detailed account of the conditions and events that had led to the establishment of MK and the adoption of the armed struggle”.

He spoke at length of the ANC’s tradition of nonviolence and explained why he had planned sabotage: “I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love for violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites.”

The final section of the address focused on inequality in South Africa and humanised Black South Africans in ways that Mandela argued the country’s white population rarely acknowledged:

“Whites tend to regard Africans as a separate breed. They do not look upon them as people with families of their own. They do not realise that we have emotions, that we fall in love like white people do, that we want to be with our wives and children like white people want to be with theirs, that we want to earn money, enough money to support our families properly.”

And: “Above all, my Lord, we want equal political rights because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all.”

Interestingly, Gordimer noted that the speech “read much better than it was spoken. Mandela’s delivery was very disappointing indeed, hesitant, parsonical (if there is such a word), boring. Only at the end did the man come through.”

Hanging by a thread

After Mandela’s address, several of the accused subjected themselves to cross-examination. Gordimer was particularly impressed by Walter Sisulu: “Sisulu was splendid. What a paradox – he is almost uneducated while [Mandela] has a law degree! He was lucid and to the point – and never missed a point in his replies to Yutar.”

The defence team enjoyed a number of minor victories with Judge de Wet fairly regularly telling the court that Yutar had failed to prove one point or another. After final arguments were heard in mid-May, court was adjourned for three weeks for the judge to consider his verdict.

For the main accused, that verdict was always going to be guilty. Avoiding the noose became the defence team’s number one priority. In the courtroom, this entailed asking Alan Paton, a world famous novelist who was leader of the vehemently anti-apartheid Liberal Party, to give evidence in mitigation of sentence.

But the real action happened outside the court, Sampson wrote in his authorised biography of Mandela: “The accused had been buoyed up by the growing support from abroad, not only from many African countries but also, more to Mandela’s surprise, from Britain. … On May 7, 1964, the British Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home, offered to send a private message to Verwoerd about the trial. But Sir Hugh Stephenson [Britain’s ambassador to South Africa] recommended that ‘no more pressure should be exerted’ and, contrary to some published reports, there is no evidence the message was sent. When the South African Ambassador called on the Foreign Office that month, he was told that the government was now under less pressure to take a stronger line against South Africa, though death sentences would bring the matter to a head again.”

A week before the verdicts, Bizos visited British Consul-General Leslie Minford at his Pretoria home. “As I was leaving, Leslie put his arm around my shoulders and said, ‘George, there won’t be a death sentence.’ I did not ask him how he knew. For one thing, he had downed a number of whiskies. Certainly, I felt I could not rely on the information nor could I tell the team or our anxious clients.”

Upping the stakes further was the decision by Mandela, Sisulu and Mbeki to not appeal their sentence – even if it were death. As he listened to sentencing arguments, Mandela clutched a handwritten note that concluded with the words: “If I must die, let me declare for all to know that I will meet my fate as a man.”

Paton and Hanson spoke in mitigation of sentence on the morning of June 12, 1964. Bizos noted, “Judge de Wet not only took no note of what was being said but he appeared not to be listening.” He had already made his mind up, and when the formalities were over, he announced: “I have decided not to impose the supreme penalty, which in a case like this would usually be the penalty for such a crime. But consistent with my duty, that is the only leniency which I can show. The sentence in the case of all the accused will be one of life imprisonment.”

Professor Thula Simpson, the leading historian of MK, told Al Jazeera, “There is no evidence that De Wet was leaned on by the state. I don’t believe there’s any evidence for this being a political rather than a judicial judgement.”

Professor Roger Southall, author of dozens of books on Southern African politics, agreed. “At the time, there was a lot of speculation about whether there was pressure on the SA government to ensure that capital punishment was not imposed,” he told Al Jazeera. “But there is also no proof that the SA government intervened. That remains an unanswered question. We have to presume that the judge knew the international and local climate.”

Business as usual?

“Rivonia got a lot of global publicity,” Southall said. “But once the trial ended, it seemed like Mandela had been forgotten.” Mandela and other senior ANC figures were either locked up on Robben Island or were living in relative obscurity in exile. “Capital came pouring into South Africa at a rate that’s never been equalled since,” Southall continued. “The apartheid government seemed totally in control. The resistance was dead. It was a thoroughly grim period for the ANC.”

This only started to change in 1973, Southall said, “with the Durban strikes and the revival of the trade union movement”, which had been battered into submission. The rebirth of the Black trade union movement signalled the beginning of a new phase of opposition politics. Things ratcheted up several notches on June 16, 1976, when apartheid policemen opened fire on a peaceful protest of schoolchildren in the Black township of Soweto, killing 15 people. In the eight months that followed, violence spread across South Africa, killing about 700 people.

The resuscitation of Black opposition to apartheid under a new band of leaders coincided with the decline of the economy. After the Soweto uprising, foreign investors fled South Africa in their droves, laying bare the fundamental flaws of the apartheid government’s dependence on cheap labour and mining and its point-blank refusal to meaningfully educate people of colour. The apartheid government spent about 12 times more per child on white schoolchildren than it did on Black ones.

By the 1980s, even the apartheid government could see something had to change, and in 1983, Prime Minister PW Botha announced plans to include multiracial and Indian South Africans, but not Black South Africans, in a new “tricameral” parliament. His plan backfired spectacularly, uniting the opposition like never before under the newly formed United Democratic Front (UDF). One of the UDF’s key demands was the unconditional release of all political prisoners, especially Mandela. Soon after its launch in August 1983, the UDF numbered almost 1,000 different organisations from all segments of South African society. Botha didn’t know what had hit him.

When, in 1984, Oliver Tambo, the ANC’s exiled leader, asked his supporters to “make South Africa ungovernable”, the townships rose up. Things got so bad in 1985 that Botha declared a state of emergency – but this was also the year in which tentative secret talks with Mandela began.

An icon re-emerges

“In the late 1970s, you started getting occasional demands that Mandela be released,” Southall said. By the mid-1980s, “Free Nelson Mandela” became a constant and global refrain with the “I am prepared to die” statement being quoted at rallies and emblazoned on T-shirts. “On one level, the ANC ‘invented’ this version of Mandela,” Southall said. “Until 1976, the apartheid government had done a very good job of erasing him from public memory.”

What might have happened if Mandela had been sentenced to death at Rivonia? One does not need to look far for a possible answer. The other poster boy of the global anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s was Steve Biko (subject of the Peter Gabriel hit song), the young leader of the Black Consciousness movement, who had been tortured to death by apartheid police in 1977. “You can also have myths develop when you execute people,” Simpson said. “If they had executed Mandela, he would have been a different icon in a different struggle.”

A dream realised

On February 11, 1990, Mandela was released from prison. From the balcony of Cape Town City Hall, he addressed his supporters for the first time since Rivonia. He opened his speech by saying: “I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I, therefore, place the remaining years of my life in your hands.”

He ended by quoting the final lines of his 1964 statement from the dock, explaining that “they are true today as they were then.” Over the course of the next decade, as Mandela first navigated the treacherous path to democracy and then served as the country’s first democratically elected president, he lived out his vision of a “democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities”.

When the ANC’s Chris Hani was assassinated by an apartheid supporter in 1993, Mandela assumed the moral leadership of the country by urging his incensed supporters not to derail the peace process. After becoming president, he engaged in numerous public shows of reconciliation: He went for tea with the widow of slain apartheid Prime Minister Verwoerd, and he donned the Springbok rugby jersey (for many, a symbol of white supremacy) when he presented the almost entirely white South African team with the World Cup trophy in 1995.

When Mandela died in 2013, US President Barack Obama spoke at his memorial, famously – and predictably – quoting the final paragraph of the statement from the dock at Rivonia. By that stage, there were already some in South Africa who felt that Mandela was a “sellout” because he had been too forgiving of whites during the transition.

Now, more than a decade later as inequality continues to plague the country and South Africa stands on the cusp of its most competitive general election in 30 years of democracy, it is common to hear young Black South Africans accuse Mandela of selling out . Southall does not take such claims too seriously: “People who say he’s a sellout are either too young or too forgetful to appreciate how close we came to civil war. Mandela played a huge role in pulling off the peaceful transition.”

“Now, after 30 years of democracy, there is still a tension between white domination and Black domination,” Simpson said. “South Africa is not what Mandela dreamed of. He might be turning in his grave, but we can’t forget that many of the policies that have gone wrong were introduced by him. He might have turned things around, but he might have not.”

“You can’t blame Mandela for where we are now,” Southall said. “There are individual things he got wrong. But he also got a lot of things right.”

Mandela’s is one of the 12 remarkable lives covered in Nick Dall’s recent book, Legends: People Who Changed South Africa for the Better, co-written with Matthew Blackman.

Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Nelson Mandela — Nelson Mandela’s Speeches: A Rhetorical Analysis

Nelson Mandela's Speeches: a Rhetorical Analysis

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Published: Feb 7, 2024

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Table of contents

Overview of the speech, analysis of the speech, rhetorical devices used in the speech, tone of the speech, historical context of the speech, key themes in the speech, impact of the speech.

• Mandela, N. (1964). I am Prepared to Die. Retrieved from https://www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/cis/omalley/OMalleyWeb/03_Speeches/03_Interviews_and_testimony/64/646_20_04_1964_I_am_prepared_to_die.htm
• Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk to Freedom. Little, Brown and Company.
• Kotzé, H. (2014). The Rhetoric of Mandela’s Rivonia Trial Speech. Journal of Literary Studies, 30(2), 97-107.

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Transcript: Nelson Mandela speech 'I am prepared to die’

Here is the transcript of nelson mandela's 'i am prepared to die' speech, which he gave from the dock during the rivonia trial, pretoria supreme court, 20 april 1964. this transcript is as published on the nelson mandela centre of memory website..

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December 6th, 2013, full text of nelson mandela speech at lse on 6 april 2000.

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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

On 6 April 2000,  Nelson Mandela delivered a speech entitled Africa and Its Position in the World Today at LSE. The full transcript of this speech is below. You can also follow this link to watch a video of his speech.

Ladies and gentlemen. Forgive me if I am somewhat nervous. I come, as you know from the colonies! We are not used to being in the presence of such an august gathering.

I grew up in the Eastern Cape, an area of South Africa much like the one so well described to you by Thomas Hardy. It was a world of oral tradition, healing properties were herbal, an abscess would be treated with poultices, clean water was simply not available. Gastro intestinal infections, malaria, cholera were rampant. Life was brutish and short. Electricity and the horseless carriage did not exist for me. The hardness and poverty of existence was aggravated by an uncaring society. Colonies were meant to be exploited both for the mother country and for those who came to settle in our area. Fresh in the memories of the older generation of the poorest of the very poor, and spoken of in low hushed tones, what was said to be a hugely profitable business that was said to have been abolished – that was the business of slavery. My youth and young adulthood was spent with others in fighting an unjust and oppressive system.

Many African leaders today would say exactly the same thing. And when you assess the achievements and failures of Africa you must always keep this background in mind. One of the greatest mistakes which is made by serious political commentators today is to judge us on the same basis by which you judge opinion makers in the old and advanced industrial countries, forgetting that for more than three centuries our people were denied the privileges which you take for granted.

You went to the best schools in the country – well equipped with highly qualified educators; classrooms properly equipped with learning aids; where the language at school was identical to the language at home; with parents with a high level of educational accomplishment, who could help their children to grasp sophisticated concepts at an early age.

But when you consider the situation of the blacks in Africa you come across a different state of affairs. Children who go to school without any learning aids. Taught in a language which is not theirs, by teachers often not so very qualified. A child comes back from school normally to parents who have no educational background at all. Poor children eating porridge in the morning, porridge at lunch, porridge as their dinner, unable to concentrate. Large families with little room to move about. A child who shares a room with about three or four others. No table, no chairs. Doing their homework on the floor.

These are the people who live in Africa today and I hope that when you make your assessment you will bear in mind this background. The people who run the governments in Africa today are people who were never given any opportunity to train in government, as many of you are. And I have no doubt that you will bear this in mind, not only in our discussions here but when examining the whole situation in Africa.

Being a former head of state has its advantages. One of them is having the time to speak in institutions where young people must listen while their elders pose difficult questions. I trust that my honorary membership of the student unions of a number of London University colleges, including LSE, will not mean that I have to try and provide answers myself! Nor that I will be examined on what I say. One shares one’s thoughts with every confidence at a university with a proud record of solidarity with the struggles of oppressed people, and which is also renowned world-wide, as a centre of learning and enquiry.

LSE, as part of the University of London, was in the vanguard of the great army of men and women across the world who responded to the call to isolate the apartheid regime. They insisted that human rights are the rights of all people everywhere. I feel greatly honoured to have an honorary degree from the University of London. Today brings an opportunity to thank LSE in person and with all humility for the part it played in that tribute to the South African people for their achievement in turning from conflict to the peaceful pursuit of a better life for all.

For many South Africans, LSE also meant the opportunity for learning that apartheid denied them in their own country. Those who were students are now working in all sectors of our society, leaders of a nation, leading a bright and common future. We continue to draw upon you for training and knowledge in fields that are critical to the development of our country. May your practical solidarity and our partnership long continue. Your invitation to me to reflect with you on the challenges facing Africa speaks of your continuing commitment to our shared goals and I thank you most sincerely.

A difficult question I wish to pose today is simply this: What historical stage is Africa going through? As is generally the case with questions of history and development, an adequate answer will require years of work by African historians and social scientists in partnership with institutions like yours.

This is especially so, given the rapid and far-reaching changes affecting the world as a whole. And it is quite likely that future historians will not see this period in quite the same way as we who are living through it. So I will exercise that privilege I refer to, and not try to answer the question, other than to say this: we are convinced that we are in a period of decisive historical significance for Africa and its place in the world. We are determined that this 21st century shall indeed be the African century.

Matching the scale of what we are seeking to bring about, our challenges are formulated in terms that may evoke periods of major historical change in other regions of the world in other times. Thus, the idea of an African renaissance has taken hold in our continent with all the resonance of an idea whose time has come. The rebirth we are engaged in is not one that will culminate, as European renaissance did, in colonisation and dominance of a world economic system, of which the slave trade was an integral part. Ours is, however, a rebirth that must deal with problems that derive from Africa’s historical relation with the rest of the world, established in that period. And this must be achieved in a rapidly globalising world. A second historical project, related to the first, is that of building strong institutions in a united continent. Political, economic and social institutions at national, regional and continental level.

The weak states that are also part of our historical legacy are amongst the conditions which all too easily allow war lordism to emerge, ethnic mobilisation to divide a united people into warring forces, and the resulting tensions and conflicts to threaten regions with instability.

Again, this process of building strong states and institutions cannot pass through the horrific destruction and slaughter that Europe inflicted upon itself before it achieved that goal, above all in the first half of the 20th century. On the other hand, the system of multilateral and international institutions, that were established in the middle of the 20th century to ensure that such catastrophes do not happen again will provide an important part of the armoury of weapons for building an equitable world.

This remains true, even as we seek to reform our international organisations so that they reflect in practise the democratic principles of a de-colonised world.

The vision expressed in the idea of African renaissance is that of the reconstruction and development of an Africa in which people’s lives are constantly and rapidly improving towards standards broadly in line with the best in the world.

It is also a vision of an Africa that is integrated in the world on an equal basis. Africa collectively stands at the bottom of the world stage of development – completely. This means for millions the ills brought by poverty and under-development, the scourges of disease such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV Aids, and educational programmes that are far from what is needed for Africa’s full participation in the modern economy and society. As the world is seeing now in what the floods are doing to the people of Mozambique and part of South Africa, it means a vulnerability to environmental disaster.

If, despite all this, we talk with conviction of realising our long-cherished dream, of rebirth and reconstruction it is because the conditions for doing so now exist. They include the stage of development of the world’s economy. While this brings the danger that historical imbalances may be entrenched and even worsened, it also brings opportunities for Africa as a region of vast untapped potential. The conditions improved at the liberation of South Africa as the culmination of Africa’s struggle against colonial and white minority rule. This brought a new possibility for the continent to focus energies and resources on shaping its own development, rather than having to devote them to resistance to colonial and racial oppression.

And the conditions for the regeneration of Africa include the growing mass movement of Africans during the past two decades, manifested in struggles against dictatorships and undemocratic rule. Part of this process, and in turn giving it impetus, is the emergence of a new generation of African leaders, capable men and women who are not prepared to accept as inevitable the current conditions under which the ordinary African lives. It is for such reasons that we are hopeful for the future. This is not to gloss over our problems, or to underestimate the scale of what is required. Nor is it to ignore the fact that some of our problems are of our own making as we know from the record of the first decades of independence.

The achievement of our vision requires rapid industrialisation, that exploits our scarcely tapped resources and our strategic geographical location. In turn, that requires massive programmes for infrastructural development for the regeneration of our cities, and for the education of our people. In our interdependent modern world what happens in one country impacts on many others. What happens in Africa impacts on its relations with the world. Sustainable growth and development therefore requires peace, security and stability. And they require the unity of the African continent. Peace is the greatest weapon for development.

Conversely, conflicts and tensions that undermine stability and security can set back the progress that we have started to make on the path of development. What gives hope is that Africa’s leaders are finding creative ways of addressing the resolution of conflicts. We do believe that South Africa’s transition, hailed by many as a miracle, though in reality it was based on the actions of humans, has had a great importance in demonstrating what is possible when the will and the conditions for peace are there.

What is always difficult in life is not so much that we influence and change others, the most difficult question is to change yourself in accordance with the conditions that you confront. And as I have pointed out before, one of the most difficult questions which faced those in jail, those in exile, and those that work on the ground, was to reconcile our emotions with our thinking. Our feeling was that under no circumstances shall we sit down with the apartheid regime who have subjected us for centuries to some of the most painful experiences you can think of. For that reason, it was unthinkable for us to sit down with our enemies and talk. But our brains said if you don’t sit down with these people, your country will go up in smoke, and innocent civilians will be slaughtered. The infrastructure of the country will be destroyed. Community development will come to an end. And the problem was to reconcile these two – your feelings and your thinking.

We faced problems among our own comrades and colleagues, we faced problems with the enemy that had continued to say for decades ‘we will never negotiate with terrorists.’ And we had to find a way so that they could cross a bridge without humiliation. It was through the ability to reconcile these two contradictions that we were able to bring about a peaceful transformation in our country and to confound the prophets of doom who predicted that there would never be a peaceful change in our country, that any attempt to bring about changes would engulf South Africa in rivers of blood. We were able to prove them wrong because we were able to change ourselves, first and foremost. And anybody who wants to have an impact on society must start from himself or herself.

Though South Africa has responded whenever requested to assist in the resolution of conflict it is always on the basis that only the participants in the conflict can themselves achieve lasting solutions. I have come from the latest meeting in Arusha [Tanzania] confident that we are on the verge of a breakthrough and that the process will indeed bring lasting peace to Burundi and her people.

Now when I went to Burundi I hardly knew what I know now. I was not aware of the calibre of the leadership of that country. But I was tremendously impressed that out of the 18 political parties you had six graduates in engineering, trained in Brussels, Paris, Germany, and Russia; that you had four graduates in law; two medical doctors; one graduate in mathematics; a graduate in economics; a graduate in French literature; a graduate in biology; a graduate in sociology. That is the calibre of the leadership that we are dealing with. And it was for that reason that, right from the start, I believed for certain that sooner or later we will have a breakthrough.

But the monumental work done by Mwalimu Nyerere, former president of Tanzania, was absolutely impressive. And we had the comparatively easier task of tying up the loose ends. He has done, he did a great deal of the basic work. Now I say that indeed the process of bringing last peace to Burundi and her people is moving, and that is because the two principal conditions for peace are being met. One is that all contending parties should be ready to participate in the process. And the other is a readiness on the part of all leaders to compromise on the basis of a recognition that they have certain interests in common as Burundians that are more important than whatever differences divide them. Amongst those common principles is that it is totally intolerable that innocent men, women and children, the disabled, should suffer loss of freedom and even be slaughtered because leaders cannot make the compromises required for peace.

The way in which this principle has so often been violated in human history is a tragic indictment of political leadership. What underpins one’s hope for Africa’s future is the way in which the peace process in Burundi has been promoted by the joint efforts of leaders from many African countries, and with the active support of the international community. Together, in consultation with and under the guidance of the Organisation of African Unity, they have been exercising collective responsibility for African peace and security. The international support that has been vital for the peace process will continue to be important in the reconstruction of Burundi that peace will make possible.

Such is the path towards reconstruction and development of Africa. Leaders who do not put the interests of their people above their own, cannot achieve lasting peace and therefore sustainable development. No country in Africa can solve its problem on its own. Nor can Africa achieve her goals on her own. Ambitious programmes of economic reconstruction, insuring peace, stability and security, and dealing with problems deriving from the historical relations of Africa with the rest of the world, requires a pooling of sovereignty, removing the burden of external debt and negotiating equitable trade regimes and systems of investment – requires a collective African voice that reflects a popular conviction that the continent is indeed on the path towards a rapidly improving life for all its people. And that Africa is indeed returning from the margins to the mainstream of world history.

That is why we include amongst our priorities the building of co-operation with the rest of the South in partnership with the industrialised countries of the North. That is why we lay stress on the development of our regional and continental organisations, and the progress towards economic integration. That is why the entrenchment of democracy is fundamental to our future. Africa’s position in the world today will depend on what Africa does to and with itself.

In the end that is why we do remain confident in our determination that we are at the dawn of the African century. I hope observers from Europe have not lost sight of what is happening in Africa, something which is exemplary for many parts of the world. It is common knowledge that some years back General Obasanjo of Nigeria staged a coup in his country because of reasons which he explained, which in many respects were convincing. But he made an announcement when he staged that coup, that within three years he would hand over power to a civilian authority. He did that.

Then there is the case of General Abubakar also in Nigeria. When Sani Abacha died, General Abubakar took over as head of the military government. At the same time he made a statement, that as soon as he had normalised the situation he would hand over to civilian rule. Both soldiers honoured their commitment. Today General Obasanjo is the President of Nigeria through the ballot box, he is now chairman of the 77 Group of Nations which will be meeting shortly in Havana in Cuba. General Abubakar – I invited him to the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement because of his declaration that he would hand over to the civilian authority. He was warmly welcomed by delegates from all over the world because of the example he had set. And he was given the honour, at one stage, of chairing the proceedings of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Then you have heard of the case of Nyerere. He knew exactly when to step down. He stepped down at the height of his power and popularity and made way for younger people. President Masire of Botswana has done exactly the same thing. At the height of his popularity he stepped down and made way for younger blood. These things are happening in a continent which is regarded as still living in the dark ages. I want you to open your eyes and to observe what is going on in that continent.

Almost every country, with a few exceptions, has now democratised, and these are developments which give us hope that, whatever problems we have – and we have many and some of them are very serious -we nonetheless have men and women who are highly gifted and capable of rising to the challenges that face the continent.

You will again excuse me ending up by telling a story, which I have told several times. A young lady of five came to my gate in my house, and security said ‘Look, there is a young lady here outside who wants to see you.’ I said ‘Let her in.’ They said ‘Mr President, she is very cheeky.’ I said ‘Precisely for that, let her come in.’ And indeed, she was quite a lady. I was sitting in my lounge. She just stormed in, without knocking, and the first question she asked was ‘How old are you?’ I said ‘Well, I am very sorry, I can’t remember. But I was born long, long ago.’ She said ‘Two years ago?’ I said ‘No, much longer than that.’ Then she changed the subject. ‘Why did you go to jail?’ I said ‘I didn’t go to jail because I liked.

Some people forced me to go there.’ ‘Who?’ ‘People who don’t like me.’ ‘How long did you stay there?’ I said ‘I can’t remember but it was a very, very long time.’ Again the question of two years came in. And when I couldn’t answer her question, she said ‘You must be a very stupid old man!’ And having said that, she continued talking to me as if she had paid me a compliment.

Ladies and gentlemen, I tell this story so that if you feel that I have not risen to expectations, please be a little more diplomatic than that young lady! [Applause]

Q&A session

Jonathan Black, President LSE Students’ Union

Mr Mandela, may I first say what a sincere privilege it is to have you with us at LSE today. My question is, you have been such an inspiration to so many people around the world, I was wondering who has been an inspiration to you?

Well, that question has been put to me on several occasions. Very often one says the inspiration was either a mother or father. Unfortunately, as I have indicated in the opening comments I made, I grew up in an area where education for blacks was very rare indeed. And my parents had never been to school. They were completely illiterate. My inspiration are men and women who have emerged throughout the globe, and who have chosen the world as the theatre of their operations and who fight socio-economic conditions which do not help towards the advancement of humanity wherever that occurs. Men and women who fight the suppression of the human voice, who fight disease, illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and hunger. Some are known, others are not. Those are the people who have inspired me, and indeed many of you here as well.

Bella Issaacs, LSE Graduate

My question to you is, through all your experiences, what has been your survival technique?

Nelson Mandela

I have to say, firstly, that I got worried when I got here to see many former prisoners who have served long terms of imprisonment in many parts of South Africa. I am very jealous of my reputation! I wouldn’t like to deal with former ‘jail birds.’ But, I must say, and correct a mistake which has been committed several times, of thinking that one individual is shorn of bitterness and that is an exception. And also that he has been responsible for bringing about a sea change in the policy of this country. As I have pointed out before, we are essentially a generation of leaders which belongs in collective effort, in teamwork, and an individual may be chosen to articulate views which have been thoroughly canvassed through the committee, and where opposing views were expressed and thoroughly debated so that anybody, when we go outside and express those views, anybody who opposes them, generally loses his or her credibility. That is the environment in which we have been produced and none of us, including me, have got experiences which they can place before you, experiences as an individual. If you want me to place before you what we as a team have done, and what we think should be the approach of dealing with questions such as confront a politician, then I have got an easier task. But I do want to point out, that some of us have not really made the contribution which the world thinks we have. There are many men and women who have made a greater contribution, for example, in the leadership of the African National Congress than myself. There were people in jail who were more inspiring to their colleagues than I was able to be. And there are a number of jail birds here. There is one, [pointing] the fourth at the end of this line. General Sijake, just stand up! [ Applause, as General Sijake stands]

He will tell you that on numerous occasions I came with an idea, and they overruled me. And I had to accept that. And there is a story I normally tell to show how ordinary I am and how wrong I can be. I made a suggestion to the national executive of the ANC that said the vote in our country, the voting age must be reduced to 14. And I pointed out that in seven different countries in the world, the voting age had been reduced to 14 because in those countries you had young people who never experienced childhood, who went out at 10, 11, 12 to go and fight for the liberation of their country. They did so and liberated their country. And the authorities said that because of the contribution of these children they must be given the right to determine jointly with the rest of the population the affairs of their country. I came along with this suggestion. I did not expect such opposition as I got, from almost everybody. I was alone, and I had to withdraw. But to complete the rejection of my scheme, one of the influential newspapers in South Africa had a cartoon where they showed me with a baby with napkins, putting a ballot paper in the ballot box. I realised I was totally wrong!

Now that is the picture I would like you to have – that none of us, and least of all me, has the ability, the skills, to answer your question. But if I had my colleagues with me, it would be easy for me to do so.

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Excellent, thanks a lot to present the speech in black and white. Highly grateful for more speeches of Mandela in text.

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I Am Prepared to Die

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

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Analysis: “I Am Prepared to Die”

The purpose of Mandela’s speech is not to claim innocence in the face of the sabotage charges, as he admits to his prominent involvement in Umkhonto. Rather, the purpose is to use the court proceeding as a prominent venue in which to reframe the narrative . Mandela argues that his actions are justified in the context of the freedom struggle against apartheid . Therefore, throughout the speech, Mandela uses persuasive rhetorical techniques, relying on political arguments, examples of historic protests and court cases, statistics indicating the scope of inequality, and details from his own life and upbringing. Although the speech connects many key dates and events, it notably follows a non-linear narrative progression, as Mandela calls on these events when they are needed to substantiate his points.

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Nelson Mandela

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 29, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

The South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) helped bring an end to apartheid and has been a global advocate for human rights. A member of the African National Congress party beginning in the 1940s, he was a leader of both peaceful protests and armed resistance against the white minority’s oppressive regime in a racially divided South Africa. His actions landed him in prison for nearly three decades and made him the face of the antiapartheid movement both within his country and internationally. Released in 1990, he participated in the eradication of apartheid and in 1994 became the first Black president of South Africa, forming a multiethnic government to oversee the country’s transition. After retiring from politics in 1999, he remained a devoted champion for peace and social justice in his own nation and around the world until his death in 2013 at the age of 95.

Nelson Mandela’s Childhood and Education

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, into a royal family of the Xhosa-speaking Thembu tribe in the South African village of Mvezo, where his father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (c. 1880-1928), served as chief. His mother, Nosekeni Fanny, was the third of Mphakanyiswa’s four wives, who together bore him nine daughters and four sons. After the death of his father in 1927, 9-year-old Mandela—then known by his birth name, Rolihlahla—was adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, a high-ranking Thembu regent who began grooming his young ward for a role within the tribal leadership.

Did you know? As a sign of respect, many South Africans referred to Nelson Mandela as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name.

The first in his family to receive a formal education, Mandela completed his primary studies at a local missionary school. There, a teacher dubbed him Nelson as part of a common practice of giving African students English names. He went on to attend the Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Healdtown, a Methodist secondary school, where he excelled in boxing and track as well as academics. In 1939 Mandela entered the elite University of Fort Hare, the only Western-style higher learning institute for Black South Africans at the time. The following year, he and several other students, including his friend and future business partner Oliver Tambo (1917-1993), were sent home for participating in a boycott against university policies.

After learning that his guardian had arranged a marriage for him, Mandela fled to Johannesburg and worked first as a night watchman and then as a law clerk while completing his bachelor’s degree by correspondence. He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became involved in the movement against racial discrimination and forged key relationships with Black and white activists. In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and worked with fellow party members, including Oliver Tambo, to establish its youth league, the ANCYL. That same year, he met and married his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1922-2004), with whom he had four children before their divorce in 1957.

Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress

Nelson Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which introduced a formal system of racial classification and segregation—apartheid—that restricted nonwhites’ basic rights and barred them from government while maintaining white minority rule. The following year, the ANC adopted the ANCYL’s plan to achieve full citizenship for all South Africans through boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience and other nonviolent methods. Mandela helped lead the ANC’s 1952 Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws, traveling across the country to organize protests against discriminatory policies, and promoted the manifesto known as the Freedom Charter, ratified by the Congress of the People in 1955. Also in 1952, Mandela and Tambo opened South Africa’s first Black law firm, which offered free or low-cost legal counsel to those affected by apartheid legislation.

On December 5, 1956, Mandela and 155 other activists were arrested and went on trial for treason. All of the defendants were acquitted in 1961, but in the meantime tensions within the ANC escalated, with a militant faction splitting off in 1959 to form the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The next year, police opened fire on peaceful Black protesters in the township of Sharpeville, killing 69 people; as panic, anger and riots swept the country in the massacre’s aftermath, the apartheid government banned both the ANC and the PAC. Forced to go underground and wear disguises to evade detection, Mandela decided that the time had come for a more radical approach than passive resistance.

Nelson Mandela and the Armed Resistance Movement

In 1961, Nelson Mandela co-founded and became the first leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), also known as MK, a new armed wing of the ANC. Several years later, during the trial that would put him behind bars for nearly three decades, he described the reasoning for this radical departure from his party’s original tenets: “[I]t would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.”

Under Mandela’s leadership, MK launched a sabotage campaign against the government, which had recently declared South Africa a republic and withdrawn from the British Commonwealth. In January 1962, Mandela traveled abroad illegally to attend a conference of African nationalist leaders in Ethiopia, visit the exiled Oliver Tambo in London and undergo guerilla training in Algeria. On August 5, shortly after his return, he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for leaving the country and inciting a 1961 workers’ strike. The following July, police raided an ANC hideout in Rivonia, a suburb on the outskirts of Johannesburg, and arrested a racially diverse group of MK leaders who had gathered to debate the merits of a guerilla insurgency. Evidence was found implicating Mandela and other activists, who were brought to stand trial for sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy alongside their associates.

Mandela and seven other defendants narrowly escaped the gallows and were instead sentenced to life imprisonment during the so-called Rivonia Trial, which lasted eight months and attracted substantial international attention. In a stirring opening statement that sealed his iconic status around the world, Mandela admitted to some of the charges against him while defending the ANC’s actions and denouncing the injustices of apartheid. He ended with the following words: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Nelson Mandela’s Years Behind Bars

Nelson Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison, a former leper colony off the coast of Cape Town, where he was confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing and compelled to do hard labor in a lime quarry. As a Black political prisoner, he received scantier rations and fewer privileges than other inmates. He was only allowed to see his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1936-), who he had married in 1958 and was the mother of his two young daughters, once every six months. Mandela and his fellow prisoners were routinely subjected to inhumane punishments for the slightest of offenses; among other atrocities, there were reports of guards burying inmates in the ground up to their necks and urinating on them.

These restrictions and conditions notwithstanding, while in confinement Mandela earned a bachelor of law degree from the University of London and served as a mentor to his fellow prisoners, encouraging them to seek better treatment through nonviolent resistance. He also smuggled out political statements and a draft of his autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” published five years after his release.

Despite his forced retreat from the spotlight, Mandela remained the symbolic leader of the antiapartheid movement. In 1980 Oliver Tambo introduced a “Free Nelson Mandela” campaign that made the jailed leader a household name and fueled the growing international outcry against South Africa’s racist regime. As pressure mounted, the government offered Mandela his freedom in exchange for various political compromises, including the renouncement of violence and recognition of the “independent” Transkei Bantustan, but he categorically rejected these deals.

In 1982 Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland, and in 1988 he was placed under house arrest on the grounds of a minimum-security correctional facility. The following year, newly elected president F. W. de Klerk (1936-) lifted the ban on the ANC and called for a nonracist South Africa, breaking with the conservatives in his party. On February 11, 1990, he ordered Mandela’s release.

Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa

After attaining his freedom, Nelson Mandela led the ANC in its negotiations with the governing National Party and various other South African political organizations for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. Though fraught with tension and conducted against a backdrop of political instability, the talks earned Mandela and de Klerk the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1993. On April 26, 1994, more than 22 million South Africans turned out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections in history. An overwhelming majority chose the ANC to lead the country, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as the first Black president of South Africa, with de Klerk serving as his first deputy.

As president, Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights and political violations committed by both supporters and opponents of apartheid between 1960 and 1994. He also introduced numerous social and economic programs designed to improve the living standards of South Africa’s Black population. In 1996 Mandela presided over the enactment of a new South African constitution, which established a strong central government based on majority rule and prohibited discrimination against minorities, including whites.

Improving race relations, discouraging Blacks from retaliating against the white minority and building a new international image of a united South Africa were central to President Mandela’s agenda. To these ends, he formed a multiracial “Government of National Unity” and proclaimed the country a “rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.” In a gesture seen as a major step toward reconciliation, he encouraged Blacks and whites alike to rally around the predominantly Afrikaner national rugby team when South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

On his 80th birthday in 1998, Mandela wed the politician and humanitarian Graça Machel (1945-), widow of the former president of Mozambique. (His marriage to Winnie had ended in divorce in 1992.) The following year, he retired from politics at the end of his first term as president and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki (1942-) of the ANC.

Nelson Mandela’s Later Years and Legacy

After leaving office, Nelson Mandela remained a devoted champion for peace and social justice in his own country and around the world. He established a number of organizations, including the influential Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Elders, an independent group of public figures committed to addressing global problems and easing human suffering. In 2002, Mandela became a vocal advocate of AIDS awareness and treatment programs in a culture where the epidemic had been cloaked in stigma and ignorance. The disease later claimed the life of his son Makgatho (1950-2005) and is believed to affect more people in South Africa than in any other country.

Treated for prostate cancer in 2001 and weakened by other health issues, Mandela grew increasingly frail in his later years and scaled back his schedule of public appearances. In 2009, the United Nations declared July 18 “Nelson Mandela International Day” in recognition of the South African leader’s contributions to democracy, freedom, peace and human rights around the world. Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013 from a recurring lung infection.

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Read the most important speech Nelson Mandela ever gave

Nelson Mandela was already 45 years old when, on April 20, 1964, he gave the defining speech of the anti-Apartheid movement, from the dock of a Pretoria courtroom. Mandela had been in prison for two years already, for inciting workers to strike, when he was put on the stand again as part of the Rivonia Trials. Named for the Johannesburg suburb where South African police had arrested 19 ANC leaders, the trials were meant to be a blow against the group. But Mandela, charged with three counts of sabotage, seized the moment to speak directly to South Africa and the world. What began as a statement by an accused prison became, over the 29 minutes it took Mandela to deliver it, his best known and most important speech. It was a recounting of his story up to that point, an expression of his views and a morally forceful argument on behalf of his cause. You will surely know it from the final lines:

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

But the speech must be read in full. The complete transcript, via a United Nations page, is below. You can also listen to the speech here . One and a half months later, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison. He was not freed until 1990, and in 1994 was elected president. I am the First Accused.

I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Arts and practised as an attorney in Johannesburg for a number of years in partnership with Oliver Tambo. I am a convicted prisoner serving five years for leaving the country without a permit and for inciting people to go on strike at the end of May 1961.

At the outset, I want to say that the suggestion made by the State in its opening that the struggle in South Africa is under the influence of foreigners or communists is wholly incorrect. I have done whatever I did, both as an individual and as a leader of my people, because of my experience in South Africa and my own proudly felt African background, and not because of what any outsider might have said.

In my youth in the Transkei I listened to the elders of my tribe telling stories of the old days. Amongst the tales they related to me were those of wars fought by our ancestors in defence of the fatherland. The names of Dingane and Bambata, Hintsa and Makana, Squngthi and Dalasile, Moshoeshoe and Sekhukhuni, were praised as the glory of the entire African nation. I hoped then that life might offer me the opportunity to serve my people and make my own humble contribution to their freedom struggle. This is what has motivated me in all that I have done in relation to the charges made against me in this case.

Having said this, I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites.

I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto we Sizwe, and that I played a prominent role in its affairs until I was arrested in August 1962.

In the statement which I am about to make I shall correct certain false impressions which have been created by State witnesses. Amongst other things, I will demonstrate that certain of the acts referred to in the evidence were not and could not have been committed by Umkhonto. I will also deal with the relationship between the African National Congress and Umkhonto, and with the part which I personally have played in the affairs of both organizations. I shall deal also with the part played by the Communist Party. In order to explain these matters properly, I will have to explain what Umkhonto set out to achieve; what methods it prescribed for the achievement of these objects, and why these methods were chosen. I will also have to explain how I became involved in the activities of these organizations.

I deny that Umkhonto was responsible for a number of acts which clearly fell outside the policy of the organisation, and which have been charged in the indictment against us. I do not know what justification there was for these acts, but to demonstrate that they could not have been authorized by Umkhonto, I want to refer briefly to the roots and policy of the organization.

I have already mentioned that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto. I, and the others who started the organization, did so for two reasons. Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalize and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the Government. We chose to defy the law. We first broke the law in a way which avoided any recourse to violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the Government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.

But the violence which we chose to adopt was not terrorism. We who formed Umkhonto were all members of the African National Congress, and had behind us the ANC tradition of non-violence and negotiation as a means of solving political disputes. We believe that South Africa belongs to all the people who live in it, and not to one group, be it black or white. We did not want an interracial war, and tried to avoid it to the last minute. If the Court is in doubt about this, it will be seen that the whole history of our organization bears out what I have said, and what I will subsequently say, when I describe the tactics which Umkhonto decided to adopt. I want, therefore, to say something about the African National Congress.

The African National Congress was formed in 1912 to defend the rights of the African people which had been seriously curtailed by the South Africa Act, and which were then being threatened by the Native Land Act. For thirty-seven years - that is until 1949 - it adhered strictly to a constitutional struggle. It put forward demands and resolutions; it sent delegations to the Government in the belief that African grievances could be settled through peaceful discussion and that Africans could advance gradually to full political rights. But White Governments remained unmoved, and the rights of Africans became less instead of becoming greater. In the words of my leader, Chief Lutuli, who became President of the ANC in 1952, and who was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize:

"who will deny that thirty years of my life have been spent knocking in vain, patiently, moderately, and modestly at a closed and barred door? What have been the fruits of moderation? The past thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws restricting our rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all".

Even after 1949, the ANC remained determined to avoid violence. At this time, however, there was a change from the strictly constitutional means of protest which had been employed in the past. The change was embodied in a decision which was taken to protest against apartheid legislation by peaceful, but unlawful, demonstrations against certain laws. Pursuant to this policy the ANC launched the Defiance Campaign, in which I was placed in charge of volunteers. This campaign was based on the principles of passive resistance. More than 8,500 people defied apartheid laws and went to jail. Yet there was not a single instance of violence in the course of this campaign on the part of any defier. I and nineteen colleagues were convicted for the role which we played in organizing the campaign, but our sentences were suspended mainly because the Judge found that discipline and non-violence had been stressed throughout. This was the time when the volunteer section of the ANC was established, and when the word 'Amadelakufa' 1 was first used: this was the time when the volunteers were asked to take a pledge to uphold certain principles. Evidence dealing with volunteers and their pledges has been introduced into this case, but completely out of context. The volunteers were not, and are not, the soldiers of a black army pledged to fight a civil war against the whites. They were, and are. dedicated workers who are prepared to lead campaigns initiated by the ANC to distribute leaflets, to organize strikes, or do whatever the particular campaign required. They are called volunteers because they volunteer to face the penalties of imprisonment and whipping which are now prescribed by the legislature for such acts.

During the Defiance Campaign, the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were passed. These Statutes provided harsher penalties for offences committed by way of protests against laws. Despite this, the protests continued and the ANC adhered to its policy of non-violence. In 1956, 156 leading members of the Congress Alliance, including myself, were arrested on a charge of high treason and charges under the Suppression of Communism Act. The non-violent policy of the ANC was put in issue by the State, but when the Court gave judgement some five years later, it found that the ANC did not have a policy of violence. We were acquitted on all counts, which included a count that the ANC sought to set up a communist state in place of the existing regime. The Government has always sought to label all its opponents as communists. This allegation has been repeated in the present case, but as I will show, the ANC is not, and never has been, a communist organization.

In 1960 there was the shooting at Sharpeville, which resulted in the proclamation of a state of emergency and the declaration of the ANC as an unlawful organization. My colleagues and I, after careful consideration, decided that we would not obey this decree. The African people were not part of the Government and did not make the laws by which they were governed. We believed in the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that 'the will of the people shall be the basis of authority of the Government', and for us to accept the banning was equivalent to accepting the silencing of the Africans for all time. The ANC refused to dissolve, but instead went underground. We believed it was our duty to preserve this organization which had been built up with almost fifty years of unremitting toil. I have no doubt that no self-respecting White political organization would disband itself if declared illegal by a government in which it had no say.

In 1960 the Government held a referendum which led to the establishment of the Republic. Africans, who constituted approximately 70 per cent of the population of South Africa, were not entitled to vote, and were not even consulted about the proposed constitutional change. All of us were apprehensive of our future under the proposed White Republic, and a resolution was taken to hold an All-In African Conference to call for a National Convention, and to organize mass demonstrations on the eve of the unwanted Republic, if the Government failed to call the Convention. The conference was attended by Africans of various political persuasions. I was the Secretary of the conference and undertook to be responsible for organizing the national stay-at-home which was subsequently called to coincide with the declaration of the Republic. As all strikes by Africans are illegal, the person organizing such a strike must avoid arrest. I was chosen to be this person, and consequently I had to leave my home and family and my practice and go into hiding to avoid arrest.

The stay-at-home, in accordance with ANC policy, was to be a peaceful demonstration. Careful instructions were given to organizers and members to avoid any recourse to violence. The Government's answer was to introduce new and harsher laws, to mobilize its armed forces, and to send Saracens,2 armed vehicles, and soldiers into the townships in a massive show of force designed to intimidate the people. This was an indication that the Government had decided to rule by force alone, and this decision was a milestone on the road to Umkhonto.

Some of this may appear irrelevant to this trial. In fact, I believe none of it is irrelevant because it will, I hope, enable the Court to appreciate the attitude eventually adopted by the various persons and bodies concerned in the National Liberation Movement. When I went to jail in 1962, the dominant idea was that loss of life should be avoided. I now know that this was still so in 1963.

I must return to June 1961. What were we, the leaders of our people, to do? Were we to give in to the show of force and the implied threat against future action, or were we to fight it and, if so, how?

We had no doubt that we had to continue the fight. Anything else would have been abject surrender. Our problem was not whether to fight, but was how to continue the fight. We of the ANC had always stood for a non-racial democracy, and we shrank from any action which might drive the races further apart than they already were. But the hard facts were that fifty years of non-violence had brought the African people nothing but more and more repressive legislation, and fewer and fewer rights. It may not be easy for this Court to understand, but it is a fact that for a long time the people had been talking of violence - of the day when they would fight the White man and win back their country - and we, the leaders of the ANC, had nevertheless always prevailed upon them to avoid violence and to pursue peaceful methods. When some of us discussed this in May and June of 1961, it could not be denied that our policy to achieve a nonracial State by non-violence had achieved nothing, and that our followers were beginning to lose confidence in this policy and were developing disturbing ideas of terrorism.

It must not be forgotten that by this time violence had, in fact, become a feature of the South African political scene. There had been violence in 1957 when the women of Zeerust were ordered to carry passes; there was violence in 1958 with the enforcement of cattle culling in Sekhukhuniland; there was violence in 1959 when the people of Cato Manor protested against pass raids; there was violence in 1960 when the Government attempted to impose Bantu Authorities in Pondoland. Thirty-nine Africans died in these disturbances. In 1961 there had been riots in Warmbaths, and all this time the Transkei had been a seething mass of unrest. Each disturbance pointed clearly to the inevitable growth among Africans of the belief that violence was the only way out - it showed that a Government which uses force to maintain its rule teaches the oppressed to use force to oppose it. Already small groups had arisen in the urban areas and were spontaneously making plans for violent forms of political struggle. There now arose a danger that these groups would adopt terrorism against Africans, as well as Whites, if not properly directed. Particularly disturbing was the type of violence engendered in places such as Zeerust, Sekhukhuniland, and Pondoland amongst Africans. It was increasingly taking the form, not of struggle against the Government - though this is what prompted it -but of civil strife amongst themselves, conducted in such a way that it could not hope to achieve anything other than a loss of life and bitterness.

At the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the Government met our peaceful demands with force.

This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe. We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the Government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of Umkhonto published on 16 December 1961, which is Exhibit AD, we said:

"The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices - submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom".

This was our feeling in June of 1961 when we decided to press for a change in the policy of the National Liberation Movement. I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did.

We who had taken this decision started to consult leaders of various organizations, including the ANC. I will not say whom we spoke to, or what they said, but I wish to deal with the role of the African National Congress in this phase of the struggle, and with the policy and objectives of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

As far as the ANC was concerned, it formed a clear view which can be summarized as follows:

a. It was a mass political organization with a political function to fulfil. Its members had joined on the express policy of non-violence.

b. Because of all this, it could not and would not undertake violence. This must be stressed. One cannot turn such a body into the small, closely knit organization required for sabotage. Nor would this be politically correct, because it would result in members ceasing to carry out this essential activity: political propaganda and organization. Nor was it permissible to change the whole nature of the organization.

c. On the other hand, in view of this situation I have described, the ANC was prepared to depart from its fifty-year-old policy of non-violence to this extent that it would no longer disapprove of properly controlled violence. Hence members who undertook such activity would not be subject to disciplinary action by the ANC.

I say 'properly controlled violence' because I made it clear that if I formed the organization I would at all times subject it to the political guidance of the ANC and would not undertake any different form of activity from that contemplated without the consent of the ANC. And I shall now tell the Court how that form of violence came to be determined.

As a result of this decision, Umkhonto was formed in November 1961. When we took this decision, and subsequently formulated our plans, the ANC heritage of non-violence and racial harmony was very much with us. We felt that the country was drifting towards a civil war in which Blacks and Whites would fight each other. We viewed the situation with alarm. Civil war could mean the destruction of what the ANC stood for; with civil war, racial peace would be more difficult than ever to achieve. We already have examples in South African history of the results of war. It has taken more than fifty years for the scars of the South African War to disappear. How much longer would it take to eradicate the scars of inter-racial civil war, which could not be fought without a great loss of life on both sides?

The avoidance of civil war had dominated our thinking for many years, but when we decided to adopt violence as part of our policy, we realized that we might one day have to face the prospect of such a war. This had to be taken into account in formulating our plans. We required a plan which was flexible and which permitted us to act in accordance with the needs of the times; above all, the plan had to be one which recognized civil war as the last resort, and left the decision on this question to the future. We did not want to be committed to civil war, but we wanted to be ready if it became inevitable.

Four forms of violence were possible. There is sabotage, there is guerrilla warfare, there is terrorism, and there is open revolution. We chose to adopt the first method and to exhaust it before taking any other decision.

In the light of our political background the choice was a logical one. Sabotage did not involve loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Bitterness would be kept to a minimum and, if the policy bore fruit, democratic government could become a reality. This is what we felt at the time, and this is what we said in our Manifesto (Exhibit AD):

"We of Umkhonto we Sizwe have always sought to achieve liberation without bloodshed and civil clash. We hope, even at this late hour, that our first actions will awaken everyone to a realization of the disastrous situation to which the Nationalist policy is leading. We hope that we will bring the Government and its supporters to their senses before it is too late, so that both the Government and its policies can be changed before matters reach the desperate state of civil war."

The initial plan was based on a careful analysis of the political and economic situation of our country. We believed that South Africa depended to a large extent on foreign capital and foreign trade. We felt that planned destruction of power plants, and interference with rail and telephone communications, would tend to scare away capital from the country, make it more difficult for goods from the industrial areas to reach the seaports on schedule, and would in the long run be a heavy drain on the economic life of the country, thus compelling the voters of the country to reconsider their position.

Attacks on the economic life lines of the country were to be linked with sabotage on Government buildings and other symbols of apartheid. These attacks would serve as a source of inspiration to our people. In addition, they would provide an outlet for those people who were urging the adoption of violent methods and would enable us to give concrete proof to our followers that we had adopted a stronger line and were fighting back against Government violence.

In addition, if mass action were successfully organized, and mass reprisals taken, we felt that sympathy for our cause would be roused in other countries, and that greater pressure would be brought to bear on the South African Government.

This then was the plan. Umkhonto was to perform sabotage, and strict instructions were given to its members right from the start, that on no account were they to injure or kill people in planning or carrying out operations. These instructions have been referred to in the evidence of 'Mr. X' and 'Mr. Z'. 3

The affairs of the Umkhonto were controlled and directed by a National High Command, which had powers of co-option and which could, and did, appoint Regional Commands. The High Command was the body which determined tactics and targets and was in charge of training and finance. Under the High Command there were Regional Commands which were responsible for the direction of the local sabotage groups. Within the framework of the policy laid down by the National High Command, the Regional Commands had authority to select the targets to be attacked. They had no authority to go beyond the prescribed framework and thus had no authority to embark upon acts which endangered life, or which did not fit into the overall plan of sabotage. For instance, Umkhonto members were forbidden ever to go armed into operation. Incidentally, the terms High Command and Regional Command were an importation from the Jewish national underground organization Irgun Zvai Leumi, which operated in Israel between 1944 and 1948.

Umkhonto had its first operation on 16 December 1961, when Government buildings in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban were attacked. The selection of targets is proof of the policy to which I have referred. Had we intended to attack life we would have selected targets where people congregated and not empty buildings and power stations. The sabotage which was committed before 16 December 1961 was the work of isolated groups and had no connection whatever with Umkhonto. In fact, some of these and a number of later acts were claimed by other organizations.

The Manifesto of Umkhonto was issued on the day that operations commenced. The response to our actions and Manifesto among the white population was characteristically violent. The Government threatened to take strong action, and called upon its supporters to stand firm and to ignore the demands of the Africans. The Whites failed to respond by suggesting change; they responded to our call by suggesting the laager.

In contrast, the response of the Africans was one of encouragement. Suddenly there was hope again. Things were happening. People in the townships became eager for political news. A great deal of enthusiasm was generated by the initial successes, and people began to speculate on how soon freedom would be obtained.

But we in Umkhonto weighed up the white response with anxiety. The lines were being drawn. The whites and blacks were moving into separate camps, and the prospects of avoiding a civil war were made less. The white newspapers carried reports that sabotage would be punished by death. If this was so, how could we continue to keep Africans away from terrorism?

Already scores of Africans had died as a result of racial friction. In 1920 when the famous leader, Masabala, was held in Port Elizabeth jail, twenty-four of a group of Africans who had gathered to demand his release were killed by the police and white civilians. In 1921, more than one hundred Africans died in the Bulhoek affair. In 1924 over two hundred Africans were killed when the Administrator of South-West Africa led a force against a group which had rebelled against the imposition of dog tax. On 1 May 1950, eighteen Africans died as a result of police shootings during the strike. On 21 March 1960, sixty-nine unarmed Africans died at Sharpeville.

How many more Sharpevilles would there be in the history of our country? And how many more Sharpevilles could the country stand without violence and terror becoming the order of the day? And what would happen to our people when that stage was reached? In the long run we felt certain we must succeed, but at what cost to ourselves and the rest of the country? And if this happened, how could black and white ever live together again in peace and harmony? These were the problems that faced us, and these were our decisions.

Experience convinced us that rebellion would offer the Government limitless opportunities for the indiscriminate slaughter of our people. But it was precisely because the soil of South Africa is already drenched with the blood of innocent Africans that we felt it our duty to make preparations as a long-term undertaking to use force in order to defend ourselves against force. If war were inevitable, we wanted the fight to be conducted on terms most favourable to our people. The fight which held out prospects best for us and the least risk of life to both sides was guerrilla warfare. We decided, therefore, in our preparations for the future, to make provision for the possibility of guerrilla warfare.

All whites undergo compulsory military training, but no such training was given to Africans. It was in our view essential to build up a nucleus of trained men who would be able to provide the leadership which would be required if guerrilla warfare started. We had to prepare for such a situation before it became too late to make proper preparations. It was also necessary to build up a nucleus of men trained in civil administration and other professions, so that Africans would be equipped to participate in the government of this country as soon as they were allowed to do so.

At this stage it was decided that I should attend the Conference of the Pan-African Freedom Movement for Central, East, and Southern Africa, which was to be held early in 1962 in Addis Ababa, and, because of our need for preparation, it was also decided that, after the conference, I would undertake a tour of the African States with a view to obtaining facilities for the training of soldiers, and that I would also solicit scholarships for the higher education of matriculated Africans. Training in both fields would be necessary, even if changes came about by peaceful means. Administrators would be necessary who would be willing and able to administer a non-racial State and so would men be necessary to control the army and police force of such a State.

It was on this note that I left South Africa to proceed to Addis Ababa as a delegate of the ANC. My tour was a success. Wherever I went I met sympathy for our cause and promises of help. All Africa was united against the stand of White South Africa, and even in London I was received with great sympathy by political leaders, such as Mr. Gaitskell and Mr. Grimond. In Africa I was promised support by such men as Julius Nyerere, now President of Tanganyika; Mr. Kawawa, then Prime Minister of Tanganyika; Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia; General Abboud, President of the Sudan; Habib Bourguiba, President of Tunisia; Ben Bella, now President of Algeria; Modibo Keita, President of Mali; Leopold Senghor, President of Senegal; Sekou Toure, President of Guinea; President Tubman of Liberia; and Milton Obote, Prime Minister of Uganda. It was Ben Bella who invited me to visit Oujda, the Headquarters of the Algerian Army of National Liberation, the visit which is described in my diary, one of the Exhibits.

I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them. Notes of lectures which I received in Algeria are contained in Exhibit 16, produced in evidence. Summaries of books on guerrilla warfare and military strategy have also been produced. I have already admitted that these documents are in my writing, and I acknowledge that I made these studies to equip myself for the role which I might have to play if the struggle drifted into guerrilla warfare. I approached this question as every African Nationalist should do. I was completely objective. The Court will see that I attempted to examine all types of authority on the subject - from the East and from the West, going back to the classic work of Clausewitz, and covering such a variety as Mao Tse Tung and Che Guevara on the one hand, and the writings on the Anglo-Boer War on the other. Of course, these notes are merely summaries of the books I read and do not contain my personal views.

I also made arrangements for our recruits to undergo military training. But here it was impossible to organize any scheme without the co-operation of the ANC offices in Africa. I consequently obtained the permission of the ANC in South Africa to do this. To this extent then there was a departure from the original decision of the ANC, but it applied outside South Africa only. The first batch of recruits actually arrived in Tanganyika when I was passing through that country on my way back to South Africa.

I returned to South Africa and reported to my colleagues on the results of my trip. On my return I found that there had been little alteration in the political scene save that the threat of a death penalty for sabotage had now become a fact. The attitude of my colleagues in Umkhonto was much the same as it had been before I left. They were feeling their way cautiously and felt that it would be a long time before the possibilities of sabotage were exhausted. In fact, the view was expressed by some that the training of recruits was premature. This is recorded by me in the document which is Exhibit R.14. After a full discussion, however, it was decided to go ahead with the plans for military training because of the fact that it would take many years to build up a sufficient nucleus of trained soldiers to start a guerrilla campaign, and whatever happened the training would be of value.

I wish to turn now to certain general allegations made in this case by the State. But before doing so, I wish to revert to certain occurrences said by witnesses to have happened in Port Elizabeth and East London. I am referring to the bombing of private houses of pro-Government persons during September, October and November 1962. I do not know what justification there was for these acts, nor what provocation had been given. But if what I have said already is accepted, then it is clear that these acts had nothing to do with the carrying out of the policy of Umkhonto.

One of the chief allegations in the indictment is that the ANC was a party to a general conspiracy to commit sabotage. I have already explained why this is incorrect but how, externally, there was a departure from the original principle laid down by the ANC. There has, of course, been overlapping of functions internally as well, because there is a difference between a resolution adopted in the atmosphere of a committee room and the concrete difficulties that arise in the field of practical activity. At a later stage the position was further affected by bannings and house arrests, and by persons leaving the country to take up political work abroad. This led to individuals having to do work in different capacities. But though this may have blurred the distinction between Umkhonto and the ANC, it by no means abolished that distinction. Great care was taken to keep the activities of the two organizations in South Africa distinct. The ANC remained a mass political body of Africans only carrying on the type of political work they had conducted prior to 1961. Umkhonto remained a small organization recruiting its members from different races and organizations and trying to achieve its own particular object. The fact that members of Umkhonto were recruited from the ANC, and the fact that persons served both organizations, like Solomon Mbanjwa, did not, in our view, change the nature of the ANC or give it a policy of violence. This overlapping of officers, however, was more the exception than the rule. This is why persons such as 'Mr. X' and 'Mr. Z', who were on the Regional Command of their respective areas, did not participate in any of the ANC committees or activities, and why people such as Mr. Bennett Mashiyana and Mr. Reginald Ndubi did not hear of sabotage at their ANC meetings.

Another of the allegations in the indictment is that Rivonia was the headquarters of Umkhonto. This is not true of the time when I was there. I was told, of course, and knew that certain of the activities of the Communist Party were carried on there. But this is no reason (as I shall presently explain) why I should not use the place.

I came there in the following manner:

1. As already indicated, early in April 1961 I went underground to organize the May general strike. My work entailed travelling throughout the country, living now in African townships, then in country villages and again in cities. During the second half of the year I started visiting the Parktown home of Arthur Goldreich, where I used to meet my family privately. Although I had no direct political association with him, I had known Arthur Goldreich4 socially since 1958.

2. In October, Arthur Goldreich informed me that he was moving out of town and offered me a hiding place there. A few days thereafter, he arranged for Michael Harmel to take me to Rivonia. I naturally found Rivonia an ideal place for the man who lived the life of an outlaw. Up to that time I had been compelled to live indoors during the daytime and could only venture out under cover of darkness. But at Liliesleaf 5[farm, Rivonia,] I could live differently and work far more efficiently.

3. For obvious reasons, I had to disguise myself and I assumed the fictitious name of David. In December, Arthur Goldreich and his family moved in. I stayed there until I went abroad on 11 January 1962. As already indicated, I returned in July 1962 and was arrested in Natal on 5 August.

4. Up to the time of my arrest, Liliesleaf farm was the headquarters of neither the African National Congress nor Umkhonto. With the exception of myself, none of the officials or members of these bodies lived there, no meetings of the governing bodies were ever held there, and no activities connected with them were either organized or directed from there. On numerous occasions during my stay at Liliesleaf farm I met both the Executive Committee of the ANC, as well as the NHC, but such meetings were held elsewhere and not on the farm.

5. Whilst staying at Liliesleaf farm, I frequently visited Arthur Goldreich in the main house and he also paid me visits in my room. We had numerous political discussions covering a variety of subjects. We discussed ideological and practical questions, the Congress Alliance, Umkhonto and its activities generally, and his experiences as a soldier in the Palmach, the military wing of the Haganah. Haganah was the political authority of the Jewish National Movement in Palestine.

6. Because of what I had got to know of Goldreich, I recommended on my return to South Africa that he should be recruited to Umkhonto. I do not know of my personal knowledge whether this was done.

Another of the allegations made by the State is that the aims and objects of the ANC and the Communist Party are the same. I wish to deal with this and with my own political position, because I must assume that the State may try to argue from certain Exhibits that I tried to introduce Marxism into the ANC. The allegation as to the ANC is false. This is an old allegation which was disproved at the Treason Trial and which has again reared its head. But since the allegation has been made again, I shall deal with it as well as with the relationship between the ANC and the Communist Party and Umkhonto and that party.

The ideological creed of the ANC is, and always has been, the creed of African Nationalism. It is not the concept of African Nationalism expressed in the cry, 'Drive the White man into the sea'. The African Nationalism for which the ANC stands is the concept of freedom and fulfilment for the African people in their own land. The most important political document ever adopted by the ANC is the 'Freedom Charter'. It is by no means a blueprint for a socialist state. It calls for redistribution, but not nationalization, of land; it provides for nationalization of mines, banks, and monopoly industry, because big monopolies are owned by one race only, and without such nationalization racial domination would be perpetuated despite the spread of political power. It would be a hollow gesture to repeal the Gold Law prohibitions against Africans when all gold mines are owned by European companies. In this respect the ANC's policy corresponds with the old policy of the present Nationalist Party which, for many years, had as part of its programme the nationalization of the gold mines which, at that time, were controlled by foreign capital. Under the Freedom Charter, nationalization would take place in an economy based on private enterprise. The realization of the Freedom Charter would open up fresh fields for a prosperous African population of all classes, including the middle class. The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society.

As far as the Communist Party is concerned, and if I understand its policy correctly, it stands for the establishment of a State based on the principles of Marxism. Although it is prepared to work for the Freedom Charter, as a short term solution to the problems created by white supremacy, it regards the Freedom Charter as the beginning, and not the end, of its programme.

The ANC, unlike the Communist Party, admitted Africans only as members. Its chief goal was, and is, for the African people to win unity and full political rights. The Communist Party's main aim, on the other hand, was to remove the capitalists and to replace them with a working-class government. The Communist Party sought to emphasize class distinctions whilst the ANC seeks to harmonize them. This is a vital distinction.

It is true that there has often been close co-operation between the ANC and the Communist Party. But co-operation is merely proof of a common goal - in this case the removal of white supremacy - and is not proof of a complete community of interests.

The history of the world is full of similar examples. Perhaps the most striking illustration is to be found in the co-operation between Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union in the fight against Hitler. Nobody but Hitler would have dared to suggest that such co-operation turned Churchill or Roosevelt into communists or communist tools, or that Britain and America were working to bring about a communist world.

Another instance of such co-operation is to be found precisely in Umkhonto. Shortly after Umkhonto was constituted, I was informed by some of its members that the Communist Party would support Umkhonto, and this then occurred. At a later stage the support was made openly.

I believe that communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements. Thus communists have played an important role in the freedom struggles fought in countries such as Malaya, Algeria, and Indonesia, yet none of these States today are communist countries. Similarly in the underground resistance movements which sprung up in Europe during the last World War, communists played an important role. Even General Chiang Kai-Shek, today one of the bitterest enemies of communism, fought together with the communists against the ruling class in the struggle which led to his assumption of power in China in the 1930s.

This pattern of co-operation between communists and non-communists has been repeated in the National Liberation Movement of South Africa. Prior to the banning of the Communist Party, joint campaigns involving the Communist Party and the Congress movements were accepted practice. African communists could, and did, become members of the ANC, and some served on the National, Provincial, and local committees. Amongst those who served on the National Executive are Albert Nzula, a former Secretary of the Communist Party, Moses Kotane, another former Secretary, and J. B. Marks, a former member of the Central Committee.

I joined the ANC in 1944, and in my younger days I held the view that the policy of admitting communists to the ANC, and the close co-operation which existed at times on specific issues between the ANC and the Communist Party, would lead to a watering down of the concept of African Nationalism. At that stage I was a member of the African National Congress Youth League, and was one of a group which moved for the expulsion of communists from the ANC. This proposal was heavily defeated. Amongst those who voted against the proposal were some of the most conservative sections of African political opinion. They defended the policy on the ground that from its inception the ANC was formed and built up, not as a political party with one school of political thought, but as a Parliament of the African people, accommodating people of various political convictions, all united by the common goal of national liberation. I was eventually won over to this point of view and I have upheld it ever since.

It is perhaps difficult for white South Africans, with an ingrained prejudice against communism, to understand why experienced African politicians so readily accept communists as their friends. But to us the reason is obvious. Theoretical differences amongst those fighting against oppression is a luxury we cannot afford at this stage. What is more, for many decades communists were the only political group in South Africa who were prepared to treat Africans as human beings and their equals; who were prepared to eat with us; talk with us, live with us, and work with us. They were the only political group which was prepared to work with the Africans for the attainment of political rights and a stake in society. Because of this, there are many Africans who, today, tend to equate freedom with communism. They are supported in this belief by a legislature which brands all exponents of democratic government and African freedom as communists and bans many of them (who are not communists) under the Suppression of Communism Act. Although I have never been a member of the Communist Party, I myself have been named under that pernicious Act because of the role I played in the Defiance Campaign. I have also been banned and imprisoned under that Act.

It is not only in internal politics that we count communists as amongst those who support our cause. In the international field, communist countries have always come to our aid. In the United Nations and other Councils of the world the communist bloc has supported the Afro-Asian struggle against colonialism and often seems to be more sympathetic to our plight than some of the Western powers. Although there is a universal condemnation of apartheid, the communist bloc speaks out against it with a louder voice than most of the white world. In these circumstances, it would take a brash young politician, such as I was in 1949, to proclaim that the Communists are our enemies.

I turn now to my own position. I have denied that I am a communist, and I think that in the circumstances I am obliged to state exactly what my political beliefs are.

I have always regarded myself, in the first place, as an African patriot. After all, I was born in Umtata, forty-six years ago. My guardian was my cousin, who was the acting paramount chief of Tembuland, and I am related both to the present paramount chief of Tembuland, Sabata Dalindyebo, and to Kaizer Matanzima, the Chief Minister of the Transkei.

Today I am attracted by the idea of a classless society, an attraction which springs in part from Marxist reading and, in part, from my admiration of the structure and organization of early African societies in this country. The land, then the main means of production, belonged to the tribe. There were no rich or poor and there was no exploitation.

It is true, as I have already stated, that I have been influenced by Marxist thought. But this is also true of many of the leaders of the new independent States. Such widely different persons as Gandhi, Nehru, Nkrumah, and Nasser all acknowledge this fact. We all accept the need for some form of socialism to enable our people to catch up with the advanced countries of this world and to overcome their legacy of extreme poverty. But this does not mean we are Marxists.

Indeed, for my own part, I believe that it is open to debate whether the Communist Party has any specific role to play at this particular stage of our political struggle. The basic task at the present moment is the removal of race discrimination and the attainment of democratic rights on the basis of the Freedom Charter. In so far as that Party furthers this task, I welcome its assistance. I realize that it is one of the means by which people of all races can be drawn into our struggle.

From my reading of Marxist literature and from conversations with Marxists, I have gained the impression that communists regard the parliamentary system of the West as undemocratic and reactionary. But, on the contrary, I am an admirer of such a system.

The Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights, and the Bill of Rights are documents which are held in veneration by democrats throughout the world.

I have great respect for British political institutions, and for the country's system of justice. I regard the British Parliament as the most democratic institution in the world, and the independence and impartiality of its judiciary never fail to arouse my admiration.

The American Congress, that country's doctrine of separation of powers, as well as the independence of its judiciary, arouses in me similar sentiments.

I have been influenced in my thinking by both West and East. All this has led me to feel that in my search for a political formula, I should be absolutely impartial and objective. I should tie myself to no particular system of society other than of socialism. I must leave myself free to borrow the best from the West and from the East .

There are certain Exhibits which suggest that we received financial support from abroad, and I wish to deal with this question.

Our political struggle has always been financed from internal sources - from funds raised by our own people and by our own supporters. Whenever we had a special campaign or an important political case - for example, the Treason Trial - we received financial assistance from sympathetic individuals and organizations in the Western countries. We had never felt it necessary to go beyond these sources.

But when in 1961 the Umkhonto was formed, and a new phase of struggle introduced, we realized that these events would make a heavy call on our slender resources, and that the scale of our activities would be hampered by the lack of funds. One of my instructions, as I went abroad in January 1962, was to raise funds from the African states.

I must add that, whilst abroad, I had discussions with leaders of political movements in Africa and discovered that almost every single one of them, in areas which had still not attained independence, had received all forms of assistance from the socialist countries, as well as from the West, including that of financial support. I also discovered that some well-known African states, all of them non-communists, and even anti-communists, had received similar assistance.

On my return to the Republic, I made a strong recommendation to the ANC that we should not confine ourselves to Africa and the Western countries, but that we should also send a mission to the socialist countries to raise the funds which we so urgently needed.

I have been told that after I was convicted such a mission was sent, but I am not prepared to name any countries to which it went, nor am I at liberty to disclose the names of the organizations and countries which gave us support or promised to do so.

As I understand the State case, and in particular the evidence of 'Mr. X', the suggestion is that Umkhonto was the inspiration of the Communist Party which sought by playing upon imaginary grievances to enrol the African people into an army which ostensibly was to fight for African freedom, but in reality was fighting for a communist state. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact the suggestion is preposterous. Umkhonto was formed by Africans to further their struggle for freedom in their own land. Communists and others supported the movement, and we only wish that more sections of the community would join us.

Our fight is against real, and not imaginary, hardships or, to use the language of the State Prosecutor, 'so-called hardships'. Basically, we fight against two features which are the hallmarks of African life in South Africa and which are entrenched by legislation which we seek to have repealed. These features are poverty and lack of human dignity, and we do not need communists or so-called 'agitators' to teach us about these things.

South Africa is the richest country in Africa, and could be one of the richest countries in the world. But it is a land of extremes and remarkable contrasts. The whites enjoy what may well be the highest standard of living in the world, whilst Africans live in poverty and misery. Forty per cent of the Africans live in hopelessly overcrowded and, in some cases, drought-stricken Reserves, where soil erosion and the overworking of the soil makes it impossible for them to live properly off the land. Thirty per cent are labourers, labour tenants, and squatters on white farms and work and live under conditions similar to those of the serfs of the Middle Ages. The other 30 per cent live in towns where they have developed economic and social habits which bring them closer in many respects to white standards. Yet most Africans, even in this group, are impoverished by low incomes and high cost of living.

The highest-paid and the most prosperous section of urban African life is in Johannesburg. Yet their actual position is desperate. The latest figures were given on 25 March 1964 by Mr. Carr, Manager of the Johannesburg Non-European Affairs Department. The poverty datum line for the average African family in Johannesburg (according to Mr. Carr's department) is R42.84 per month. He showed that the average monthly wage is R32.24 and that 46 per cent of all African families in Johannesburg do not earn enough to keep them going.

Poverty goes hand in hand with malnutrition and disease. The incidence of malnutrition and deficiency diseases is very high amongst Africans. Tuberculosis, pellagra, kwashiorkor, gastro-enteritis, and scurvy bring death and destruction of health. The incidence of infant mortality is one of the highest in the world. According to the Medical Officer of Health for Pretoria, tuberculosis kills forty people a day (almost all Africans), and in 1961 there were 58,491 new cases reported. These diseases not only destroy the vital organs of the body, but they result in retarded mental conditions and lack of initiative, and reduce powers of concentration. The secondary results of such conditions affect the whole community and the standard of work performed by African labourers.

The complaint of Africans, however, is not only that they are poor and the whites are rich, but that the laws which are made by the whites are designed to preserve this situation. There are two ways to break out of poverty. The first is by formal education, and the second is by the worker acquiring a greater skill at his work and thus higher wages. As far as Africans are concerned, both these avenues of advancement are deliberately curtailed by legislation.

The present Government has always sought to hamper Africans in their search for education. One of their early acts, after coming into power, was to stop subsidies for African school feeding. Many African children who attended schools depended on this supplement to their diet. This was a cruel act.

There is compulsory education for all white children at virtually no cost to their parents, be they rich or poor. Similar facilities are not provided for the African children, though there are some who receive such assistance. African children, however, generally have to pay more for their schooling than whites. According to figures quoted by the South African Institute of Race Relations in its 1963 journal, approximately 40 per cent of African children in the age group between seven to fourteen do not attend school. For those who do attend school, the standards are vastly different from those afforded to white children. In 1960-61 the per capita Government spending on African students at State-aided schools was estimated at R12.46. In the same years, the per capita spending on white children in the Cape Province (which are the only figures available to me) was R144.57. Although there are no figures available to me, it can be stated, without doubt, that the white children on whom R144.57 per head was being spent all came from wealthier homes than African children on whom R12.46 per head was being spent.

The quality of education is also different. According to the Bantu Educational Journal, only 5,660 African children in the whole of South Africa passed their Junior Certificate in 1962, and in that year only 362 passed matric. This is presumably consistent with the policy of Bantu education about which the present Prime Minister said, during the debate on the Bantu Education Bill in 1953:

"When I have control of Native education I will reform it so that Natives will be taught from childhood to realize that equality with Europeans is not for them . . . People who believe in equality are not desirable teachers for Natives. When my Department controls Native education it will know for what class of higher education a Native is fitted, and whether he will have a chance in life to use his knowledge."

The other main obstacle to the economic advancement of the African is the industrial colour-bar under which all the better jobs of industry are reserved for Whites only. Moreover, Africans who do obtain employment in the unskilled and semi-skilled occupations which are open to them are not allowed to form trade unions which have recognition under the Industrial Conciliation Act. This means that strikes of African workers are illegal, and that they are denied the right of collective bargaining which is permitted to the better-paid White workers. The discrimination in the policy of successive South African Governments towards African workers is demonstrated by the so-called 'civilized labour policy' under which sheltered, unskilled Government jobs are found for those white workers who cannot make the grade in industry, at wages which far exceed the earnings of the average African employee in industry.

The Government often answers its critics by saying that Africans in South Africa are economically better off than the inhabitants of the other countries in Africa. I do not know whether this statement is true and doubt whether any comparison can be made without having regard to the cost-of-living index in such countries. But even if it is true, as far as the African people are concerned it is irrelevant. Our complaint is not that we are poor by comparison with people in other countries, but that we are poor by comparison with the white people in our own country, and that we are prevented by legislation from altering this imbalance.

The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of white supremacy. White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion. Menial tasks in South Africa are invariably performed by Africans. When anything has to be carried or cleaned the white man will look around for an African to do it for him, whether the African is employed by him or not. Because of this sort of attitude, whites tend to regard Africans as a separate breed. They do not look upon them as people with families of their own; they do not realize that they have emotions - that they fall in love like white people do; that they want to be with their wives and children like white people want to be with theirs; that they want to earn enough money to support their families properly, to feed and clothe them and send them to school. And what 'house-boy' or 'garden-boy' or labourer can ever hope to do this?

Pass laws, which to the Africans are among the most hated bits of legislation in South Africa, render any African liable to police surveillance at any time. I doubt whether there is a single African male in South Africa who has not at some stage had a brush with the police over his pass. Hundreds and thousands of Africans are thrown into jail each year under pass laws. Even worse than this is the fact that pass laws keep husband and wife apart and lead to the breakdown of family life.

Poverty and the breakdown of family life have secondary effects. Children wander about the streets of the townships because they have no schools to go to, or no money to enable them to go to school, or no parents at home to see that they go to school, because both parents (if there be two) have to work to keep the family alive. This leads to a breakdown in moral standards, to an alarming rise in illegitimacy, and to growing violence which erupts not only politically, but everywhere. Life in the townships is dangerous. There is not a day that goes by without somebody being stabbed or assaulted. And violence is carried out of the townships in the white living areas. People are afraid to walk alone in the streets after dark. Housebreakings and robberies are increasing, despite the fact that the death sentence can now be imposed for such offences. Death sentences cannot cure the festering sore.

Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans want to perform work which they are capable of doing, and not work which the Government declares them to be capable o Africans want to be allowed to live where they obtain work, and not be endorsed out of an area because they were not born there. Africans want to be allowed to own land in places where they work, and not to be obliged to live in rented houses which they can never call their own. Africans want to be part of the general population, and not confined to living in their own ghettoes. African men want to have their wives and children to live with them where they work, and not be forced into an unnatural existence in men's hostels. African women want to be with their menfolk and not be left permanently widowed in the Reserves. Africans want to be allowed out after eleven o'clock at night and not to be confined to their rooms like little children. Africans want to be allowed to travel in their own country and to seek work where they want to and not where the Labour Bureau tells them to. Africans want a just share in the whole of South Africa; they want security and a stake in society.

Above all, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.

But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on colour, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs it will not change that policy.

This then is what the ANC is fighting. Their struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by their own suffering and their own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live.

Nelson Mandela International Day 18 July

© UN Photo/Mark Garten

Nelson Mandela showed what is possible for our world and within each one of us — if we believe, dream and work together. Let us continue each day to be inspired by his lifelong example and his call to never cease working for a better and more just world. - 2013/Former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The United Nations Joins the World in Paying Tribute to Nelson Mandela

• Statement by the Secretary-General
• UN News — UN chief pays tribute to life and legacy of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela
• General Assembly Speical meeting dedicated to the life and memory of His Excellency Nelson Mandela. 19 Dec 2013. Full video — 3:20:42. Speakers: John W. Ashe, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, H.E. Mr. Kingsley Mamabolo, Mr. David Dinkins, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
• Related videos on the Official UN YouTube Channel
• Photo gallery

Minute of Silence

The Security Council observes a minute of silence upon the news of the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Condolence Book

432 condolence messages submitted December 2013 — April 2014.

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The UN marks Nelson Mandela International Day each year on 18 July. His words to the General Assembly in 1990 still resonates today.

The United Nations pays tribute to Nelson Mandela, who has died in South Africa, aged 95.

Submission is closed.

Susan December 6, 2013 at 7:06 am No words can express the loss I feel, but in spite of this, am thankful to God for giving us a true gem of our times. A man who inspired selfless love and sacrifice for his people in a humble and quiet way. Thank you for being a shining light of hope all my life. Rest in eternal peace.

Hau-etien December 8, 2013 at 8:38 pm Merci M. Mandela, depuis 1988, votre image et votre nom m’étaient familiers. Depuis 1988, vos valeurs m’ont aidé à surmonter certaines épreuves. Mon fils a appris votre nom très jeune… Et depuis trois jours, je pleure plus que pour le décès de membres de ma famille… Reposez en paix auprès des vôtres.

Mzwanele G. Mfunwa December 6, 2013 at 7:38 am Even though he physical demise was expected, as all of us will sure pass on, Madiba’s passing away was a shock. As we grew up in apartheid, living in fear, suffering, humiliation, someway in dark dungeon he and his colleagues in jail were our hope. This hope never disappeared and never disappointed when he emerged in 1990.

May he rest in peace. May those who followed in his leadership shoes learn the art of selfless serving and sacrifice. May we all renew our resolve to let no one suffer when we can do something about it. May those who bully and inflict pain, suffering and discrimination NEVER NEVER and NEVER get away with it.

I am personally greatful that some of my achievement in life have been facilited by Nelson Mandela’s struggle and personal sacrifice.

May his spirit of serving live within us forever.

Kholofelo Manaswe December 13, 2013 at 7:54 am very true. I hope our youth will take a leaf in Madiba’s tree of life.

James Mwangi December 6, 2013 at 7:54 am Dear Madiba, You have taken a bow on this world’s stage and been promoted to glory to revel in the presence of our Lord and maker. I can picture it all, you seated on a stool surrounded by those who have gone before us as you regale them with tales of your illustrious life fraught with trials and tribulations from which you emerged victorious and with renewed determination. In the words of one of my favourite hymns, “It is well with your soul” now, free from pain and any form of affliction. May your selflessness and courage continue to be a beacon of hope for the downtrodden in our struggle to be freed from all forms of discrimination and social exclusion. Even though you have ceased to be with us physically, your spirit lives on in our hearts. In the eternal words of that enduring song by Boyz To Men and Mariah Carey, “And I know you’re shining down on me from heaven, like so many friends we’ve lost along the way, and I know eventually we’ll be together, one sweet day”. May your soul rest in eternal peace Madiba, amen.

samba harouna thiam December 6, 2013 at 8:02 am Madiba, rest in peace you will continue to our inspiration ….

Shitaye Temam December 6, 2013 at 8:45 am Nelson Mandela, our role model, you passed on today but your unmatched forgiveness will live on FOREVER!! Rest in Peace!!

Janice Nduati December 6, 2013 at 8:57 am Iwork in UNIC Nairobi.

Mandela yu were an icon, a man who fought for what was right. Human rights and freedom! You have left us but you have left your people and the people of the world with peace and knowing that it was not in vain for all that you suffered for. Today, the people of South Africa are enjoying their freedom and that is what we all need to do in our life here on earth. LEAVE A MARK that is positive in peoples lives.

May the good Lord keep His family in peace at this time of mourning our Hero our icon….

Nebiyu Gossa Workineh December 6, 2013 at 9:15 am You showed us the way… you the messenger of the almighty, made us to realize the importance of compassion, selflesness and freedom. You made us know to respect others as we seek respect to ourselves by others and regardless of our race, language, relegion or culture. You the most humble, made us proud, made us to be known, to be respected through our work and values. You are the one …among the many …. you are the star, among the many who made this world to come yet together, live together and build a nation together. What a pain, what a feeling one can have to see you go away. Only one thing I ask you to do for this world from up the unknown…. please make sure the people of South Africa and that of the world need peace and god may be generious to do so. Good buy Madiba…. your sprit is both in my heart and soul. la luta continua!!!

Eshila Maravanyika December 6, 2013 at 9:20 am On behalf of UNIC Nairobi and on my own behalf, we celebrate the life of an icorn who made a massive difference fo the betterment of the people of South Africa and the world over. We mourn his passing on and send our deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa. We will continue to remember “tata” everyday and through activities to mark the Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July every year. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace. “lala ngokuthula”.

Margaret Otuke December 6, 2013 at 9:35 am “Tata” – Your smile, tolerance and patience speak volumes and teach all of us a lot. The World and all Africa equally mourn and celebrate your great life. Rest in eternal peace.

Phyllis Obare December 6, 2013 at 11:05 am He fought and inspired for the liberation of our generation. He gave hope and a vision for the future. His legacy is one thats very insipring: that you don’t give up, you keep on trying’. We’ll never know when life would end. Here today and gone tomorrow… Your memories live with us. R.I.P Madiba

Xuqing Wu December 6, 2013 at 11:13 am 大上有立德，其次有立功，其次有立言，虽久不废，此之谓不朽。——《左传 襄公二十四年》 圣德如斯，惠泽被于无穷。

Bineswaree Bolaky December 6, 2013 at 12:05 pm Farewell to one of Africa’s and the World’s Greatest. RIP Mr Mandela.

Rohinee Beepur December 6, 2013 at 12:19 pm Merged with the ALMIGHTY- Will Never Be Forgotten – R.I.P xxx

Keller, Cordula December 6, 2013 at 12:29 pm I am deeply deeply saddened by the news and I extend my deepest condoleances. He was a GREAT MAN, an example for humanity. He will be missed by the whole world but although no longer amongst us we should not forget and continue what he started….. He will forever have a place in my heart and that of my family. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones. May his Soul Rest in Peace. Cordula Keller (United Nations Office at Geneva)

clare December 6, 2013 at 12:42 pm May your soul rest in peace Madiba and may the good LORD comfort your loved ones….

Zziwa Raymond December 6, 2013 at 1:23 pm MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN ETERNAL PEACE MADIBA. You will always be missed by many.

Catherine Byrne Kaya December 6, 2013 at 1:34 pm A truly good and inspiring man who will be remembered for generations

Derrese Degefa December 6, 2013 at 3:17 pm We learned a lot from your life! Of all things, you will be remembered for being a messenger of Love for peace for all in South Africa and beyond. You really made a difference for better! If you had taken a different route other than what God directed you to do, South Africa wouldn’t have been what it is today! If we fail to learn at least this one, we haven’t noticed at all what your life meant on earth.

May your soul rest in peace!

Mimi Dee December 6, 2013 at 3:19 pm You were the voice and strength of your people, for like a wall you didn’t not shake when those who brought hate and destruction to your country. Instead with courage you stood up for human rights, freedom for the oppressed, justice, and the right of your people to live with dignity and choose their own destiny. When others would have take revenge you chose peace, humility and wisdom. You were the father of a nation. To the world an icon of bringer of peace/uniter, perseverance, leadership, forgiveness, love, humility, wisdom and loyalty. Gone but never will be forgotten for you surely left an indelible mark in the history books and in our hearts, Madiba. Rest in peace. (DG, Mimi Dee)

Lucy December 6, 2013 at 3:21 pm Rest in peace TATA, you have been an inspiration to many. Till we meet again.

Bob Werunga December 6, 2013 at 3:50 pm Madiba we shall miss your courage and inspiration, you showed the world that people can live togather even after many years of isolation and prison,we thank you for your life and the work you did not only for South Africa(The Rainbow Nation)but to the world. May the Lord Almight rest your soul in enternal peace and give the people of South Africa Courage to continue what you started, A LUTA CONTINUIER MADIBA

Linda Murray December 6, 2013 at 4:15 pm an inspiration to all, during SA’s darkest times! forever remembered. rest in peace Madiba, as you join your fellow friends & comrades!

Paida December 6, 2013 at 4:18 pm A sad day for Mother Africa and for the rest of the world. We will always remember how you chose to not forget but at the same time forgive.

A death of a legend to humankind and one of the greatest human beings, we will never forget you Madiba. My heartfelt condolences to the people of South Africa, you are in are thoughts during these trying times

May his soul rest in peace

Serwaah Acheampong December 6, 2013 at 4:20 pm May he rest in perfect peace, he will forever be in our hearts,

Nyaguthie Ngetha December 6, 2013 at 4:32 pm Your taught the world to forgive. Your actions and words will inspire generations to come.

Pooshan Gopee December 6, 2013 at 4:34 pm RIP great man..

WEI December 6, 2013 at 4:40 pm We practice international law towards the direction you already guided for us. You are one of the most important reasons that we are still sticking to what we believe here. Wish you a peaceful journey. We future generations will not disappoint you.

Richard Wright December 6, 2013 at 4:42 pm Nelson Mandela was a shining beacon of hope to the world, an irreplaceable icon of humanity and defender of global values. His qualities of tolerance, forbearance, forgiveness, decency and respect for others – no matter how different – are a model for us all. I feel a profound sadness at the passing of this truly great, irreplaceable leader, revered by everyone, whose example should be the template for behaviour in today’s world.

Lucia Tshweu December 6, 2013 at 4:43 pm ‘MY BLACK PRESIDENT’,my HERO,my FATHER,TATA MADIBA. You will forever be missed and i will always remember you when it’s my birthday,as we were also sharing. A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again,REST IN PEACE TATA and rise in Glory,,,til we meet again in another world.

Anne Kamau December 6, 2013 at 4:46 pm There are no fitting words one can say about such an inspiring and courageous man the world will probably “NEVER” see again. I wish him eternal peace & rest and may GOD reward him richly for all he has done for mankind. Today the world has lost its biggest inspiration to live in peace and harmony and to have respect for racial diversity. I wish his family condolences at this most difficult time. GOD BLESS!

Alicia Lovell-Squires December 6, 2013 at 5:07 pm We, the people of the world are deeply saddened to hear this dreadful news!

This world will never be the same without you, Mr. Nelson Rolihlahla ‘Madiba’ Mandela!!!

You are a global icon who has touched our lives in many ways. You will always be remembered for your grace, dignity, vision, charisma, influence to lead, intelligence, selfless struggle for equality for all, justice, strong ethical values, motivation and determination!

You have fought a good fight and you have finished your course! Thanks to you for the sacrifices that you have made for all of us!!!

May you rest in perfect peace and rise in glory!!!

Sangya Singh December 6, 2013 at 5:09 pm Madiba, You are a true legend and you will forever live in our heart. Your walk to freedom rests but shall forever inspire us to continue forward. Rest in eternal peace. Sincerest respect, Sangya

Katrina Campbell December 6, 2013 at 5:19 pm Thank you to Mr. Mandela for his sacrifice on behalf of the people of South Africa, people of color around the world, and the world at large. As a black American, I can say that I have benefitted from his tireless work, along with the work of so many activists in South Africa and around the world. Without these efforts, I could not be where I am today. And thank you to the family and friends of Mr. Mandela, who gave him to the world so that he could broaden his sphere of influence to include all of humanity. Rest in peace.

Sebastiao Ndongala Vemba December 6, 2013 at 5:27 pm Tata Madiba, rest peacefully as for your dreams were all fulfilled and you left us good memories to have as model.

fabienne horton December 6, 2013 at 5:31 pm Nelson Mandela made the world a better place. Bless his soul and may his legacy endure.

Roberta Carmo Jimenez December 6, 2013 at 5:34 pm Good by Nelson Mandela, for me he was a special man, who led a people to end apartheid in South Africa, he will remain an example of peace, justice, intelligence, modesty and moral.

Catherine Arif December 6, 2013 at 5:36 pm Whilst I never had the honour nor privilege to meet you, you were without any doubt one of the most admirable people ever to have lived on this earth. Your capacity for forgiveness is a lesson to us all. Your legacy will live on for ever in the South African people that you freed. Good night sleep well.

Rupinder K Gill December 6, 2013 at 5:37 pm Nelson Mandela was an inspiring man who will always be remembered for his promotion of democracy, equality and his many charitable foundations. In the end it is our memories we remember most. Life is all the memories you make happen. I hope Nelson Mandela is remembered for generations to come ♥

walaa Awad December 6, 2013 at 5:38 pm Rest in peace my hero

Viktor December 6, 2013 at 5:41 pm To die in his sleep at old age is what all heroes deserve, a peaceful death.

Darlene Krystal December 6, 2013 at 5:43 pm The world hurts….the earth mourns….time takes a new beginning….his words of strength and peace will always be remembered….Let Dec 8 be a National Mandela Day for eternity…..Peace….a global holiday….. His words ring through the nations…..

Charles Icon December 6, 2013 at 5:45 pm Firstly, my bereaved thoughts and heart goes to his family and South Africa. It’s unsearcheable , undescribable in words and quiet humbling to protrait the enigma that Late Nelson Mandela was and still is today to to us and the world. He fought tooth and nail through and for a course which today we immersely are indepthly grateful and thankful for totally. In my heart I salute his boldness, courage, resilennce spirit and humble heart forever as long as I live. God bless South Africa, God bless the World and UN, Amen. RIP Madiba

Theworldfoodlottery December 6, 2013 at 5:50 pm “heart, soul, and spirit”

tei werth December 6, 2013 at 5:50 pm May we as South Africans remember and live, as well as strive towards your vision of One Nation, value life and also leave a remembarable legacy behind for our future generation.

Mary Tierney December 6, 2013 at 5:51 pm The privilege to be in South Africa from the time my former husband, a UN election worker, set up the election process and remained for two years, today resonates so deeply. Going back & forth from NYC to various parts of South Africa and ultimately ending in East London for Election Day was a life altering time. Prior to that, I was a part of the SOUTH AFRICA FREE ELECTION fundraising effort here in my home town of Greenwich Village, Manhattan. In 1990, at Gracie Mansion, I introduced him to my young nephew, Eddie Scannell, and we remembered that day in emails earlier this year. May I continue to have my life altered by Mandiba’s memory every day in thought, word but especially action. Finally, rest in that eternal peace.

saikli jalloh December 6, 2013 at 5:51 pm we lost the one and only, love you sop much.

Elvis WEPNGONG December 6, 2013 at 5:54 pm Nelson Mandela is a Father of many Nations just like our father Abraham in the Bible. History will never forget his impact to the world.

Rukhsana Gabol Balouch December 6, 2013 at 5:54 pm May your soul be in rest . A great leader God be happy to meet his great creation a great human and you go there as an hero of millions

Melaku Ashagrie December 6, 2013 at 5:55 pm Nelson Mandela was, is and will be Jesus of democracy, social justice and peaceful coexistence!!! His legacy is an Olympic flame that sparks through out generations!!!

MY HEARTFELT GRATITUDE TO NELSON MANDELA!!!!

Denise Badila December 6, 2013 at 6:00 pm Dear Madiba,

You are an inspiration for so many people around the world. Thank you for everything!!!!! You show us the way, let’s continue what you started. RIP.

Denise, NY, USA

Raj Thapa Magar December 6, 2013 at 6:04 pm Today we are saddened by the sudden demise of the great man, Madiba…!! He was a man of dignity, courages, determination, freedom, justice, equality, humanity, forgiveness and unity…!!!

My heartfelt tribute to that great man….!!!! Rest in peace , mandiba…!!!!!

Ana María Ortiz December 6, 2013 at 6:09 pm Mandela, Thank you for being my inspiration to pursue my dreams as a diplomat. You will be missed. All my love, Ana María

Julien Petit-Martin December 6, 2013 at 6:13 pm Greatings to all the world,

This tall man was honour Citizen of my City called Nanterre in France. We love him so much and he was a part of our life.

May he rest in peace. Respect to him and his nation.

Mellisa December 6, 2013 at 6:15 pm A great man is still a man and will become old, sick and eventually die. Nothing last forever, everything changes. However, he had done what he think is right and inspired all of us. And this man, had changed himself, changed the people around him, and then, he changed the world. May your soul rest in peace, knowing that you had made the world better and it will get better because of people like you. Thank you.

Dave Goodwin December 6, 2013 at 6:17 pm A long struggle. A long life. An inspiration to all of humanity who fight injustice, oppression and the powerful elites in our imperfect world. Rest easy brother Mandela.

Hatem Al-Iriani December 6, 2013 at 6:20 pm Dear Mandela The world will miss you too much. I believe though that you did not leave us yet. Your work, words, and blessings will stay with us for good. Hatem Al-Iriani Yemen

SYLVESTER EMMANUEL December 6, 2013 at 6:22 pm LORD JESUS, the man of the GUN’s delivery has left us. A leader with so much love and resilience for his people’s freedom. Both species of the delivery are Yours, and so we pray for more unity and equity between the p and d. Heavenly Father, Accept his soul unconditionally in his brother Abraham’s Bosom. Your grace have manifested in both of them unconditionally. May the end of his physical life with us, be an end to loveless and undemocratic leaders in the gun and globe.

MENE MENE EM EN 7 LORD!

Thank You, Lord for hearing the voice of an ‘unworthy’ lad at Your Trigger!

Be glorified in all the heavens and earth!

Stefanie Willches December 6, 2013 at 6:23 pm People was able to identify with Mr. Mandela; because, he could walk away but he didn’t. His name would always remind us courage and sacrifice for dignity and humanity! Condolences to his family and the World! RIP Mr. Mandela

Rachelle Rabie December 6, 2013 at 6:47 pm Madiba, our beloved father of our nation, It is a sad time for our nation at your passing. You were our Special Star and our symbol of peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, freedom and respect. May we live up to your name and symbolism and dedicate our lives in pursuit of what you stood and lived for. Your smile lifted our spirits, your voiced encouraged our boldness, your words were to us like bread to the poor, your humour made us love you even more and your actions sobered us to the knowledge of true love and sacrifice. Your loss echoes in our hearts, at the same time unifies us in mourning. May this time renew our intentions to live up to your dreams and unite us as the rainbow nation.

Camille Kwambai December 6, 2013 at 6:48 pm You’re a true hero!because you lived, many lives have been transformed and inspired! Africa mourns you,the world mourns you. You have left your great mark,you have left your legacy! RIP our beloved Madiba!

Sylvain Gomes Monteiro December 6, 2013 at 6:48 pm The World has just lost a GREAT MAN! Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela! May your legacy of FREEDOM for all human beings live Forever! I present my condolences to the Mandela family, to the People of South Africa and to the WORLD! SGM

dalila benmehidi December 6, 2013 at 6:56 pm a very sad day for all humanity.. however his spirit and work lives . He showed us how to prevail in the face of immense adversity and suddenly all our challenges seem so small and our goals attainable.

thank you Madiba you will be greatly missed

Rebeca Arias December 6, 2013 at 6:57 pm I am deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Nelson Mandela. His extraordinary leadership and life commitment to the cause of ending apartheid and bring peace and reconciliation to South Africa was an inspiration for all humanity, in particular for all of us that struggle for a world free of injustice, racism, discrimination and violence. His contribution to make this a better world for all human beings is incommensurable. I wish to express my deepest condolences to Mr. Mandela’s family and to the people of South Africa. Rebeca Arias, UN Resident Coordinator, Peru.

Younnique McDonald December 6, 2013 at 6:59 pm Talk about legacy, Mr. Mandela lived a life of humility, character and integrity. His life will be forever be celebrated and remembered for decades and decades to come as a reflection of God’s agape love. Mr. Mnadela looked beyond the humanity’s differences and put the magnifying glass on our similarities. There is far more than unifies us as a human race, than that which divides us. United we stand divided we fall. Thank you Mandingo, for being a role model to the world! May your soul rest in eternal peace.

Molale December 6, 2013 at 7:00 pm As we mourn, with all the sadness and pain of his passing away, we should hold our heads up high as he has served us with aplomb/ distinction! We can only be filled with a sense of pride that “ya gagwe tema o e weditse ka manontlhotlho, ka bo tshwerere tota”! that can only make us proud and spur us further to carry on his legacy!

It’s in our hands!

May Madiba’s soul rest in peace and rise in glory. Condolences to the bereaved family, friends, South Africa, African Continent and the whole world at large.

A mowa wa gagwe o robale ka khutso!

Aparna Anna R. December 6, 2013 at 7:03 pm Today humanity has lost one of its greatest advocates. Sir Nelson Mandela showed the world how to fight, fight for what you believe in, fight till you have achieved it. I hope we can continue his fight for equality till the dream is achieved. RIP.

Negus Gebreselasie hadera December 6, 2013 at 7:04 pm Mandela’s death has saddened the world and Africa in particular. However, his firm stand for peace, equality and human dignity will remain for ever in our memory. His brave comitment and selflessness should inspire us more than ever. African leaders need to make use of model in serving their people more much more than mere mourning his death.

Michael Zilberg December 6, 2013 at 7:08 pm Mr. Mandela’s principled conduct of his life is a great legacy and role model for every human being. He will be missed.

Dave Dowling December 6, 2013 at 7:08 pm South Africa did not loose a Son, The World lost an example of how to be, what to stand up for, what is is to be a Hero.

Yazen Al-Saghiri December 6, 2013 at 7:16 pm Madiba is alive in the very soul of every human. His words and deeds are tattooed in our hearts. He is the definition of eternity. May he rest in peace..

Tina December 6, 2013 at 7:25 pm As it says, the true living should be like, that, when you are born, you cry and the world around you laughs and when you finally leave, you laugh and the whole world cries. Dear Sir, you may have had departed this stage called “world” to heavenly abode, yet, you will remain immortal in all our minds as a great inspiration to fight off all odds and shine out through. RIP. Love and respect.

Carlos December 6, 2013 at 7:30 pm Great man. great soldier of peace. We will miss him!

Dr Nirvadha Singh December 6, 2013 at 7:35 pm Africa hasn’t just lost its father…It has lost its Soul… The very Soul which set us free… Hamba Kahle Madiba… Amandla Awethu!!! Dr Nirvadha Singh (https://www.facebook.com/nirvadha)

Nanou Fiankinana December 6, 2013 at 7:35 pm Madiba, pour touts ce que tu as déjà fait, merci. Tu mérites le repos du guerrier et tous les honneurs te reviennent de droit. Le voeux que nous autres, saurons faire cette longue marche pour la liberté et que tu continues à inspirer à l’action….

Mona Mishra December 6, 2013 at 7:36 pm An inspiration never dies. The fist in the air never dies.

Isaiah Smith December 6, 2013 at 7:42 pm Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela. The World has lost a hero. The Honorable Mandela has died at the age of 95. We respect Mandela’s passion and love for humanity. Throughout his life he has fought for democracy, freedom and equality. The World is a better place because of him and his legacy will never be forgotten!

~Isaiah Smith Ambassador General of the Universal Human and Civil Rights Union {UHCRU}

Siddharth Manu December 6, 2013 at 7:43 pm Dear Dr Mandela, I’m a young man from India. I remember when in 1995, when I was just 6 years old, my mother told me about your tremendous struggle. After that, I read my mentor Dr Ikeda calling you the “Lion of freedom”. To have spent 27 years in prison is the most extreme of persecutions anyone has faced in the modern age. You were a champion of humanity, who brought liberty & freedom to the whole world, not just to the South Africans.

Thank you for showing us the true way to live, the true power of a single individual. I promise to walk the path that you’ve shown us.

With deepest respect, Siddharth

Major Reg Tweten, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada December 6, 2013 at 7:44 pm To be remembered one must be known. Mr. Mandela was known by millions. His inspiring courage shall serve for many generations to come.

Nomapha Lupuzi December 6, 2013 at 7:46 pm Madiba you have left us during a crital time when we feel that hopes for the future are fading. This is not what you fought for. It is only our mistakes that have made us land where we are. We will remember those times when we sing songs of joy, shouting for victory. You deserve a classic valediction. The ‘Power of your spirit’ must lead our minds and action to where you wanted us to be. Rest in peace Dalibhunga.

Muhammad Usman Sheikh December 6, 2013 at 7:47 pm Sir, We missed a great leader and a human right activist…

vinodselv December 6, 2013 at 7:47 pm We Miss you..I didn see Marthin Luther king..Your my Luther king..The world never remember every person after they left..Till humanity exist the world will remember you..We miss you..love u

Nadia December 6, 2013 at 7:48 pm Nelson, I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done to make our world a better place. You will always stay in my heart… FOREVER ♥♥♥ Thank you for being my greatest inspiration! I love you :) ♥

Lauretta Sowe December 6, 2013 at 7:57 pm Rest in perfect Madiba…your legacy will live forever…farewdll..the angels of God to receive you

Gurpreet Virk December 6, 2013 at 7:59 pm YOU will live in peoples heart forever !!!!

Ma. Teresa Velasco December 6, 2013 at 8:11 pm Mis sentidos pésames al mundo entero por perder a un hombre tan importante, que luchó toda su vida por alcanzar la paz.

Esperemos que haya sembrado muchísimas semillas de amor y paz en el mundo, eso nos reconfortaría en este momento, que la misión por la que Dios lo envió a este mundo haya tenido muchos frutos, ya que ésto nos hace mucha falta en estas épocas, donde los seres humanos nos estamos olvidando que a nuestro alrededor sólo existen otros seres humanos, diferentes pero al fin seres humanos.

Léna Lupon / United Nations Headquarters December 6, 2013 at 8:13 pm May you rest in peace! Farewell to the most remarkable human being and the World’s Greatest. Thank you for all you have done on this earth for peace, freedom, development and fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa, Africa and throughout the World. YOU WILL, FOREVER, BE AN INSPIRATION!!!

harpreet singh December 6, 2013 at 8:17 pm we have lost again Martin Luther King ,we have lost again Mahatma Gandhi ……

Jeannette van den Brink December 6, 2013 at 8:19 pm Respect for this great man! Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela……..

Upali Magedaragamage December 6, 2013 at 8:21 pm A great leader with compassion, generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service. A leader to the whole world!

Anita December 6, 2013 at 8:22 pm Hope, peace, love and forgiveness – a smile that’s left it’s imprint on my heart. Madiba, your life changed the world. The world miss you a lot…

Anita December 6, 2013 at 8:23 pm Hope, peace, love and forgiveness – a smile that’s left it’s imprint on my heart. Madiba, your life changed the world. The world will miss you a lot…

Chris Nwamba December 6, 2013 at 8:33 pm Madiba, you live to die, yet you die to live. Adieu

Yimika December 6, 2013 at 8:39 pm It seems unreal that you’ve passed away. But you’re in a far better place and your legacy lives on! You used your every minute and your every breath fighting for us and for that we thank you. You are an inspiration to millions, regardless of their race! Rest in Peace Madiba

Bio Mora December 6, 2013 at 8:41 pm Animas die,men die.All that walks the earth must die.But our true hero never dies,he will continue to live in our memories.The great Madiba stood for justice,fought for freedom,struggled for emancipation and sacrificed his entire life for the sake of humanity.Mandela was an embodiment of virtues,a symbol of love and humility.Infact,words cant express the person of Mandela,he was a phenomenon.We will miss him.Adieu Nelson Mandela!

Chris Nwamba December 6, 2013 at 8:42 pm Madiba, we will not miss you because you still live through your lagecy. I pray our leaders will study who you truely are and stand for. But be rest assured that I will tell my children about you and they in turn will tell their children for many generations to come. You are an example of service above self. Adieu

Am van alphen December 6, 2013 at 8:50 pm Rest in peace Madiba. Thank you for your contribution to this world.

Allie Ochs December 6, 2013 at 8:52 pm My heart is broken because you are gone, but the hope you planted there still grows strong.

Tony Baruti Basubi December 6, 2013 at 8:52 pm Les valeurs ne meurent jamais… Que chacun se tourne vers les valeurs humaines et Democratiques.

Les dirigeants africains doivent suivre l`exemple de Tata MADIBA.

gene ray sundet December 6, 2013 at 8:56 pm Thank you Nelson

gene ray sundet December 6, 2013 at 8:56 pm conver

'Manthatisi Margaret Machepha December 6, 2013 at 8:58 pm He has been a manifestation of God and a symbol of conscience and Gods purpose for mankind! Indeed he finally closed his eyes so we could open ours. Its now in our hands to realise that democracy is not a struggle but to lead the nation with intergrity and respect to humankind. To his family he was a father it had to share with the world, and we are with them in prayer. A freedom fighter enhanced to be iconic leader of all times. He introduced the moral authority over those he served and in turn earned the utmost respect from the world!

Baljinder (Bal) Boora December 6, 2013 at 9:05 pm Recently, I read his biography and became aware what this true leader had to contend with at the hands of brutal and racist regime in South Africa to get equal rights for the blacks and other visible minorities. Mandela suffered not on personally but his wife Winnie and their children suffered as well. He spent 27 years of his prime life time in a wet cell on the isle land prison.

The legacy this brave leader left for the world will guide the future generations like a light house when looking for guidance in any troubled society. He showed courage in the brutal fight against the white minority regime and brought them to their knees with the help of support for his mission from the international community.

Madiva’s name will shine in the pages of world history and enlighten future generations for living life with dignity and freedom. Hi name will shine for ever and ever on this planet as a true leader of mankind!

Long Live Mandela, Madiva! Bal Boora

Edgar M December 6, 2013 at 9:07 pm Fearless warrior of justice and equality. Rest in peace Nelson…!

Kathryn December 6, 2013 at 9:09 pm Rest In Peace

Dulcie Mapondera December 6, 2013 at 9:43 pm Dear Madiba, you were an inspiration to us all, and a great example through your forgiveness and leadership. The world has lost a truly great statesman.

Catherine Papilon December 6, 2013 at 9:44 pm In memory to Mr. Nelson Mandela:

What a great life and a great accomplishment, that contributed to open the doors of the start of a new life, where all men from different colors could finally leave in peace together on earth.

Luis Alberto Saldarriaga Ladino December 6, 2013 at 9:44 pm A great man Nelson Mandela, the world needs more eternal in time men like him.

JESUS MENDOZA December 6, 2013 at 9:45 pm MADIBA TUS ENSEÑANZAS QUEDARAN HASTA EL FIN DE LOS TIEMPOS, DIOS SOLO NECESITABA UN ANGEL MAS PARA INMORTALIZAR.. Q.E.P.D.

Anita Vosmer December 6, 2013 at 9:48 pm Nelson Mandela

May your legacy be as unending as your love for us

Stephanie Yepes December 6, 2013 at 9:48 pm Nelson Mandela was one of the Greatest leader around the world, his life and example has left so many lessons and examples to build a better world!

Yolanda. Todd December 6, 2013 at 9:50 pm No WORDS can express the LOST!!!

Edward December 6, 2013 at 9:51 pm Now, you can inspire us or all the people around the world, from the heaven, blessing us. Now we have your memories and you are part of the history now, thank you so much for make the world a better place.

Paula Romero December 6, 2013 at 9:52 pm Querido Mandela, para mi siempre un héroe, no sabes cuanta falta harás en este mundo, en el cual por muchos años, guiaste hacia la libertad, y siempre encaminado con un buen liderazgo! gracias, gracias por tan buenas acciones… eres un Ángel que esta cerca de nuestro señor ahora… Descansa en paz… has dejado tu GRAN LEGADO!

María Cristina Ortuño December 6, 2013 at 9:54 pm Gran pérdida para la humanidad. después de nuestro Libertador Simón Bolivar es Mandela a quien se le otorga en la época moderna tal distinción como LIbertador. fue gran luchador en contra del aparheid en Africa. Su pensamiento quedará como gran legado para las generaciones venideras.

Manuel de Quintana Morales December 6, 2013 at 10:00 pm Madiba vivirá en mi memoria e intentaré seguir su ejemplo y hablaré de él y de sus actos y sus pensamientos.

juan csernath December 6, 2013 at 10:03 pm No hay oscuridad para el alma que siempre ha vivido en la luz.

Juan Csernath/Caracas/Venezuela

Dave Green December 6, 2013 at 10:05 pm What amazed me about Nelson Mandela was that a man who had been wrongly imprisoned for decades could show such lack of anger. To have suffered in the way he did, and to then show such forgiveness and compassion towards his oppressors was the mark of a truly wonderful human being. The whole world will miss him.

Chukwuma Okonkwo December 6, 2013 at 10:07 pm Nelson Mandela had a spirit akin to an in-combustible coal; he was an indestructible mold of his kind. Mandela dared history; he transformed human race into a symbol that is held precious by everyone today.

There can never be any better way to describe Madiba. For me, describing him as the greatest man of my time is a mere scratch on the surface of his personality. He has left imprints of his shades on the sand of posterity. His model of leadership- leading from behind- leaves an inexpungible stamp in the history of mankind. Posterity will always know Madiba crossed this path.

I have only met Madiba in books and legends. Of all the people I have met through books and legends Madiba stands out like a beacon in the stormy azure sea. His strongly desirous and autobiographical work, Long Walk to Freedom, written by him and published in 1995 by Little Brown and Co., was my source of inspiration during my days at graduate school in England. One of the greatest things about Madiba that inspired me was that his human nature extended to the core of man’s essence on earth; his loving heart for the poor and destitute was exceptional. He never failed to extend his heartfelt wishes to the entire humanity in respective of race, religion, and sexual orientation.

You do not need to be around him before you witness his endearing aura. Madiba was a cynosure (he is still and will always be); his endearing aura is comparable to none. He was the old archetype of probity, universal morality, sacrifice, humility, social justice, and struggle: he played to the hilt. He will continue to be my favorite teacher and leader!!

Good night Madiba; Adieu Mandela.

Nohemy velez December 6, 2013 at 10:12 pm Mandela, vivirás en la memoria del mundo, serás eterno. Te recordaremos como el hombre que nos enseño, con su ejemplo,a perdonar. Paz en su tumba.

elizabeth gonzalez cardona December 6, 2013 at 10:16 pm Que gran perdida para la humanidad .

Bivian December 6, 2013 at 10:16 pm El mundo entero reconoce el enorme valor de este “Gran Señor” con todas las letras, un ser rhumano como pocos en existen. La luz que deja no dejará de brillar nunca y será la inspiración para otros que comienzan el camino. Su mirada, su humildad y la fortaleza en sus convicciones, en su creer de que todos podemos ser mejores nos hace pensar que es posible vivir en armonía con el otro. Descansa en paz Mandela, alcanzaste tu propósito, hacer de este mundo un lugar mejor…

Michael Emmanuel December 6, 2013 at 10:17 pm He was an extra-ordinary man with an ordinary touch,the world is very poor in his absence ,He was a man of the principles,a life well live dedicated to the cause of humanity as an African i yearn for the day we will have another Mandela but the truth is we will never ever have one ,as there is no one like him and the best we can do to honour him is to live like he did and hold strongly his values of compassion,love and forgiveness.

Mandela is the world icon and i will greatly miss him,as a foreign national residing and working in South Africa i owe all the successes that i have here to Nelson Mandela for without him South Africa would not have been kinder to allow me and my folks to reside here when we had problems in Zimbabwe,it is through his compassion that the spirit of ubuntu prevailed and we were welcomed.

Mandela is the world’s greatest and i wish we all can live The Mandela Way.

Meg T December 6, 2013 at 10:42 pm Tata Madiba,

From a small white girl in America…you saved my life by saving those of so many. When the tears stop falling and the heart is lighter with the understanding that you’re where you’ve wanted to be for so long, we will remember that it was you who challenged us to “inspire ourselves to greatness” and will use your work as inspiration to keep going.

Thank you for touching my life.

Bernadette Derry December 6, 2013 at 10:44 pm Such a wonderful man. We can and should learn his example of forgiveness and kindness. There will never be in my lifetime another person like him. God Bless you Mr Mandela.

diego leon December 6, 2013 at 11:06 pm Difícil que la historia humana vuelva a tener un hombre de la talla y el talante como Nelson Mandela… Hoy la humanidad perdió a un GRAN hombre…. Diego

liseth katherine soto torres December 6, 2013 at 11:12 pm Que Dios lo tenga eb su gloria. Gracias por luchar por la libertad e igualdad. Dejaste un gran legado

Judith g December 6, 2013 at 11:17 pm Merci. thank you. That the world may live up to your dreams. That the world’s youth will lead is to becoming a kinder and more caring people.

Paul and Kimberly Butler December 6, 2013 at 11:34 pm Sincere sympathies to the Mandela family. Truly a great man!

Ahmed Raja December 6, 2013 at 11:49 pm I may not have had the privilege of meeting you. . . I was not old enough to remember you as President. Yes, I am unfortunate for I was too young to enjoy your leadership completely. However, your actions have defined the life that My family and I are able to live. MADIBA, You have guided us towards Freedom! For that We should be eternally grateful. And so long as we protect our democracy, You will live on in all of us! Long Live the Legacy of Rolihlahla Mandela!

Yvonne Barrett December 7, 2013 at 12:03 am There will be no other man like you; you have and have made history, now you you are free; God Bless you, rest in peace !

sara December 7, 2013 at 12:05 am Un grande uomo non muore mai

Ian Paul December 7, 2013 at 12:05 am Rest in Peace Mr Mandela – Madiba, let his legacy be the rainbow nation of peace and reconciliation. Ian Paul, York, England

Vignesh Loganathan December 7, 2013 at 12:07 am Dear Sir, You may have be taken away from us, the world, physically but in the heart of humanity u still dwell as a Hero of Love, Justice, Compassion, Equality, and what ever good words of the mankind. Your soul rests with us . We well know that Peace in the World would give you Peace.

fiona December 7, 2013 at 12:11 am A Saint…one of Gods gifts

Maggie Guillon December 7, 2013 at 12:18 am An inevitable but no less traumatic loss for the world. A great man who will be remembered and honoured for all time.

Helen Lawrance December 7, 2013 at 12:21 am Nelson Mandela you were one of my biggest heroes when I was a child, and you still are. I remember hearing of your struggles in the news and from my parents, and then I went to study more about it at Birmingham University where I did African Studies. I remember these studies turned my brain inside out and a great truth was revealed to me. I discovered what colonialism really meant, what its legacy was. I learnt more about how white people were able to view black people as savages. I was so disgusted with the way my Europe has treated Africa and it’s people. You were a mighty beacon of hope. You worked tirelessly and have showed no bitterness. You did not get tempted by corruption. Thank you forever for what you have done on this Earth. I am very sad to hear of your passing and wish you an eternal, peaceful rest. With love!

Karenne December 7, 2013 at 12:27 am Our world is a far better place because of Nelson Mandela. A man of great character. His love for his nation and his forgiveness is inspirational.

Natalie December 7, 2013 at 12:36 am We have lost our hero, our teacher, our leader, our mentor, our father of our rainbow nation. An angel sent to remind us of what love, courage, justice and democracy stands for. Nelson Mandela has been my personal hero and I have applied his teachings to my life. I am truly sad that we no longer have him with us but it was time for him to join the rest of the angels in heaven. We, South Africans of all colour are his rainbow nation, we have to continue to walk in his footsteps and work together as a nation. We have to forget the past and become one team, working to better all equally and fairly. We are all unique, have different skin colour and different cultures but we all want peace, respect, love and democracy. We have to live by what he has taught us, change starts with Forgiveness. Lets us forget and start today now for that is what he wanted. We are his rainbow nation, South Africa and the World. I will cherise him always. RIP Tata Madiba, Father of our Nation

Willem Tahon December 7, 2013 at 12:42 am As the world mourns the loss of a giant leader my heart goes out to the people of South Africa.

Deborah Renaud December 7, 2013 at 12:59 am Rest in peace Nelson. You have shown us what it is to live a life of integrity, love and peace. You have demonstrated how powerful these qualities are. What a different world we would have if there were just hundreds, or even thousands, more like you! You have lived life well and have shown the way. God bless Deb x

Sarah Park December 7, 2013 at 1:06 am A truly inspirational hero and fighter. The world has lost a great man and a great leader. The world mourns his passing but celebrates in his legacy and achievements. Nelson Mandela will not be forgotten.

Patimass Seu December 7, 2013 at 1:12 am Mr. Mandela, You are an inspirational man all the good you have shown will last for generations.You will always be in are hearts because you truly loved everyone

Tim and Mart Japing December 7, 2013 at 1:17 am South Africa has lost her founding father. I sincerely hope and wish that his integrity and his ability to step over bounaries will be an inspiration and a duty for politicians and people alike. All my best wishes to the people of the Rainbow Nation.

Andre Everett December 7, 2013 at 1:18 am Im lost for the words to express how much I admire Nelson Mandela. In the 80’s I wear a button that said Free Mandela. In 1990 I lined through the word Free. I will devote time to learn of Mandela and try to live by his beliefs and love other humans

Sharon Yankelson December 7, 2013 at 1:33 am He has taught us the true meaning of forgiveness-a lesson we must pass on to our children & our children’s children. I wish his family long life. SY

Veronica S. Fawcett December 7, 2013 at 1:47 am So much has been learned from this strong, brave man.Makes me wonder who is left to share the wisdom and knowledge that has sadly gone with his passing. May we never forget what you have done for humanity and may I never forget the conviction and compassion you spoke of and with while in Toronto in 1998. Still a moving experience for me to this day and forever. You will always be the greatest world leader who other world leaders should learn from! R.I.P

Dr Lionel Bopage December 7, 2013 at 2:54 am Madiba dedicated his life to the cause of global humanity: justice, freedom and human rights. He cherished and lived his life for the ideals of democracy, where people can enjoy equity of opportunity so that they could live harmoniously in unity. He was prepared to die for this cause. Those who praise him, and those who value his life experiences need to learn from those living experiences and continue to follow through his ideals for the betterment of the global humanity.

Ronny Fredriksson December 7, 2013 at 3:06 am You are living in My memory! For à better world.

Narayan December 7, 2013 at 3:56 am Charity begins at home. UN talks loudly about human right and preaches everyone everywhere in the world. It does not follows itself, a UN professional staff was deprived from human right, staff right. A UN professional staff was/is exploited, tortured, discriminated in application of rules by a UN office head, in a UN humanitarian office. Repeated appeals and pleas to the heads (two executive directors between 2007 to 2011) of the organization fell into deaf ears. Let the soul of Mandela and god punish them for their inhuman activities as no one can do anything to provide justice to a victim in a UN organization.

Jill Fuller December 7, 2013 at 3:58 am Your work is done, Father. May you rest in peace. And may all your children live your legacy as passionately and as wisely as you lived your life. BLessup, Madiba! One love!

Joseph and Christine Reynolds December 7, 2013 at 4:05 am The world has lost a great leader. We are grieving his loss with you. We may not see him anymore, but he will never be forgotten.

Boujard December 7, 2013 at 5:01 am A determination to live as Madiba has lived, to strive as Madiba has strived and to not rest until his vision of a truly united South Africa, a peaceful and prosperous Africa, and a better world are realized. Africa will celebrate his life to preserve his legacy. Madiba taught South Africa to unite and believe in themselves and each other. May His Soul Rest in Peace.

Carol Crocker December 7, 2013 at 5:17 am Dear Nelson Mandela. Your being here on earth has made a wonderful difference to our whole world. Many are mourning and celebrating you at the same time. Your spirit will be carried in our hearts forever. Thank you for helping us get in touch with our own vulnerabilities and strengths. Your beautiful heart will remain a moral compass for all and your legacy will continue through others. Condolences to your family, friends, and all of us global citizens. Carol Crocker Brampton, ON Canada

Anne Dorris December 7, 2013 at 6:25 am What a sad day. The world lost a great human being, a real hero! A man who gave 150% of himself to a cause he believed in. He will be missed…..

Anne Dorris Québec, Canada

Sokchea Lim December 7, 2013 at 6:39 am He is a true hero. His words and actions have touched people of all walks of life. His sacrifice for freedom and unity of all man kinds is enormous and the path he chose to walk and guided others to follow is clear that it is the path for all to peace and harmony. His death is a huge loss for us all but his legacy will stay on and as a reminder to us all we must learn to live together. RIP

Joakim Hellmouth December 7, 2013 at 7:09 am R.I.P Mandela.

katherine December 7, 2013 at 7:09 am I am so grateful to have lived in your time Nelson Mandela. You have been an inspiration my whole adult life. You truly changed the world. Rest with the Angels.

Carol Gover December 7, 2013 at 7:24 am Nelson Mandela has been, and will continue to be, like a lighthouse beacon, for people that work to help improve the lives of people, that are suppressed by those peoples who would have them remain so. What endears me about this man is that he wanted all peoples to live as equals.

Migos Omounde December 7, 2013 at 7:49 am RIP Madiba for the long ardous journey you treaded to bring apartheid to an end bore fruit.You have only taken a rest,you are always with us.

Nabeel M K December 7, 2013 at 8:40 am Recalling one of the many reasons for me to salute Nelson Mandela is this very simple explanation he gave for “Ubuntu” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HED4h00xPPA

Pausing; and Remembering “how he has changed our world”….

Nabeel M K India

maniram mukherjee from india December 7, 2013 at 8:50 am Wold will take lesson from his work & from his speech.So he is not belong to a particular family,not a single country.So it is a loss of every single country to every single family.

maniram mukherjee December 7, 2013 at 8:52 am Wold will take lesson from his work & speech.So he is not belong to a particular family,not a single country.So it is a loss of every single country to every single family.

maniram mukherjee December 7, 2013 at 9:01 am World will take lesson from his work & from his speech.So he is not belong to a particular family,not a single country.So it is a loss of every single country to every single family.

Abdulkadir Mussa December 7, 2013 at 9:11 am Madiba, your legacy will be remembered for Ever. You have inspiried the Whole World. RIP.

Boaz Nyaberi December 7, 2013 at 9:17 am I salute the father of african nations. I met him at pretoria university where he presented me with a degree in Information technology Degree and Masters degree

Juhani Nevala December 7, 2013 at 9:23 am By visying SA I realised how great job NM has done.

Gabriella Nyhäll December 7, 2013 at 9:47 am It’s a new morning. A new day. Laying in my bed. Tears on my cheak. I’m afraid. Mr Mandela what shall we do now? The world needs leadership. Your Leadership. Now it’s up to all of us. Everyone, everybody. We must continue. Everyday all over the world. Together. All your efforts should continue. We have a responsibility. In respect for your efforts we will continue. Never ever stop. Madiba, Thank you. Your hope is my hope. Rest in Peace.

Rizkia Anjani December 7, 2013 at 9:56 am I was born just in the end of 20th century. When Mr. Mandela was inaugurated to be the first democratic-elected president of South Africa, I was 3 years old. As a very young child, I knew nothing about Mr. Mandela until my father told me about who he actually is. A figure with a profound passion in shifting people’s point of view towards how we are supposed to see this life in terms of equality. We cannot choose where we want to be born in, yet the race we prefer to belong to, OR whether we should have been born as Black, White or other existing colors in human race. It’s our fate. Should race impede our capacity and capability? Should skin colors determine our opportunity in having better future and more importantly contributing for the goodness of human race? I painstakingly answer: NO. And I guess Mr. Mandela will think the same way.

We may be have lost Mr. Mandela, but we cannot give up preserving his spirit in terms of freedom and equality :)

We will always remember your struggle, Mr. Mandela !

Ravololondramiarana December 7, 2013 at 9:58 am Quel grand homme, quelle humilité et quelle intelligence. Si les dirigeants actuels étaient capables d’avoir ne serait ce qu’un dixieème de sa qualité, que le monde serait meilleur. Nelson Mandela, Merci.

ZONZONTI December 7, 2013 at 10:38 am Be in Eternal Peace. You are always with us.

Suzanne "Zac" Faelnar December 7, 2013 at 10:54 am The most brilliant of stars that shines in the darkest of nights; The most unshakable and immovable of mountains that remains standing tall; The most powerful beacon of light that brings hope to a burdened people; The most profound and inspirational of minds that brings humility to humankind; The heart that beats as one with a nation; The soul that dives so deep for their sake; The spirit that sours so freely among a troubled and shackled people of the world. Rise higher than the heavens! Smile warmer than the sun! May our tears of love and gratitude reach you in your rightful place of eternal rest and peace. Thank you, Nelson “MADIBA” Mandela!

Theresa December 7, 2013 at 10:58 am Your inspiration will last forever! Thanks to you I believe in humankind! Rest in Peace Mr Mandela!

Trudy Begg December 7, 2013 at 11:19 am 2 people have made a profound impact on this world Ghandi and Mandela, both of these men were selfless and taught the world what can b e achieved peacefully. They should be cloned so we may all live our short lives in peace and love.

sven hildebrandt December 7, 2013 at 12:43 pm Nicht nur Südafrika sondern die Welt hat den wohl größten Helden unserer Zeit verloren.

Danke Madiba

Grazyna Malgorzata Mamaj December 7, 2013 at 12:45 pm Odszedl jeden z najwspanialszych wspolczesnych. Rest in Peace kochany Nelson Mandela. Wyrazy glebokiego wspolczucia dla Rodziny, bliskich, przyjaciol i wszystkich, ktorzy Go kochali i podziwiali.

Francisco Balao de los Ríos December 7, 2013 at 1:25 pm No te olvidaremos. Has sido un luchador incansable contra el racismo y siempre serás un ejemplo para los que creemos en una cultura de paz.

Frances Devlin December 7, 2013 at 2:05 pm If everyone could only have a drop of your wisdom, the world would be a much safer and better place. Rest In Peace Nelson Mandela

Knut Ostby December 7, 2013 at 2:22 pm A great statesman has left us. He showed us how greatness can emerge from personal ideals and from believing in what is right. He showed us how true greatness can prevail against all odds and against pettiness on all sides. The world is poorer now that Nelson Mandela is no longer with us. But we should try our best to live on in his spirit. We can not be Nelson Mandela, but we can all contribute something.

Maria Howard December 7, 2013 at 2:49 pm My father taught me that all people are equal regardless of colour, race or creed so I rejoiced when arpatheid ended but feared a bloodbath. Nelson Mandela had to live within that dreadful regime and was imprisoned by it yet preached peace and reconciliation. Present day South Africa is a tribute to his beliefs and leadership. Sincere condolences to all who mourn him. Farewell, Mr Mandela, rest in peace. Maria, Thuir, France.

Jan-Olof Wildén December 7, 2013 at 3:16 pm Rest i Peace. You where the Worlds peacebringer.

Thuku Samuel Muthee December 7, 2013 at 3:32 pm You were my hero. You still remain so in death. I wanted to name my second son Nelson, the first is called Dedan, after Dedan Kimathi, the hero of Kenya. But we got a beautiful girl named Catherine. Her elder sister , Theresa, still asks for Nelson Mandela. Not possible because my wife already has 3 ceasarians. I wish i could.

To me, you are in the class of the following: the many unsung heroes of in our villages; Bapu Mahatma Gandhji; and Mother Theresa of Calcuta. You always lit my fire for freedom, rights, justice and equality for all. You remain a great being….i will ever be proud to say that i lived on this planet at the same time as you. You are a father to me forever.

Now another light has shone for you. Isnt it great and blight? You are free. Freedom came. Such a great soul. Its the way for us all. But we wish you had stayed here a little more. The history of humanity will never be complete without ypu. Thats how great you are!

I accept you have exited. You deserved it after the long walk. But i have put your image facing a light (with your signature smile) on the screen of my phone. For 1yr from now, i will see you everyday! Then i will let go. Its my only way of honoring you my hero..

Fare thee well my father. We will all miss you. Thanks for all you did for us. God grant you peace unknown. Bye till we meet.

One of your many sons and daughters. S M Thuku. Kenya.

Leanne Tobias December 7, 2013 at 3:45 pm Nelson Mandela is a hero for the ages. Mandela exemplifies the best of transformative leadership in advancing the cause of human dignity and freedom. The world has lost a great statesman. I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Mandela’s family, friends and colleagues, and to the people of South Africa, and join them in mourning Mr. Mandela’s passing and in celebrating his life and legacy.

Leanne Tobias Bethesda, MD USA

Ethel Maringa December 7, 2013 at 3:49 pm A very sad moment, You will be greatly missed. Rest in Peace.

Judith Campbell December 7, 2013 at 3:50 pm In a world of prejudice and hate you gave us courage, strength and hope For a better future. We will truly miss your wisdom and spirit of love. May God keep you always in his loving care and comfort your family and The world as we mourn and celebrate a life lived in service to God and mankind. Love the Campbell Family, Canada.

Dave,Veronica,Luther,David Alexander December 7, 2013 at 4:13 pm We love you Madiba.

Just me December 7, 2013 at 4:17 pm A man I consider to be one of the greatest from the present along with all from history has passed. This however is not a tragic loss, if one considers that he will certainly be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven by the Lord. I salute both the man and the legacy he leaves behind.

Elkin D Dávila Grajales December 7, 2013 at 4:18 pm Se ha perdido la orientación viva del lider más importante en la historia de la humanidad del siglo XX y principios del XXI: Inclaudicable ante la opresión, la tiranía llegando incluso a impulsar la lucha armada para alcanzar la libertad de su pueblo.Por ello su mensaje se mantendrá en la historia.

Ulf Jarnefjord December 7, 2013 at 5:09 pm Din gärning och minne kommer alltid att följa oss i både glädje och sorg. Vila i frid Madiba Amandla!

Rachel May December 7, 2013 at 5:27 pm What did Nelson Mandela teach you? He showed me that no matter what life throws at you or how people treat you, it is only you who determines whether you are bitter and resentful or live your life with dignity and grace. Never forgetting your ideals, honour and integrity but also forgiving others. It is almost inhuman exactly how well he managed to do that after suffering such hatred and racism. The love and peace he spread must surely come back to him. My kids are 4 and 6 and they have known for a long time who Nelson Mandela is and what he stands for. Not just a man but the very best he could be. Never forget the lessons this man taught the world.

Chiaming Shen December 7, 2013 at 6:03 pm You are the role model of politicians in the world . Condolence From Taiwan

Mahfuja Parven December 7, 2013 at 6:19 pm Greetings.To so many of us ,he was more than just a man-he was a symbol of the struggle for justice ,equality and dignity in South Africa and around the Globe.Mandela made it clear that- we did not have to accept the world as it is -that we could do our part to seek the world as it should be.Together we can make the difference- today when i sliced my cauliflower,potatoes next saw one deaf n dumb working people with huge gourd leafy vegetables- i helped next seeing other also means Nelson Mandela somehow inspired together work commitment!Rest in Peace dear honorable Nelson Madella- we never forget your greatness! Greetings,thanks,peace,love n Best Regards from Bangladesh.

Zephaniah Nyambaka December 7, 2013 at 7:11 pm R.I.P, your exemplary trait is an unimaginable across Africa. We need more of your character across the world.

Nauzer Taraporvala December 7, 2013 at 7:33 pm Rest In peace Madiba, the Likes Of You Will Not Be Seen On Earth For A Long Time To Come. May All Your UnFinished Work Be Completed By Your Devine Intervention.

Steve Brittain December 7, 2013 at 7:56 pm A man who was loved by a whole nation; and beyond. He will live on as he has truly made his mark in history.

Jaspreet Pandhal December 7, 2013 at 8:21 pm A true visionary, humanitarian, inspiration, force, believer and the truest, purest form of what we should aim to believe, be and achieve as human beings. One love, one world, forgiveness and progress. God bless you and thank you for inspiring me to try to live my life to it’s fullest potential. X

rim December 7, 2013 at 8:30 pm we lost a great man that history will never repeat rest in peace :(

Kamel Romdhani December 7, 2013 at 8:37 pm Thanks Nelson, without you we could still be in slavery! I will meet you soon even if I will reach 100 years!! Big kisses….. Kamel

kaouther Bizani Zamouri December 7, 2013 at 8:37 pm My love and sympathy go out to South Africa and the entire world for the lost of the Universal Activist “Nelson Mandela”. Kaouther dom Tunisia

Yana Slater December 7, 2013 at 8:41 pm There will never be another! Time to rest. Peace and Love.

kaouther Bizani Zamouri December 7, 2013 at 8:41 pm My love and sympathy go out to South Africa and the entire world for the lost of the Universal Activist Nelson Mandela.

Hassan Odhiambo December 7, 2013 at 8:45 pm R.I.P MADIBA

Zinai Aicha December 7, 2013 at 9:18 pm Reste in peace ,humanity never forget you Mandela !

Bussarin Rattanawiriyanukoon December 7, 2013 at 10:08 pm I wished you have a good times at the paradise.

Ghorch Sfar Samia December 7, 2013 at 10:28 pm Je tiens à présenter mes sincères condoléances à la Grande Famille du Grand Leader Nelson Mandela, mes condoléances les affectueuses au peuple de l’Afrique du Sud La Perte de cette grande personnalité m’a peiné et marqué, c’est mon idole c’est l’homme le plus humain et le plus tolérant. Ses principes et ses valeurs sont universels et il était, il est et il sera la source d’inspiration de beaucoup de personnes. Je n’oublierai jamais ses mots “Le pardon libère l’âme, il fait disparaître la peur. C’est pourquoi le pardon est une arme si puissante.” Oui, il est grand,. Adieu MADIBA Adieu MADIBA mais je ne t’oublierai jamais jamais. Que dieu le tout puissant t’accorde sa miséricorde et t’accueille dans son éternel paradis.

Rene Leeuwen December 7, 2013 at 10:49 pm Thanks for all the good things you did in your life May you rest in peace thats what you deserve. You where a great leader and a wonderfull man. Wish you all the best where you are going now. Again thanks

Hussein mohamed December 7, 2013 at 11:35 pm RIP PAPA #MADIBA … WE LOVED YOU BUT GOD LOVED YOU MORE <3 HUSSEIN MOHAMED NAIROBI, KENYA

Hafedh Ben Miled December 7, 2013 at 11:41 pm Dear mentor, Your will always inspire us. Your thoughts are planted deep inside us. May your soul rest in peace!!!

Eppi Sukhu December 8, 2013 at 12:59 am My sincere pranam and deepest thanks for sharing so much of yourself with the world. May you rest in peace.

Tunde Ola Sanyaolu December 8, 2013 at 1:58 am Nelson Mandela, a great man with a clear vision and an unfailing courage nurtured by a deep sincerity. The aroma of the fragrance of his life will forever be perceived. Madiba lives on. – Tunde Ola Sanyaolu.

Ashante Jasson December 8, 2013 at 7:29 am Thank you Madiba for all your sacrifices, thank you for fighting for our freedom. RIP Tata. Condolences to the Mandela family and friends

Paul Whelan December 8, 2013 at 9:48 am Nelson Mandela was a man beyond works, a statesman beyond politics and the only true icon of the 21st Century.

Karen Peach-Jones December 8, 2013 at 10:22 am The world has said goodbye to a truly beautiful man. His greatness was in his humanity. My heart is so deeply saddened and yet the legacy this amazing man left is chiseled into the rocks of time and will never be forgotten.

Felicien KIMUNI December 8, 2013 at 10:55 am I am from Democratic Republic of Congo. Peace for Nelson Mandela. I remember from President Nelson,He say : “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.”

R.I.P President Nelson Mandela.

lindsay allen from Australia December 8, 2013 at 11:37 am We need young Mandelas.

Darren Sullivan December 8, 2013 at 12:26 pm The greatest of men. May your light shine on us from heaven. Rest in peace

Darren Sunderland UK

Hope Kabamba December 8, 2013 at 12:29 pm To all Africans and South African, we have lost a father who has inspired so many people from different racial groups. your works will still linger in so many people’s hearts and may your soul rest in peace. What do people carry to their graves? Nothing but what is important is the works that they leave behind. Well done Tate Mandela, well done!

Susanne /Salzburg, Austria December 8, 2013 at 1:23 pm Rest in heavenly peace Mr. Mandela

Everton December 8, 2013 at 2:19 pm To a great African hero revolutionary Your work works will never die . As a child I saw the injustice, the suffering , of your nation. I saw the victory of good over evil that you and your comrades won for your nation. Dada Mandela your work here is done.

S Currant December 8, 2013 at 2:34 pm Thank you. Mr Mandela. Now your walk to freedom is at an end. R.I.P.

Dr. Adrijano Schwab December 8, 2013 at 3:04 pm I am expressing my own and our family’s deepest condolence to the close relatives of Nelson Mandela as well as to the nation of South Africa at the occasion of his death. Nelson Mandela was an extraordinary leader and man of many capabilities. It is always a great loss when humans of such capacities pass away.

Sincerely, Dr. Adrijano Schwab (our PC was broken down temprorarily)

Nathan Swartz December 8, 2013 at 3:28 pm Dear Mandela Family

“Throughout the ages people have came and gone,some not even leaving a name behind”…–Nelson Mandela

I want to pay my deepest condolences to the Mandela family on the loss of Tata Madiba,this is one of his quotes that changed my life and gave me as a South African youth hope in who I am, and that we all have potential to leave a legacy that can create footprints of change throughout the world…

The world pays tribute to a legacy not forgotten A fire unquenched A dream given life His vision now lives in our hearts and reflected in our daily lives. His character became our nation’s identity. May God bring you strength and peace in your time of sorrow.

South Africa,the rainbow nation made possible by his courage,the father of the nation. He took the long walk to freedom,dedicated his life for others.Tata Madiba has brought love and joy to children all over the world,given hope to young and old of a brighter future.

Let us remember him as A noble father,loving husband, a champion freedom fighter, a inspiring visionary, a true hero. His legacy will always live on… In the minds and hearts of all South Africans and the world.

May his soul rest in peace, and his memories live on forever.

Nathan Swartz (South African Youth Ambassador currently on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program in USA)

Maria McDonnell December 8, 2013 at 3:47 pm Thoughts with the Mandea family, an icon of our time – an amazing man who accomplished the impossible and freed a country with love, forgiveness and ended apartheid – May he rest in peace and know he will never be forgotten. I hope & I pray that South Africa moves forward to become the country it can be based on the values and principles Nelson Mandela gave it.

Melinda Rooke December 8, 2013 at 4:13 pm Dearest One, RIP, Thank you, gentle grandfather, for leading the way to peace and light… a path we will all follow in your giant footsteps!

Paari Senthil Kumar December 8, 2013 at 4:27 pm Sir ! You are the perfect example of “Human Being” You life is an open book to all of us, you thought us how to fight, with voice. After Gandhiji left his place vacant, you replaced him by considering as your role model, to bring a social balance in the society. Not only in SA, but throughout this world, there are numerous social imbalance and discrimination are taking place. That too in some places with the support of Politicians and people in the most powerful state. Reasonably, you are the dedicated role model to all of us, in showing the purpose of this humanity and why does we need to love others. Your sad dismiss is very shocking, and it is very hard to replace you. You patience, strong heart, anger to free your people, foreign co-operation, social building, environmental development, hard working, love to fight against discrimination, makes everybody to love you throughput this world. You are one of the excellent human, who lived in this world. may your soul rest in peace.

Sadiq Dankano December 8, 2013 at 6:12 pm In death, the world celebrates the LIFE of Mandela, a leader par excellence. It should and must be a lesson to all leaders in the continent. May his exemplary life touch the hearts of our leaders!

Kirsten Walters December 8, 2013 at 7:48 pm Tata Madiba…the man who taught the world to love. A man whose memory will live on forever in our hearts. Your brilliant, genuine smile, your outstretched hand to anyone in need, your undying love for children…just a few of your wonderful attributes that will be so dearly missed. I am so lucky to have lived in your time. Thank you Tata Madiba!!! We will miss you!!

All our Love Kirsten, Yasmin, Dylan and Josh

Romy Naidoo December 8, 2013 at 8:53 pm It saddens me to know that one of my biggest regrets will be to not have met my Hero, but I take comfort in living in the free South Africa he fought so hard to save… R.I.P hambe khahle Tata.

Roger Williams December 8, 2013 at 9:02 pm I have not felt a loss like this since losing my own father. A real hero has died. An inspirational light from which the entire world was able to feel and share in the warmth and love of true humanity. He will live in our hearts always. Gone is the greatest man to live in my lifetime

Vun December 8, 2013 at 9:22 pm wow, what a life you’ve led a life of no hate wow, strong you must’ve been so to let all wrongs go can’t b’lieve I won’t see you ’round ‘n’ ’bout no more rest in peace!

Egbujionuma Michael December 8, 2013 at 9:36 pm When I was very much a kid growing up in Nigeria, I remembered asking my mum ‘is this man the President of Nigeria? ‘ My mama replied ‘no his a great man of Africa who is to change many things’. Since then whenever I see Nelson Mandela’s picture I quickly associate him with greatness. Madiba you are an epitome of greatness and symbol of change and altruism. For us the living, we can in our various calling be Madiba, let’s us all look into ourselves and bring out the Madiba in us..Madiba is in you!!! #Madibaisinyou

Albert Romkes December 8, 2013 at 10:23 pm Urk, the Netherlands, 8-12-2013

For Mandela Family, please accept my condolences with the loss of mr. Nelson Mandela. He was a peacefull man and a example for everybody in the world.

Grace Okeng December 8, 2013 at 10:24 pm Nelson Mandela was God-sent servant to the world with a message of love, peace, compassion and tolerance. Though he belongs to the ages now, he still lives in our hearts and guides us by his values and aspirations. He is now back home and we thank God for lending him to us for 95 years. RIP.

Albert Romkes December 8, 2013 at 10:28 pm Urk, the Netherlands, 8-12-2013

For the Mandela Family, Please accept my Condolences with the loss of Mr. Nelson Mandela. He was a Peacefull man and a example for everybody in the world.

Albert Romkes, Urk, the Netherlands.

Michael Sutton December 8, 2013 at 10:49 pm You taught the world that all peoples are equal and are all due the same respect and freedom. Having set Mankind on the long road to reconciliation and peace it is time for you to rest and the rest of Mankind to carry your ideals forward.

The Lord has taken you into his arms now.

Rest peacefully Tata

Ute Buerkle December 8, 2013 at 11:53 pm Your legacy will stay with us forever and the lessons we have learned through you will help us to keep on working to make the world a better place in true spirit of peace, love, compassion and reconciliation. Rest in peace, you deserve the peace – we envy the angels who dance with you now .

Emmanuel Mark December 9, 2013 at 1:28 am Thanks for enduring all this sufferings for us mankind Inorder to make this planet a habitable place where mankind can hold his head up and walk in divinity. Thanks again. Emmanuel Mark, Basel, Switzerland

Maja December 9, 2013 at 1:36 am A true inspiration for all the young people. We should all learn from him. He will be missed!

Prince John Moses Jammeh December 9, 2013 at 1:50 am Papa Madiba, you were a Blessing to world Peace by shinning the touch of Truth and humility . You did your Duty on Earth with a clear Conscience . Live on Baba,…

RASD December 9, 2013 at 2:25 am بير لحلو, 5 ديسمبر 2013 تلقينا ببالغ من الحزن و الأسى خبر وفاة الزعيم المناضل نيلسون مانديلا يوم الخميس الماضي. باسم حكومة وشعب الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية نقدم تعازينا الحارة و تعاطفنا الكامل مع شعب جمهورية جنوب أفريقيا الشقيقة ومع عائلة الفقيد إثر هذا المصاب الجلل. لم يكن القائد نيلسون مانديلا ابنا عظيما لجنوب افريقيا فحسب بل كان ابنا عظيما لكل افريقيا و العالم أجمع. ولأنه لا ينتمي الى جنوب افريقيا فقط فإن العالم هو اليوم في حداد على رجل قضى ثلث عمره داخل السجون مناضلا بشجاعة وإقدام من أجل تخليص شعبه من عهد العنصرية المظلم ومن قمع نظام الابارتايد. وخلال فترة توليه منصب رئيس جنوب أفريقيا, لم يدخر أي جهد في التصدي لإرث الفصل العنصري وذلك بمواجهة جميع أشكال العنصرية و الفقر و اللامساواة وتعزيز السلام و المصالحة و العدالة الاجتماعية. و نتيجة لنضاله السلمي و قيادته النموذجية، نال جائزة نوبل للسلام سنة 1993 اعترافا بدوره المحوري في قيادة التحول السلمي للحكم في جنوب أفريقيا و التي أدت الى تغيرات كبيرة في المجال السياسي و الاقتصادي ة كذا في المشهد الاجتماعي للبلد. و سيتذكر العالم نيلسون مانديلا ليس فقط بأنه عظيم شعبه و أول رئيس لجمهورية جنوب أفريقيا الحرة و لكن أيضا منارة للأمل و مصدر إلهام كبير لكل شعوب العالم في نضالها ضد القمع و الاستبداد. إن مقاومته للأبارتايد طوال حياته و رحلته الرمزية من غياهب السجون الى سدة الحكم في جنوب أفريقيا أظهرت للعالم أنه مهما كانت وحشية القمع الاستعماري فإن إرادة الشعب المظلوم ستكون لها الغلبة في نهاية المطاف. إن الشعب الصحراوي الذي مازال يناضل من أجل نيل حريته و استقلاله يشاطر اليوم العالم كله في الحداد على أحد رجالات الدولة الأكثر شعبية و تبجيلا في القرن العشرين. و قد قال الراحل مانديلا ذات مرة: ” حينما يقدم الشخص ما يعتبره واجبا لشعبه و لوطنه فإنه يستطيع أن يبقى دائما في سلام”. وبالفعل فقد قام مانديلا بواجبه و بمهمته اتجاه شعبه واللإنسانية بصفة عامة ولذلك سوف يرقد في سلام الى الأبد. محمد عبد العزيز رئيس الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية الأمين العام لجبهة البولسياريو.

Gloria Langridge December 9, 2013 at 3:00 am I send my sincere condolences and love, from the other side of the world, to the family and friends of Nelson Mandela and to the people of South Africa, following his passing. He has been a shining light and inspiration throughout my life and I feel humbled and privileged to have lived during his lifetime and to have witnessed South Africa’s victory over apartheid. May God keep Madiba and may he continue to make his presence felt in the world!

Michael Benbow December 9, 2013 at 3:16 am Mandela. Your name itself inspires so many and for me you will always be a true example of what humanity at it’s best is capable of. You were not perfect but you were a man who did what you could.

Gloria Langridge December 9, 2013 at 3:19 am Michael,

Thank you for reminding us that we have the power to bring out the Madiba in us; something to treasure in our loss!

With love, Gloria (London)

Tunde Ola Sanyaolu December 9, 2013 at 3:26 am Nelson Mandela : A man of a clear vision and an unfailing courage nurtured by a deep sincerity. The fragrance of your life will forever be perceived. Madiba lives on. – Tunde Ola Sanyaolu.

James Webb December 9, 2013 at 3:50 am R.I.P Mandela, Thank you for being awesome! James Webb, 10 years old.

Frans ShiimiTaapopi December 9, 2013 at 6:27 am He was a great man, son of Africa. Man Of peace, we will never forget what he showed us that together we can. May His Soul Rest In Eternal peace.

Martha Molefe December 9, 2013 at 7:47 am May your soul be blessed, rest in peace Tata. We owe it to you to carry on the work you started. We shall complete The Nelson Mandela children’s Hospital and we shall carry on your legacy to our children’s children. Never again shall this nation be oppressed by one on another. I pray to God that our leaders be selfless and servants of their people. I pray that we combat violence and inequality in our society. I vow to fight for economic freedom. Qhawe le Sizwe

Samuel Fernández Diekert December 9, 2013 at 8:29 am Never before in my life, the passing away of a person I had not met in life, had touched me this deeply. Mr. Mandela was a father to the whole world, and we have been left orphans. His legacy shall last and guide us in our respective life paths.

Irene Mwakesi December 9, 2013 at 8:42 am Rest in peace Tata Madiba. You have trully been the father of Africa and the whole world. You are respected by young and old and even the unborn. May God comfort Mr. Mandela’s family, May God comfort Africa.

Vivian December 9, 2013 at 8:59 am Nelson Mandela was a legend and a hero in the 20th Century and in the current one as well. He was a great and respectable man in the world. Everybody, no matter the nation, race, age, and gender, loves him and respects him deeply. May his spirit of selfless serving and sacrifice be carried on by the politicians in every country and eventually eradicate all types of discrimination occurring in the world. May his soul rest in eternal peace!

Veruschka McKay December 9, 2013 at 9:10 am I feel ashamed that only in his passing do I come to realise the power and potential within me to live by example as Madiba did, to be an advocate of that which must be right like he was and to include in my daily life, the constant and consistent work towards social justice and equality for all, especially in the field where I can have an impact, namely education. I thank him for his life and his life’s work and will ensure that my children will know that in their mother’s lifetime, we walked the earth in the presence of Love, Grace, Humility and Service to mankind, principles which I must uphold too. Now, more than ever, South Africa should be bathed in Light in order to uphold his legacy and perpetuate his teachings. I give thanks for the Light in South Africa.

Aida Robbana December 9, 2013 at 9:14 am Mes sinèces condoléances à la famille et aux enfants du défunt. Puisse la Tunisie connaître un homme exceptionnel et visionnaire comme celui ci. Paix à son âme Aida

Viateur Ngiruwonsanga December 9, 2013 at 9:28 am Could he inspire African leaders to accept tolerance, democracy and especially those in Sub Saharan countries. We will miss you but pray for us to be delivered indeed as you were! Hope the South Africans and the entire world will never forget you.

The Almighty may assure you the eternal rest in peace!

Thekelo Mokou December 9, 2013 at 10:03 am Farewell Freedom Fighter……Rest in Peace

Mimi December 9, 2013 at 10:24 am I mourn the huge loss of my greatest Hero of all times. Your work has inspired me and taught me humility, morality and intensified my love for humanity and the freedom of mankind wherever and whenever they might walk the earth. I thank you and will always remember your braveness, determination and beautiful smile .

Clemence Ingabire December 9, 2013 at 10:29 am My eldest son William was born on July 18. He bears the nickname Madiba. May your legacy of love, tolerance and justice inspire his life. Thank you. We will never forget you!

Linus Wafula December 9, 2013 at 11:00 am Your legacy will remain in our life forever. May God rest you soul in peace.

Stefan Popovic December 9, 2013 at 11:08 am You earned your peace. May the African good spirits watch over you.

Nela Krnic Brkovic December 9, 2013 at 11:14 am I will always remember and sincerely admire Your passion, commitment and beleif in better world. My deepest condolences to Your family and humanity as a whole. Thank You.

Abby Ncube December 9, 2013 at 11:22 am Gone, but never forgotten. “It always seems impossible until it’s done”. Will forever remember those words. May they enable us to conquer our fears and reach great heights. Rest in eternal peace.

Ndzi Jonathan Budzi December 9, 2013 at 11:31 am Dear Madiba, You have championed the world and go well without having to look back. But pray for us, as we struggle to meet your aspirations. I hope one day when you look back, then you will give a big smile and say the world has an improved on injustice and individual freedoms. We are proud to celebrate your life. World without end. AMEN Jonathan

Alexander da Costa December 9, 2013 at 11:44 am To live your life without fear or favour is the greatest contribution one can give to life. Nelson Mandela more or less achieved this and when we talk about Icons in the world he is the benchmark every day anytime. May his soul rest in perpetual peace!

Kadi Kgokolo December 9, 2013 at 11:55 am Tata Madiba, your spirit will live forever, your humanity will always prevail. All that you have preached shall not be forgotten. You have done more than enough, more than we could have asked for. As you once said, it is now in our hands…Rest in peace

W.Moses December 9, 2013 at 12:09 pm A Man truly to be admired. He set a high standard for those who follow. He lived and died for the freedom of his people. A Man who, with his family, suffered much, and forgave much, which could not have been easy to do. A lesson, no doubt, for all to follow. He kept his focus on what he wanted to achieve and won even though the cost was great. Never to be forgotten. May he receive his great reward from His Maker – God Bless him-Rest in Peace- Your labours were not in vain. Sincere Condolences to all the family. Our prayers are with you all.

W.Moses (Australia)

Spaza Tafeltyd December 9, 2013 at 12:51 pm http://t.co/E7bPCTgTmz

Francis Menge December 9, 2013 at 1:34 pm Everything has been said, so Rest In Peace Mandela. It feels good to type your name for the first time.

Herchel Clarke December 9, 2013 at 1:50 pm I would like to take this opportunity to say farewell to one of the greatest legends of all time. May your vision and wisdom continue to inspire the world for the better. RIP Madeba

Eugene December 9, 2013 at 1:59 pm Dear Madiba, You lived a selfless and visionary life for the sake of the future generation and transformed the lives of many people regardless of their nationality and status in society. Your vision, inspiration, humble, inclusive and collective leadership has left a legacy which will never be forgotten. You have been the Martin Luther of South Africa. You struggled against racial segregation and achieved it and transformed South Africa into a free society in which all human beings enjoy full rights and dignity. We shall always remember you Madiba. May your soul rest in eternal peace.

Blessings, Eugene

Mmarona Tabea Dichabe December 9, 2013 at 2:19 pm Our Father,Our Hero..No words can express how u changed our lives..Your humble and Loving spirit lives in us for alll eternety..May your soul rest in peace Tata..We love you

Caroline Comben December 9, 2013 at 2:58 pm Thank you for caring about your fellow man. You will be sorely missed. Hopefully your ideals will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.

Imad Al-Balhawan December 9, 2013 at 3:09 pm With deep sorrow, I heard the news of passing Mr. Nilson Mandella. He was a truly loving father and great leader served his country case and without hesitation he spread it to all the humanity. For sure his memories, speeches and thoughts will remain in our minds and soul ever after.

I am as Syrian citizen, express my deepest condolences to Mr. Mandella’s Family and to all the south Africa people and Government.

Barbara Gonzalez Castillo December 9, 2013 at 3:16 pm An inspiration to all man kind … your legacy will live forever! Rest in peace…

Barbara Gonzalez Castillo December 9, 2013 at 3:18 pm An inspiration to all mankind … your legacy will live forever! Rest in peace…

Jacinto José Estrela December 9, 2013 at 3:49 pm There is no way to think about great African names, without reminding Nelson Mandela. On its own merit, Nelson Mandela has room in the book of the whole humanity’s history, among those to whom our planet owes the most, on sacrifice for freedom and extreme dedication for social justice and progress. He was always been and will be a reference, concerning human resistance and endurance, as well as forgiveness and reconciliation, while struggling for the accomplishment of the legitimate dreams of our people. As we wish him to rest in peace, should we tribute eternal respect for this non-avoidable, unforgettable and extraordinary man of the modern history of Africa and the world. To his family, the South African people, my thoughts and sentiment at this sorrowful moment of his departure. Jacinto Estrela – Praia- Cape Verde

Marisol Gutierrez December 9, 2013 at 3:51 pm Thank you, Madiba, for so much. To let you go is to hold tighter to the vision of a united South Africa. You led the way; you knew we could. Thank you, Madiba, for showing us how to believe, how to be. Hamba kahle, Tata.

Raymond Manley December 9, 2013 at 3:54 pm The passing of one of the greatest human beings ever. RIP

Seun Agbelusi December 9, 2013 at 3:56 pm As a storyteller, I admire Mandela’s character journey, from an anti-hero to a hero, from a hero to a legend. As an African, I admire Mandela’s tenacity and courage to make his dream for Africa come true, I believe those of us left behind will stand on the shoulder of this great legend and take Africa to the next phase. As a human, I embrace Mandela’s message of Peace.

Thank you Madiba Nelson Mandela for coming and living a good example for us.

Rest In Peace.

Judith December 9, 2013 at 4:12 pm I’m a 16 year old girl that is totally indebted to uTata Nelson Mandela and all of our other freedom fighters. I’m completely saddened by his passing because it was my dream to meet him one day but I’m comforted to know that he’s resting now. I’ve been watching most of his tributes that have been playing on SABC and with all the people that are coming forward with their personal encounters with uTata it just gets one really emotional. I’m only 16 but I feel so attached, you’d swear I’m an old person. My love and respect for uTata is just way beyond description. His pictures are all heart warming and they just make me crack :( Condolences to the family,friends and those that worked with/for him. My children will know about uTata Nelson Mandela. No doubt about that. Much love. Judith F. Mahlangu.

D. Beverley Barnett December 9, 2013 at 4:13 pm Mr. Mandela was the epitome of grace under pressure, and ably demonstrated how one should live one’s life to maintain standards and values, in an age where compromising values for short-term gains is all too common. He has transitioned and we will miss him, but we thank God for his presence, and salute his life and his example.

Juliana Seleti December 9, 2013 at 4:43 pm Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a phenominal human being, who in so many ways shared his life with humanity. He taught us so much about life and the greatest lesson which I will aways remember about him is his ability to FORGIVE. He demonstrated the power of forgiveness and lived out its meaning by the way he related to His enemies. It is good that he lived to see some aspects of the freedom that he suffered for throughout his life.May South Africa and the world emulate the human ideals that he stood for. May his soul rest in peace.

Chrislene Naidoo December 9, 2013 at 4:47 pm Today, as I walked through the streets of Pretoria during my lunch hour, I had such a deep sense of sadness within me to think that the day I dreaded, the passing away of Mr. Mandela has arrived. This sadness that I feel is so deep leaving such a void more than the sadness I felt in December 1995, when I had visited Mr. Mandela’s tiny prison cell on Robben Island. I felt his pain more so when I read his book : “Long Walk to Freedom”, not so long thereafter. I hope and pray that every fellow South African continue to live their lives in peace and harmony, keeping this country, South Africa “UNITED” to enhance all that Mr. Mandela has fought for in the struggle for democracy and freedom for ALL. It was my dream always to meet two people in my lifetime, one is Ms Oprah Winfrey and the other was Mr. Nelson Mandela. Sadly, I will FINALLY get to meet OUR Great Leader this Thursday, however, under such a sad circumstance, as I plan to make my way for the viewing of the Father of our Nation’s body at the Union Buildings with my fellow colleagues. What a very sad day this will be for me as a South African. May God be with Mr. Mandela’s family; friends; relatives; his close commrades who fought with him in the struggle; ALL South African citizens who will feel this great sadness and deep sense of loss, as well as those around the Globe who have had close associations to feel the loss that we feel and not forgetting the lives that he has touched with his mere presence and with such humble interaction, the children of South Africa and around the Globe too. May his Soul rest in peace. Viva to the Father of our Nation, Mr. Nelson Mandela. Sadly missed by ALL.

Fraser Mathieson December 9, 2013 at 4:54 pm A lot of people are deemed ‘icons of history’, but Nelson Mandela was a true icon and legend. He continued fight never wavered to see black and white South Africans being seen as equal. Although only young when he was released from prison, that day did change the lives of many. He truly was a father of a nation, he not only changed his nation, but also changed the world.

Nelson Mandela – a man that can be proud of achievements and one that will be remembered for centuries to come. RIP Madiba Mandela

Fraser Stirling, United Kingdom

Tsering Wangay December 9, 2013 at 5:16 pm Your altruistic thoughts, tolerance and Bodhisattva actions will be a source of inspirations for now and all future generations. I have the faith that whereever you are or will be, there will be light and joy.

NICHOLAS ABAITEY December 9, 2013 at 6:16 pm As the fundamental truth it is by the grace,kindness and tender mercies of our heavenly father,Jehovah God that we are all enjoying life now and of course for the long life span EX-PRESIDENT NELSON ROHILAHLAH MANDELA who attained the age ninety-five before we heard the news of his death despite his critical health condition and weighty responsibilities of caring for his nuclear family,extended family,the people in his country,the Elders and the international communities. It seems each day has always been the opportune time to express our profound gratitude and allegiance to our Supreme Leader,Father and Almighty God who is true love,true justice,true power and the origin of all wisdom and of course the giver of every good gift and every perfect present despite the prevailing world crisis i.e. poverty,injustice,discrimination,hatred,violence against women and children and the climatic problems and then earthquakes. Hence once again thanks to our Grand Creator Jehovah God for enlightening this modern generation with the perseverance of EX-PRESIDENT NELSON ROHILAHLAH MANDELA of blessed memory now in the face of apathy, discrimination,wickedness and no respect for the rule of law and the fundamental rights.

Annlyn Mc Phie December 9, 2013 at 6:17 pm May your sacrifices continue to be an inspiration to this generation and the many to come – may your legacy live on. Rest in peace, Madiba.

ELH Hallarou December 9, 2013 at 6:39 pm Hi Mandela!

It takes a great deal for the biggest Man to fight for the most evident truth : dignity. but once the biggest man being makes it, it becames the biggest mystical achievement ever !

I think you would say “It is most about our weekness rather than me being heroic, so let you be what you should be , normal human being with dignity.”

Am I right? yes Iam.

Thank you Tata Madiba

Kayla December 9, 2013 at 6:50 pm I have been born into a world where that apartheid in South Africa was a period in history, thanks to Mr Mandela. Although I am from Britain I still wholeheartedly admire the struggles of Nelson Mandela. He has changed the world for the better, and while his passing is tragic we must remember all the good and try to incorporate this into our own lives. Let’s end all forms of discrimination globally for good. Let’s remove stigma and taboo surrounding important subjects – such as HIV /AIDS. Let’s make the world a better place in honour of Mr Mandela, a world he can look at from the heavens and be proud of. “Blessed are the peacekeepers for they shall be called the children of God “. Rest in peace Madiba, good night and God bless.

A .Z.Humayoon Aslamy December 9, 2013 at 6:58 pm There are couple of times that I have been touched by other people’s death and I must say this occasion is the most difficult one. We all die ultimately but the death someone that you admired and even loved. It defy my ability to say anything worthy of his character or status. He was the symbol of struggle, the leader of a just cause and despite numerous prediction by his opponents that the river of blood will flow in south Africa and there will be massive executions and retribution, look at South Africa now, a beacon of democracy and hope for the African continent and shining example of how one man can change the destiny and course of a country. He could have stayed as president for the rest of his life like Robert Mugabi and other African leaders who loves to cling to power, but he showed by example and served only one term only. I would like to see how many people will attend Mugabi’s funeral, I doubt any. As South African preparing to say final goodbye to him, he is missed and loved by all peace loving people of the world. He is not belongs to South Africa he is belong to the more than nsix billion inhabitants of this planet.

Nick Dobson December 9, 2013 at 7:07 pm Nelson Mandela/ Madiba- you have inspired me for my whole life, and you will always be a inspiration to me. Not only did you help heal the beautiful land that is South Africa, you did it in such an amazing way that destroyed one of the worst institutions in modern history. You were a remarkable man and you will always be the in the spirit of the rainbow nation that you helped create. I know that it was not just you alone, so many others fought and stood up for what was right. Nelson Mandela My hero- Amandla

Ethel Lawhon December 9, 2013 at 8:51 pm WE JOIN THE WORLD IN GRIEVING THE LOSS OF A GREAT HUMANITARIAN

Cynthia Vause December 9, 2013 at 8:57 pm I join the world in grieving the loss of a great humanitarian

Bizani Mohamed December 9, 2013 at 8:57 pm أحر التعازي من مواطن تونسي أعجب وأحب واقتدى بالبطل العالمي نيلسن مانديلا. سأعمل على الحذو بالمبادئ والقيم التي تعلمتها منه ما حييت وسألقنها لأبنائي وأحفادي إن شاء الله

Marc C. Pipkin December 9, 2013 at 8:58 pm I thank God for a man who dedicated his life so that others could live to be free and to be an example of love. There aren’t many names that go on this list of men and women who gave all so that we can have. It’s truly the love of God that drove Jim to do what he did!

Rest In Peace as you enter into eternal life!

Ramona Sinclair December 9, 2013 at 11:04 pm When the Lord asked, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” you stood up and answered Him, Tata Madiba, and we all heard you. And we can never un-hear your voice, your actions, your heartfelt, soul-driven commitment to the utmost dignity of human life. To have been graced to be on this planet at the same time as you will forever leave an indelible impression on all our lives. And so it is, dearest servant of the Lord. We are grateful; we are eternally and deeply grateful.

Anne Erde December 9, 2013 at 11:15 pm Dearest Nelson Mandela, Your revolutionary fire, your intelligence, your strength, your perseverance, and your warmth inspire us all around the globe. Your work will be continued. Peace and Blessings to you. Anne Erde U.S.A.

Iréne Södergren December 9, 2013 at 11:36 pm The world will not be the same …. I wish you where still alive – and healthy, maybe 30 years younger and still the president of South Africa. Rest in peace, you one of the largest men I know!

Kenta Miyama December 9, 2013 at 11:53 pm My deepest sympathies to the family of Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa. K. Miyama, Austria

Dr Yvonne Styles December 10, 2013 at 12:10 am Madiba,

Your humanity is as large as the universe. Your love is as deep as the ocean. Your example as a leader will live on forever and I am grateful to you for all you have given us. Rest now Madiba. I will see you again. Love to you and gratitude to you and your family for your many sacrifices. My deep respect.

carolann bagan December 10, 2013 at 12:18 am sleep well Mr Mandela. your long walk home is finally at an end

Deborah Daley December 10, 2013 at 12:25 am I was a racist ignorant white child. I recall being slapped around the face as a tiny child by my father for asking what was wrong with a white women loving a black man after he called her nigger meat. I recall my brother befriending the only black boy in our area regardless to this. I sang your song and jumped up and down with joy singing for your freedom before I knew who you were. I watched with immense fascination when you were released. I didn’t see a hard angry bitter man. I saw the closest human being to a God in leadership yet. I watched someone teach me how to feel ashamed of myself for thinking and feeling discrimination. Mandela, you changed me, you ended my condemnation and started my love. I hope your passing is a long hard message to all the haters. I hope the UK continues to grow in tolerance, I hope Africa does too. Im scared. I don’t want to see Africa fight, commit genocide. I see it everywhere in all countries and I find it so depressing. I don’t fear death, I fear living. I fear it much less and feel so much healing when I think of Nelson Mandela, your Madibu xx God Bless you Mandela, God Bless you Africa, don’t follow Zumas boar killing it will take you to hate, remember Madibus legacy!!!!

Martin Robert Hughes December 10, 2013 at 1:14 am Your long hard walk on earth finally ended still our march for human rights and dignity will go on!

Martin Robert Hughes December 10, 2013 at 1:17 am Your long hard walk on earth finally ended still our march for human rights and dignity will go on! Right on!

Jim and Elizabeth Church December 10, 2013 at 1:30 am The world has lost a wonderful person. We need a lot more people like Nelson Mandela in this world. RIP Mr Mandela!

Margaret Mbogoni December 10, 2013 at 1:31 am May your smile be a light of insipration for those that feel hopeless.

Jim and Elizabeth Church December 10, 2013 at 1:34 am The world has lost a wonderful man. We need more people like Nelson Mandela. RIP Mr Mandela!

Marisa Bettencourt Mateus December 10, 2013 at 2:18 am À família enlutada os meus mais profundos sentimentos de pesar. Sinto-me previlegiada por ter sido nascida nesta época e poder testemunhar o legado de Nelson Mandela. Para mim e para todos nos, serás sempre o nosso President, motivo de orgulho, razão de admiração; Admiração pela coragem, pela dignidade, pela benevolência. Mandela foi é e será sempre um exemplo a seguir. Descanse em paz.

Lesa R. Walker December 10, 2013 at 2:55 am Our lives are like the wind with amazing power to set a beautiful course or destroy it. When we witness a person using his life to move mountains for good in the world, for peace, we have witnessed the majesty of our humanity: Thank you Nelson Mandela!

Morgan Badiuk December 10, 2013 at 3:30 am A wonderful soul.

Vish December 10, 2013 at 4:05 am He was firstly human, full of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. RIP Nelson Mandela.

Vish Guyana

Osei Mosi carl ANthony Browne December 10, 2013 at 4:13 am I want to thank God for sending a person like you to teach us , what it is like to live very humble and how one person can make a vast change in the world. You will forever be missed. Rest in Eternal Pace.

Howard Styles December 10, 2013 at 4:29 am Ghandi was before my time, I was too young to appreciate King , God blessed me with Nelson Mandela as an adult. Only once in a lifetime men like Mandela is given to us.

Howard Styles

Jean-Baptiste Rubeya December 10, 2013 at 4:45 am Thank you Mr. Mandela for everything from teaching us the lesson of forgiveness, the nullity of adversity, giving back the African continent the sense of pride, the hope for a brighter future and showing the fact that the wisdom and creativity are not exclusive to other continents.

wendy gaviria December 10, 2013 at 4:51 am esperemos que tengamos conciencia

Sam Kahuila December 10, 2013 at 5:52 am You are a shining example of perseverance, strength, intelligence, conciliation, and peace. You taught the world to stand up for what is right, and to never give in to injustice and tyranny. May those lessons remain fresh in the minds and heart of all the citizen’s of this planet. Thank you and rest well!

Ulla Westholm December 10, 2013 at 7:49 am Om alla människor var som Mandela skulle vår värld se helt annorlunda ut. Ingen ondska, ingen orättvisa och ingen avundsjuka

blaine macdonald December 10, 2013 at 9:16 am to the mandela family , my deepest condolences on the world’s humanitarian and i just want you to know that you are not alone because i too lost a very special friend from blaine macdonald

christian schmitt December 10, 2013 at 10:11 am love, peace and unity laotse, jesus, buddah, dalai lama, mandela ….

Victoria Kumalo-Ben December 10, 2013 at 10:13 am I would like to Thank You Mr Nelson Mandela for the lasting impact you made, I am privileged to have lived in such a Historic Era , where I have Felt and Experienced your love , passion and great unselfish giving so we could enjoy the privileges that we enjoy today. Victoria Kumalo-Ben.

The South African Muslim Network December 10, 2013 at 10:27 am CONDOLENCES | NELSON MANDELA

The South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) joins all South Africans in mourning the passing of Mr Nelson Mandela, an icon in South Africa and across the world, and an inspiration to so many of us.

We convey our most sincere condolences to his family, the African National Congress and South Africans at large.

Madiba left a legacy second to none in the annals of South African history and although his unshakeable passion to eradicate injustice brought him and his family much strife and suffering, he remained steadfast in championing in the cause of the poor, powerless and down-trodden.

To him justice and equality were indivisible and had to be relentlessly pursued irrespective of race, colour or creed and without fear or favour. Remarkably, he never deviated from the consistent, principled response to injustice and inhumanity throughout his life even when it was politically “incorrect”.

We can all take solace from the fact that his was a life truly well lived in the service of his fellow beings.

The best tribute we can give to Madiba would be to emulate many of the principles he stood for, to speak truth to power and to continue to build on his legacy of non- racism and equality for all.

Dr Faisal Suliman Chairperson

Tayeb December 10, 2013 at 10:39 am لم أتصور عالم بدون مانديلا، علمتنا كيف نعيش في تسامح وحب وفي عالم أفضل نطمح فيه للازدهار والرقي روحك لن تفارقنا سنتحلى بحكمتك وسيبقى عملك ونضالك يلهم اعمالنا وفي كل خطوة نخطوها نم في هدوء وسلام

Danièle CHARLET December 10, 2013 at 11:00 am A cet être unique, tellement humain. Une nouvelle lumière brillera dans le ciel pour le monde.

Ron Raz December 10, 2013 at 12:02 pm We are so lucky he lived to be 95, making everyday count in the quest to make the world realize that there is only one race, the human race.

K.A.Gaemers December 10, 2013 at 12:08 pm With deep respect for what he has done for peace.freedom and reconciliation.

May he rest in peace!

With deep condolences for his family.

Chryss Alexzander December 10, 2013 at 12:09 pm Thank You

Tsholofelo Dibob December 10, 2013 at 12:45 pm We will always miss you for what you have done for South Africans, Africans and world at large.

MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PEACE

Kim Gill December 10, 2013 at 12:55 pm Dearest Madiba; thank you for blessing our world with your presence, and for the rich legacy you have left. Thank you also for all the lessons you have taught us, and long may we learn from them and continue your wonderful work! My heartfelt condolences to all the Mandela family and loved ones. Love and blessings to you all. Kim, Nottingham, UK.

Hafeeza Osman December 10, 2013 at 12:59 pm Rest in peace Tata Mandela. May your legacy of forgiveness, peace and unity between all people irrespective of colour or creed live on forever.

Ravin Jugdav December 10, 2013 at 1:30 pm To the Mandela Family and all South Africans: we have lost a great man and the Founding Father of our nation. May he rest in peace and may his beloved family be spared the grief and pain of his passing. From the Jugdav Family Saudi Arabia/Cape Town.

Reginald Walker December 10, 2013 at 2:09 pm God rus jou siel Madiba

Christoph Fischer December 10, 2013 at 2:25 pm Thank you Nelson Mandela, thank your for your testimony. Nobody changed Africa and the world like you, using nothing but the power of will, forgiveness and wisdom. I´m born in 1964 – as a young man, while we danced the Mandela-Concerts in Europe I was aware that it was almost my full lifetime, he was imprisoned. And still he had the strength to move forward and do great change. Today is a sad day for all of us – Nkosi sikel´iAfrika, – Chris from Germany

Sundar Mathimaran December 10, 2013 at 2:46 pm The world lost the Lion of the Africa who never bowed before the arrogance & imperialism, and enlightened the world with thoughts of non-violence & equal rights you live in our heart till the Earth lives! Rest in peace great soul lived during our era i feel proud that we have the previllage to know about you and live in earth during your time.world will follow your legacy where you left we love you and pray god for peace.. Its a loss for whole world more than that of Africa! At the end of the day we proudly we are grandsons of our own MADIBA!!! WE MISS YOU!

Mamba December 10, 2013 at 2:59 pm An angel sent by God to S.A, siyambulela uBawo ngokhulula wena uzokhulula ilizwe lethu.Bekunga bangalanda emkhondweni wakho,kowu,Hamba kahle!Aah Dalibhunga.Frm:Mamba Family

Lorraine Knights December 10, 2013 at 3:01 pm A truly great and wonderful man, my thoughts are with his family and his country in their sad loss.

Gilles Cotrell SANDZOU December 10, 2013 at 3:09 pm Nelson Rohilahla Mandela will forever be in our hearts An inspiration for all mankind One of the greatest men of all time I shall personally remember Tata Madiba for the courageous leader, the compassionate soul and the loving man that he was; one who overcame unbearable suffering and defeated systematic hatred to become the father of a free country for all to live and thrive on My heartfelt condolences to the Mandela family

Ali Alibhai December 10, 2013 at 3:19 pm Madiba made it clear to us that, No matter how the EVIL tries to break you, if you follow your own conviction that only GOOD will be of help to you & your people regardless of colour, caste or creed. He met the EVIL with TOLERANCE and later FORGAVE THE EVIL OPPRESSORS. He overcame THE TEMPTATIONS of HATRED and disarmed the EVIL through his genorisity leading to reconciliation. Madiba indeed was ‘ONE OF A KIND’. Rest In Peace MADIBA. May your Soul be blessed.

Ali Alibhai December 10, 2013 at 3:44 pm MADIBA made it clear to us that, No matter how hard The EVIL PEOPLE try to BREAK you, YOU follow and ACT upon your own conviction that only GOOD will prevail and help your people regardless of colour, caste or creed. RIP MADIBA.

Adam Campbell December 10, 2013 at 3:43 pm Madiba, You have given this world so much and you changed the world. Lord you have given us a modern prophet. May Madiba’s family walk in his footsteps, and may the world follow the steps he has lad down for us and make this world a Mandela world

Renate Hogarth December 10, 2013 at 4:08 pm Nelson Mandela, you have been and, in my mind, you will always be a great leader. If more people were like you, the world would be a much better place. God bless you, my heart goes out to your family. Rest in peace.

Lars Nieper December 10, 2013 at 4:15 pm South Africa has lost not only its greatest son, but the whole world its greatest icon in the struggle for equality. I hope to see the day where every man finished the work which Nelson Mandela has begun as exemplary.

Madiba, thank you for all and we will miss you so much.

Catherine Fleming December 10, 2013 at 4:21 pm In remembrance of one of the greatest men to have walked this earth. May God hold you in the palm of His hand. Rest in peace MADIBA.

Carlos Garat December 10, 2013 at 4:32 pm In 1978, as I distributed small leaflets with the simple text “Free Nelson Mandela” in the streets of Stockholm, I knew Madiba was one of the greatest in our time. But I couldn’t believe I would have the joy to see him free nor apartheid defeated during my lifetime. His freedom and the victory of his people’s struggles is one of the foundations of the new, just world we still have to build for the XXIst century. Thanks, Madiba!

Elizabeth Chikerema December 10, 2013 at 4:40 pm My condolences to the Madiba family, to the whole of South Africa and to the whole world. Its a loss never to be filled by anyone. There will never be another personlike him. We thank him for such great lessons from his life.

May his soul rest in peace.

Elizabeth & family

Valerie Goddard December 10, 2013 at 4:42 pm Dear Peace Maker, now it is your time to rest in peace.

Trevor Tayleur December 10, 2013 at 4:43 pm May your spirit of reconciliation and humility live on in the Rainbow Nation.

Peiso aka Pee Jay December 10, 2013 at 5:11 pm Nelson Mandela our father our leader our light… Our freedom fighter our president our hero…. You’ll always be LOVED R.I.P TATA MADIBA

Lekau Mamabolo December 10, 2013 at 5:14 pm Tata Nelson Mandela you have touched so many lives in many different ways, you might be dead but your spirit will forever live, I will always remember your great works, you fought and in the end you were victorius. Today I’m free just because of you and because of you I know that freedom does not mean doing whatever I want whenever I want but freedom is having the power and all the tools to do what I ought to do. Let your soul rest in peace. Thank you. Lekau Mamabolo

Lesley Cheeves December 10, 2013 at 5:53 pm Huge sympathy to the family at this difficult time, I am sure mixed with grief comes the greatest of pride also. Respect!!

Monica and Vincent Skermand December 10, 2013 at 6:18 pm Our deepest sympathy to the Mandela Family. Thank you Tata Madiba for everything you’ve done for our country. We going to miss you. Rest In Peace.

Daniel Goedhuis December 10, 2013 at 7:24 pm Big trees never die even when they fall. I will always remember that tree with all the good leaves that spread over the world.

Laurie Treuhaft December 10, 2013 at 7:55 pm As a staff member in the English Translation Service at Headquarters, I was assigned, with my friend and colleague, Giovanna Suhl,to write a summary of Nelson Mandela’s statement to the Special Committee against Apartheid on June 22, 1990. Everyone at Headquarters was outside in front of the Secretariat on that warm, sunny day, waiting to greet him when he arrived. The drive in front of Headquarters was literally teeming with staff members; the only people still inside the Secretariat building were leaning out the windows waving signs and banners of welcome. I will never forget the excitement in the General Assembly Hall both before and during Nelson Mandela’s address. Giovanna and I are both retired now and back at Headquarters on a temporary assignment for the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly. We remember that day as a highlight of our time at the United Nations. Until Giovanna told me last week, I had never known all these years that the reason we had been lucky enough to land that assignment was because she had requested it!

Rasha December 10, 2013 at 8:13 pm Madiba, There will never be another! you will be always in our heart and mind .RIP

John McCabe December 10, 2013 at 8:25 pm My life has been one, inspired the most revered freedom fighter of me entire life. I have along with my family watched Nelson Mandela fight for peace and equality regardless of colour or creed. I will ensure my children will never forget a man who put everything above himself !!

God bless you Nelson Mandela. R.I.P.

Jane Petrie December 10, 2013 at 8:30 pm If only the other leaders like Mr Zuma and Mr Mugabe could have learnt the lessons the how be be humble like Madiba was who loved all races, no matter what the world threw at him. Mandela and de Klerk handed us reconciliation. Unfortunately this isn’t practiced now, as we still fear for our families and friends lives. Zimbabwe and South Africa still have along way to go. The crowd did the right thing in booing them. Thank you to President Obama, who spoke the right words at the right time. A child of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

John McCabe December 10, 2013 at 8:32 pm My life has been one, inspired by the most revered freedom fighter of my entire life. I have along with my family watched Nelson Mandela fight for peace and equality regardless of colour or creed. I will ensure my children will never forget a man who put everything above himself !!

Steve Alayon December 10, 2013 at 8:45 pm n my country, the Dominican Republic, we are currently living a constant struggle. And I’m very embarrased for saying that I’m dominican because at the moment there’s an new kind of “apartheid” law applied against the National Haitians which are currently Dominican residents.

Nelson Mandela showed the world how to embrace nations. How to live together each other: White, Black, Jew, Chinese, etc, etc. And I’d love that the Madiba Foundation make contact with the Dominican Republic Government to make some changes and accept the Haitians who are being prosecuted in my country.

Rest in Peace Mandela. We still have a long way to end racism in the world.

Thank you so much for you to open the eyes of almost all the leaders in the world!!.

Maria Teresa Guillen barroso December 10, 2013 at 9:05 pm Que decir de una persona tan maravillosa como fue y siempre sera NELSON MANDELA. Cuando supe que fallecio senti como si una parte de mi se hubiera ido con el . Mi mas sentido pesamen a su familia un cordial saludo

Renee Coleman December 10, 2013 at 9:09 pm Dear Madiba , beloved Mendela,

We thank God for your life, your sacrifices and contributions. Your endless battle against the oppression, racism, and injustices.

We thank you for your love for your enemies and your power of forgiveness demonstrated not by words but by your deeds.

Dear Madiba, our fighter for peace, we shall miss you, always…… sis. Renee Coleman, USA

Odette Gaud December 10, 2013 at 10:31 pm R.I.P. Madiba, You gave up so much. for that I am forever grateful. You have through THE STRUGGLE created a land I am so proud to call home. Your passing has touched every corner of the earth and you shall never be forgotten as you have earned you place in history. You are an inspiration to me, my children and all of man kind … your legacy will live on forever! Rest in peace. MADIBA

Chipo Muzorewa December 10, 2013 at 10:42 pm Madiba,

Your inspiration lives on.

Lanfia Kondeh December 10, 2013 at 11:05 pm Rest in peace our Hero, Freedom Fighter and an example to us all

Eoin Campbell December 10, 2013 at 11:44 pm Rip nelson Mandela great man and huge Man Utd fan you will be truly missed

RIP NELSON MANDELA

David Barrow December 11, 2013 at 12:03 am Thoughts and prayers to the Mandela family on the loss of their loved one. The world has lost a leading light, in this time of darkness. R.I.P Madiba

Daniel December 11, 2013 at 2:12 am Madiba Mandela, thank you! Your life is a path to follow, a path that meets and transcends the highest standards of every religion and every code of honor and nobility. Madiba Mandela, you have been a Christ-like figure, a bodhisattva, a saint, a beacon, a MAN. Thank you Madiba, I shall never forget you and I shall strive to follow your example. Rest in peace, Madiba, your name is now Eternal Love.

Elaine Lowe December 11, 2013 at 3:29 am My condolences to the family of Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa. A great man who inspired the people of this world like no other, who gave selflessly for the sake of others and whose legacy will remain forever. He was the greatest man in my lifetime an touched me like no other ever will. God Bless madiba. RIP

Dalyce Newby December 11, 2013 at 4:21 am The world has lost a great man. A man who inspired others to do better. A man who instilled hope where there was little. A man who brought people from all races and walks of life together. He will be greatly missed.

ROSILAND HORTON SANDERS December 11, 2013 at 5:02 am From Rosiland Horton Sanders, Annie K.Stokes and Nancy Bailey. We are sending our condolences to the Mandela Family. Our prayers are with you doing this difficult time. May GOD continue to bless all of you.

Petra Schmidt December 11, 2013 at 5:30 am Nelson Mandela has proven it: Never give up. If you believe in change, it can happen, eventually. – Nelson Mandela: One of the most inspiring personalities ever, he will never be forgotten.

Christine Akudit December 11, 2013 at 7:57 am Tata, your stories, wisdom and love will live on for many generations to come. RIP

Tasneem esau December 11, 2013 at 8:15 am I want to thank you Tata for all that you have done for us and our country. May you rest in peace. You will surely be missed and never forgotten.

Sarah Anyoti December 11, 2013 at 8:30 am My heartfelt condolences to the Mandela family, the people of South Africa and the peoples of the world. We have lost a great man! Nelson Mandela touched our lives in many different ways, he inspired us through his actions, he taught us lessons of hope, courage, determination and selflessness. The best tribute we can pay to him, is to make sure his ideals live on. Each of us must stand up and take the courage, the courage to fight for freedom, peace, justice, and equality for all peoples of the world. Rest in peace, we will never forget you.

Benjamin Mattondo Banda December 11, 2013 at 9:36 am I personally benefited from the fruits of your struggle. The grace to forgive your oppressors is the most amazing lesson I will remember you for. Your life on earth was a blessing to millions of South Africans who loved you dearly, and to billions of the world including me who admired you. Your star in heaven will shine the brightest in your deserved eternal rest. Hamba kahle Tata.

Mutanda Tinashe December 11, 2013 at 10:53 am It’s indeed a sad loss, not only to Tata’s clan or to South Africa but to the whole world.You were indeed one in 7 Billion.Your soul and character will be with us yet we will see your body nomore.At 95 we can say indeed a life WELL TRAVELLED but NO we cannot be sated with a life without you.Seing you on TV last night I could not help but have an ouporing of grief about this sad loss, the Charisma you exuded,the utmost control and unrivalled life skills and bottomless knowledge.Go well Madiba.We want to emulate you,if only we can mange a fraction of your deity and stamina then the whole world will be at peace.I love you Madiba.

Samantha Trammell December 11, 2013 at 11:39 am One of the greatest men to ever walk the earth, Nelson Mandela, we salute you from New york City. Rest in peace, its all in Gods hands now… The loss is great but we smile so joyously that we had you… God Bless You Mr. Mandela, one of a kind. <3

Kudzai K December 11, 2013 at 11:42 am You life was an inspiration to many and your life was lived well. I salute you and thank God for your life and all that you did to dismantle an oppressive system and to usher in a new South Africa. Tata Madiba I salute you and may your soul rest in peace. Hamba kahle qawe lamaqawe!!

Susan Rothschild Magidson Goldenberg December 11, 2013 at 4:23 pm Our world has lost a great man.He was the icon for all of us who struggled against apartheid.He was the father of our rainbow nation.We will miss you.

Susan Rothschild Magidson Goldenberg December 11, 2013 at 4:28 pm Our world has lost a great man.He was the icon for all of us who struggled against apartheid.He was the father of our rainbow nation.We wil miss you always and profoundly.

Ana Maria Alvarez December 11, 2013 at 8:02 pm When I visited South Africa for the first time in 2007, I could hear many sad stories from those who had been deprived by the Apartheid system. I was frightened. I visited a township and realized that there was a big economic and social agenda to change his country. Then, in 2012 I went back, visited Soweto and realized that Mandela’s views about changes in society are valid not only for South Africa but for the whole world. They will remain universally valid. I just want to share in this occasion, one of Mandela’s quotations: “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountain top of our desires”.

heather heading December 11, 2013 at 8:11 pm Sir,a true human being which showed all of us lesser mortals the true nature of humanity, thankyou for your compassion,humility,and bravery. The world is poorer now. God rest you.

Annie Ralaiarisoa December 11, 2013 at 9:40 pm Thank you for being an inspiration. Rest in Peace Madiba.

Rhinesha Dayanand December 11, 2013 at 10:29 pm To the father of country, people say lead by example. You have shown us what a true leader is capable of. And for us children to learn and live by your honour.

Ivan Cuddihy December 11, 2013 at 11:54 pm . An inspiration – he led only by example – To use my native Gaelic ” Ni raibh a leitheid anise aris” .. His likes will not be here again. May the leaders in South Africa and around the world carry on the flame of freedom lit and nourished by Madiba. May he rest in peace …

Victor & Marian Diana King December 12, 2013 at 1:41 am Mandela was a true gentleman and a true humananitar3ian. A true light of the world has gone out. Most people at his memorial service yesterday behaved with respect unfortunately it seems our Prime Minister behaved in an inapropriate manner. I feel it is my duty to offer the condolences and appologies of the British people for any offence caused to the Mandela family andd the South African people. My family and myself would like to offer our condolences to the family and friends of this great man.

Angela Hedges December 12, 2013 at 6:50 am Mandela was a great man. There is now one less truly good person on this earth. We will never see anyone else like him. May he now rest in peace.

Pritha Foolchand December 12, 2013 at 6:53 am My condolences to the Madiba family. The world has lost a great being. R.I.P Madiba

Frank D'Amico December 12, 2013 at 7:12 am My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of one of the greatest advocates for peace in the 20th Century. May the world learn from your life experience and may all future leaders aspire to be like you. The peace of the Lord be with you, Rest in Peace.

Carol Collins December 12, 2013 at 5:27 pm Nelson you would have not wanted in truth all this fuss & fancy. But we cannot control from the grave just leave a legacy Which you did and with dignity, forgiveness and servitude. I pray to Our Lord God that your example will reign in this world bent on superficiality. Every blessing to those who really did know your heart – like the poor beggar and not the rich & famous. Love, Carol Collins

Doreen Thenga December 12, 2013 at 1:06 pm RIP Dr Nelson Mandela….you did so much for the nation, we will always remember you….your smile!!!

Robala ka khutso Madiba….ya gago tema o e kgathile!!!

MAUREEN-RUTH BURGESS December 12, 2013 at 2:13 pm “OH LION OF AFRICA WHO ROARED FROM THE DEEP NIGHT, YOU WALKED THE JUNGLE OF ADVERSITY BRAVING CAPTORS OF JUSTICE AND RIGHTS. YOU WALKED LONG AND ROARED HARD FROM PLACES UNSEEN AND STILL YOU KEPT FAITH AND STRENGTH FOR THE SAKE OF THE DREAM.

YOU WALKED IN THE SUN AND THE DARK FELL AWAY – WE NOW WALK IN THAT SUN IN YOUR SWEET MEMORY. THIS IS NOT ‘GOODBYE’ TATA MADIBA FOR THE WALK STILL WALKS ON; WE SHALL HONOUR YOUR NAME AT THE BREAK OF EACH DAWN.

OH LION OF SOUTH AFRICA NOW SLEEP ‘NEATH LIFE’S TREE WATCH OVER US PLEASE- THOSE YOU FOUGHT TO SET FREE.”

Rolf Obertreis December 12, 2013 at 4:17 pm I pay tribute to the greatest son not only South Africa has ever had. Madiba was extremely courageous and on the other hand extremely warmheartedly. And the best example in every respect for everybody.

Thank you so much.

Rest in Peace

Rolf Obertreis/Giessen/Germany

Judith Bailey December 13, 2013 at 5:57 am RIP Mr Mandela. This world will never be the same without. Thank you for helping to make changes so this world can and will be a better place. You will be missed.

Kholofelo Manaswe December 13, 2013 at 7:49 am may your legacy live on and may our youth take a few leaves of your tree of life. you have made us the free people that we are today.

Tunia Mbedzi December 13, 2013 at 7:54 am Thank you Tata for giving us a free and peaceful South Africa, will continue to walk on your footstep and lead by your example, for being forgiving and loving. May your Soul Rest in Peace

Tana Botha December 13, 2013 at 8:40 am When a star is extinguished, it’s light remains visible across the universe for millennia. Nelson Mandela has passed away, but the light he has ignited in the world, will keep shining forever and ever. Thank you, Madiba, for letting your light shine so remarkably bright. The world has lost it’s greatest citizen.

Elaine Botha December 13, 2013 at 8:46 am Dear Madiba – and once again you unite our nation – the whole world! You have done what all of us should do: Forgive!! Now I will never meet you in person and that is my biggest regret. I will always remember your smile, beautiful shirts, love for all mankind, the Madiba-jive and much, much more. Thank you for everything you did to make things better for all. Rest in peace, you deserve it. Love you, Mr. President

Ruben & Lize Ballesteros December 13, 2013 at 8:50 am Thank you, Madiba, for your forgiveness and humanity that you showed. You were a great leader and a great person. May your legacy and what you stood for, live on in the hearts of all people across the world. Rest in peace.

Shannon- Lee Le Roux December 13, 2013 at 1:53 pm To the Father of our Nation,

Thank you for everything that you have done for our country, you make be proud to be South African. You are and will always be the Greatest Leader that have walked the earth. Tata you have sacrificed so much for the cause of Freedom, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You make me want to better myself and serve others and I will strive towards this everyday.

Reast in Peace Tata, Respect & Love Shannon- Lee Le Roux – Cape Town

Cyrill Ibrahim December 13, 2013 at 6:09 pm Thank you, Tata of the World. You are an inspiration and example of the way I would like to share as you did.

Munozovepi Gwata December 13, 2013 at 6:40 pm To the great father of Africa your legacy will live forever and so will spirit in our hearts. Love Muno♥♥

Trisha December 13, 2013 at 7:56 pm In a time when humanity continues to invest heavily in military expenditures, it is hopeful to see the entire world moved by one whose principles, values and life inspire us: dignity, justice, respect, negotiation, reconciliation, and building an inclusive future for everyone, that is true leadership.

Renee Gay December 13, 2013 at 8:23 pm I was 20 years old when he was released from prison all the way here in Barbados I waited to hear and see what he would do. The fact that he handled himself with dignity, grace and great temperance is a mark to the character of the man he was. How he went on to pull his people black and white together was and is truly inspiring and it touched and still touches me to have been around during this time in history. He will be missed. My heartfelt sympathy to his family, friends and the nation of South Africa. If only we had many more like him

M. Angela and David Nettleship December 14, 2013 at 1:28 am A great man has lived and died after giving the world something to learn about a being a good human being. Who didn’t think he was better and greater than his brother or sister.

Celine Paramunda December 14, 2013 at 4:34 am To the Madiba family and the people of S.Africa Mr. Nelson Mandela, a great man of this century has given us a great example. Today I used one of his messages at the United Nations,: “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings”. let us continue his fights to er-raise poverty from the world. condolences! May his soul rest in Peace! Celine Paramunda Medical Mission Sisters

ELEANOR HAYWARD December 14, 2013 at 3:13 pm I remember as a Glaswegian Glasgow City Council named one of our streets Mandela Place and gave him freedom of the city of Glasgow whilst he was still incarcerated. A man of peace and so much forgiveness for the years spent in prison. Truly a unique individual and never forgotten.

Caroline Vala December 14, 2013 at 8:49 pm Madiba you will be missed, but not forgotten. Le monde a cruelement besoin d’hommes aussi bon et courageux que toi <3

Eric Werner December 15, 2013 at 1:43 am Nelson Mandela was my hero because he overcame not only adversity but also hatred and revenge and led his country and his people on a path to peace and justice for all. Much remains to be done in South Africa to allow every citizen to share into the opportunities and the prosperity of this wonderful country which I had an opportunity to visit from my native Germany. May Nelson Mandela’s example guide current and future generations to continue his work and make South Africa a better place every day. However, Nelson Mandela’s legacy far transcends his own country and I feel humbled to have shared time on earth with him to witness what he has achieved. May his spirit and wisdom inspire leaders of the world and every human being to find ways so that people can live together and overcome what separates them. I do hope that we can all take a moment to think about his life and what we can learn for our own personal lives, how we can deal with conflicts large and small, how we can listen, understand and forgive, and bring people together for a greater common good. I was so happy that God allowed him to live out a long life in dignity after so many years had been taken away from him. My deep condolences are with his family and friends and the people of South Africa. May Nelson Mandela rest in peace. I know he will never be forgotten and his achievements and his spirit will live forever.

Rosemarie Jae December 15, 2013 at 3:10 am Mr. Mandela, you were named ‘Troublemaker” by your mother, but such a transformed troublemaker that it grieves me to know you are no longer in the world. We now call you Peacemaker, Freedom Fighter, Humanity Helper and a friend to those with no voice. I pray that your legacy will continue to live and make a real difference in the future of Africa the continent, and that many Nelsons will be born, raised and reared into the ‘care for others.’ Thank you for your suffering, and thank you for your healing. It has brought the world an unmatched truth: man’s road is never alone, and there is always one in the darkness who needs his help.

Richard Bestel de Lézongard December 15, 2013 at 8:10 am Thank you Madiba for helping God to mould our country into the largely thriving nation that it is today. It is unlikely that the example that you were will ever be forgotten.

Theresa Strømnes Bestel de Lézongard December 15, 2013 at 8:15 am God bless you Tata.

God bless Africa Guard Her children, Guide Her leaders, And give her peace.

I pray that this prayer, your legacy, lives on.

Hamba kahle Madiba.

Jabulile Maluleka December 15, 2013 at 9:02 am Although I went to the Union Buildings on Thursday and Friday, I couldn’t see you Tata, but you will always remain in my heart. I have learnt how to truly love people and how to forgive from you. I will follow your example. Thank you for all that you have done for all of us in South Africa and the world. I feel blessed to have lived in your world and time.

Lala ngoxolo Tata. Will always love you and look up to you.

Chifuto Shamano December 15, 2013 at 10:38 am Tata Mandela. You came into the world, when your people needed you most. And as was the script of your life, you played the part. You played it so well, the entire world stepped in tune to your song. Now you leave us because your script has come to an end. But we, all, shall dance the song, and teach it to our children, through the ages to come.

Mo'ath Aljabri December 15, 2013 at 12:00 pm Palestine and palestinians’ tears will never stop crying for your leaving TATA MADIBA, You will be always the light in our freedom path, your soul is immortal in our lives ! We all love you … R.I.P TATA MADIBA

Mo'ath Aljabri December 15, 2013 at 12:06 pm لن ننساك أبداً يا شمعة تنير درب الرية رحلت بجسدك، لكن روح ستبقى خالدة في قلوبنا ابتسامتك ستبقى حية في ذاكرتنا شكراً لله لأنه أعطى العالم (نيلسون مانديلا) ، لن ننساك أبداً من فلسطين مع كل الحب … ارقد بسلام .. مانديلا

mrs sharon solomons December 16, 2013 at 1:33 am Nelson Mandela achieved democracy for South Africa through peaceful means. He displayed the utmost dignity on his release from 27 years of incarceration. We will not see his like again. He was a true icon of our times. My thoughts and prayers are with his widow Graca Machel and the Mandela family at this very sad time

Tamzyn Hercules December 16, 2013 at 11:28 am Even through your death, you have the ability to unite nations- as evident of what you strived for your whole life. We appreciate what you’ve done, you have proven to the world that one man’s love, compassion and willpower can indeed change a country- our country- and the world’s perspective. We love you. Peace be with you and your family. You were without doubt God’s Gift to the world. Thank you for allowing him to use you in this great way.

Tamzyn Hercules December 16, 2013 at 11:31 am without doubt God’s Gift to the world. Thank you for allowing him to use you in this great way.

LeonardMync December 17, 2013 at 11:37 pm good post thx 402 arabidze

William KODJOH-KPAKPASSOU December 18, 2013 at 11:17 am Avec le décès de Nelson MANDELA, l’Afrique a perdu un homme qui représentait à lui tout seul une grande conscience morale. Mais sa disparition ne signifie pas la mort des valeurs et des idéaux qu’il a incarnés. Le combat pour la liberté, l’égalité, la justice, la paix et le service des autres, n’en prend que plus d’importance. Tous les jeunes africains et du monde doivent garder vivant le flambeau qu’il a allumé.

Lorraine Ogle-Davies December 19, 2013 at 2:29 pm Thank you FATHER GOD for giving us the gift of NELSON ROHLIHLAHLA MANDELA . The Bible says give thanks in all thins. (1Thessalonians5:18). We thank GOD for the role that Mandela played in the struggle for SOUTH AFRICA and AFRICA. Thank GOD for the courage that MANDELA demonstrated in the face of the trial.

Dharmisha Cvetkovic December 20, 2013 at 2:04 pm Mother earth trembles In honor of Madiba The planet is silent As his body reciprocates Humanity weeps At the embrace of Godliness Each grain of sand is sanctified By the love of the Father Qunu is the holiest of lands…

Paul M. Nkofo December 23, 2013 at 4:43 pm Tribute to President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela The world is in deep agony for they have lost a grandfather, a father, a husband, a brother, a companion and friend. However, the reality is that you have changed form and continue to live forever. Your arduous autobiography is etched unto subconscious minds of men – where a portrait of your long walk to freedom dangles not to gather dust. Indeed you have mummified yourself in deeds. That you have become to humankind will not be obliterated from history. You lived your life as a humble servant to humanity. You have taught the world that true leadership is not about self veneration and prominence above men – for there is one in heaven to whom these things eternally belong. You have taken the most difficult parts of the scripture and made them practical; “love thy neighbour, do unto others as you would like done unto you, forgive others that you may be forgiven, let children come to me for the kingdom of heaven is theirs, love your enemies.” It is amazing how multitudes fail dismally to practice these excerpts – even ministers of the word, but to you they rolled out naturally like a long time practiced piece of performance art! My heart knocks against the bars of my rib cage and threatens to tear the pericardium as it wants to peep through to the outer world. I sincerely begin to understand the pain you went through the twenty-seven years as you yearned to connect with your beloved and the world! You were subjected to mixed emotions that were meant to gradually nibble upon your strength to oblivion. From the moment you set your foot in jail, you grew from strength to strength as the negligible building blocks of time slowly constructed the twenty-seven onerous years. The certainty of the future could only be determined through a seasoned subconscious mind through fixing one’s eyes on celestial forces. You and we are today separated by the flailing curtain that separates heaven and earth. Our language is different for now you speak that of God and the angels – tecel. cat. marith. macha (let us all praise Him). Through spiritual eyes I look beyond the river of mortal life. I see a tall handsome man briskly taking strides towards the golden gates in the city of the Lamb. I call desperately but he does not steal a backward glance, for he is beckoned by saints of old and the heavenly troops unto whom his focussed attention is whole. In his ears the echo of my voice fades to nothingness with the swift increments of the distance between us. Whence he rushes a banquet is prepared for him and his Master will give him a pad on the shoulder and say “well done son!” He is marked by the scars impressed as he drudged though the thorny scrubs to liberate his people in the desert of apartheid. The soles of his feet are sore from sand bleach, his tongue sticks to the palate due to thirst and hunger for love, peace and harmony in the world. His face is heat scorched by the blazing sun, but internal life and peace exude through the radiance of his flickering eyes and a genuine smile. The undulating hills of Mveso have become coenocytic as they are rent in preparation to engulf your organic remains and slowly set them free to join the cycles of nature. You remain a wonder to the world. Had you been a landscape, you would have unanimously made it to the world heritage list! The place where your remains are buried is therefore an important heritage site! Good bye TATA! I feel this is the only way I may deal with the catastrophe of your loss and the avalanche of emotions evoked by your exodus! You have united people in your life and departure. To that, testimony is given by the multitudes around the world who speak in one voice, and those who gathered around your Houghton home to sing as they delivered their flowers and condolences from dawn to dusk. Let your legacy be entrenched in all nations throughout generations to come! We thank the African National Congress (ANC) – the organisation which natured your political birth and development. They trained and gave you a stage to perform. Combined with your willingness and resilience against the blistering sun and adverse weather of the time, you germinated and developed to bear the fruits we enjoy today. You and others carried your nation through difficult times. Your knees did not buckle under the burgeoning load of racial discrimination and dehumanisation instituted by the white regime. Instead you soldiered on – Hamba kahle Mkhondo! To your family and friends, let us loose the man and let him go. Mama Graca – the sweet smelling flower transplanted from the sweltering eastern shores of Mozambique to contribute in the beautification of the landscapes of Qunu; Mama we deeply thank you and the Mandela family for sharing him with us and allowing us to become part of his dignified farewell. It would be total unfairness not to express benthic gratitude to President Zuma and those who worked with him to audaciously organise such a dignified sending away for our father! Long live Madiba! Goodbye TATA! You have raised the leadership bar to be perched upon by the majestic of birds – the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis) iconic and endemic to Ethiopia and the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains.

By Paul Maluke Nkofo From The Kingdom of Lesotho.

Wendy ward December 26, 2013 at 1:39 am May you rest in peace mr. Mandela <3

Karen Lusier December 31, 2013 at 7:19 pm Karen Lusier December 31, 2013 I would like to offer my sympathy to the Mandela family during this period of mourning. I would also like to share a message of comfort and hope for the future. The quote given of Mr. Mandela’s definition of freedom is very thought provoking. He said, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” The Bible expresses it this way, “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you must also do to them.” – Matthew 7:12 (New World Translation 2013) Mr. Mandela was imprisoned for working to make his fundamental concept of freedom a reality. It is a reality in harmony with God’s purpose for all mankind. A reality that will be accomplished only by means of God’s Kingdom, the heavenly government that God’s son Jesus Christ taught us to pray for. – Matthew 6:9,10. A universal government that will never be brought to ruin, standing alone, lasting indefinitely. –Daniel 2:44. A government that will fulfill God’s original purpose for mankind and the Earth. –Genesis 1:27-31; Psalm 37:11, 29; Revelation 21:4. It is my sincere hope that Mr. Mandela will be among those who will receive these magnificent and lasting blessings through the resurrection hope that God’s word, the Bible, extends to those who fallen asleep in death. –Acts 24:15; Job 14: 14,15; Revelation 20:12, 13

Anu Nepal January 6, 2014 at 10:25 pm To Zindzi And family, my deepest condolences. May you have strength and courage in this time of mourning and letting go. Every South African owes to Madiba’s legacy our commitment to justice in South Africa and the world. South Africa has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world because of the sacrifice and courage of Madiba .c

Rest in peace Taata

Aum Bur Buhasvaha That Savitur Varenyum bhargo Devasya Dheemahi dhiyoyo Naha prochodayaathe…(for u Zindzi…)

Mlamuli Vundla January 13, 2014 at 5:23 pm He was great man let us pray for his soul to rest in peace and may other living politicians learn from his lessons.

Chriselda Mamotho Tabane January 15, 2014 at 8:13 am Kealeboga Ntate Neloson Mandela, bo phelong ba gao, le tsothle o di dirileng go maphelo a rona mo South Africa, go nthuta go tshwarela le go itse gore ke ithute go phela le dira tsa rona… Dankie

Pascy Tsipa January 23, 2014 at 11:02 am He surely was a great selfless Leader

Mamiki SC Pinkoane January 25, 2014 at 6:43 pm It’s the unhappiness we see on our faces in South Africa that remind us the pain still cuts deep. The confusion for way forward, each of us trying to find a way forward, the dawning of possible self-defense against the lions of this world is as real as it ever was before 1990. Since 1990 they looked at South Africa and Africa with a different eye, sincere view, a need to unravel poverty, unemployment, indecent acts of humanity, today we wait in awe as WEF 2014 pursuit. Your presence harnessed peace, equality, abundance, generosity, joy and happiness qualities you were blessed. Today the door is open for any lion to devour, Africa is exposed, the layer of protection is fallen. Where art thou such like yours, is our Creator not the One of multiplication? We are in dire need of the one even superior than yours of character. We hold on to memory as if it’s a living soul but the morning is as real with faces of hopelessness. It cuts deep, only time heals, as we maintain the ideals of the Rainbow nation your facet of unity. Your soul rest assured as your legacy continue the journey.

Joseph Lennon January 26, 2014 at 6:21 pm Thank you, Mr Mandela, for the life lessons you have given us through your love, simplicity, honesty, service, humility, care, courage, foresight, patience, stamina, determination, tolerance, forgiveness, equality and justice, but most especially, your leadership.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

NEO CHRISTINAH MATSAPOLA January 26, 2014 at 8:27 pm Words alone are not enough to present the deep hurt the world experienced at the news of your passing Tata Mandela. You represented Africa and humanity in the highest standards possible and we are proud of you. Your deeds moved the perception that lawyers are the devils’ advocates to the Godly intended honorary and noble status. You fought for a good cause and left all of us an undying legacy: Respect for life, humbleness and forgiveness. May the Lord allow your soul to rest in eternal peace! May Africa and the Human race at large follow on your steps and seek, selflessly, peace and provide service to the human race! Robala sentle! Love from Botswana

Cassie March 15, 2014 at 2:06 am You were a great man for what you have done. I will always love and miss you. Rest In Peace Nelson Mandela.

Stephen April 21, 2014 at 6:31 am RIP

Nelson Mandela: Speeches and Leadership Essay

Introduction.

Nelson Mandela is, undoubtedly, one of the strongest and the most inspiring political leaders of the 20th century, the embodiment of the human spirit’s limitless possibilities. His extraordinary life and the trials that he endured deserve to be remembered and talked about today. In my speech, I hope to recall Mandela’s most significant achievements and qualities, as well as comment on the influence he continues to have on activists and world leaders alike even after his death.

Rolihlahla Mandela was born in the village near Umtata in the Transkei on 18 July 1918. Both of his parents were illiterate, but his mother sent Mandela to the Methodist school at the age of 7, where his teacher gave the boy name “Nelson.” In 1931 Mandela enrolled in the University College of Fort Hare but was later expelled for protesting the school’s policies. Already his passion for justice and fighting spirit spoke louder than seeking profit or self-interest.

After starting a political career in the early 1940-s, Mandela has relentlessly fought against discrimination and marginalization of Black people of South Africa. Alongside several colleagues, he initiated the campaign of defiance against the law that required all non-white citizens to carry around documentation justifying their presence in white-dominated areas. In 1952, together with a fellow member of the African National Congress, Oliver Tambo, he established the first Black law practice in the country. Both these accomplishments’ influence on the human rights movement, as well as their historical significance for the rights of Black people in South Africa, cannot be overstated.

Anti-apartheid activism and underground activities made Mandela a frequent target for government persecution. Throughout the early 1960s, he became known as “The Black Pimpernel” due to his extraordinary ability to evade capture while juggling several aliases. In 1964, on the Rivonia trial, Mandela gave one of the most famous speeches in human history. He proclaimed his dedication to the struggle of African people and condemned the domination of any group over another group. His commitment to the world of equal opportunities was absolute: “My Lord, if it needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die” (Mandela, 2018). This speech highlights Mandela’s most impressive qualities: his almost frightening conviction and a lack of concern for himself when the greater good is on the line.

While in prison, Mandela continued the work of his life, engaging in activism and educating other inmates on the topic of non-violent protests. By this point, he became a hero among the anti-apartheid Black community of South Africa. Mandela was released in 1990, and in 1991 he led negotiations on a peaceful transition to non-racial democracy, which signified the end of apartheid. Thus, Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Mandela’s lifepath solidifies him as one of the most influential figures in the history of the modern world. Throughout his entire life, Mandela has fought on the frontlines of Black liberation and democratic recognition in South Africa, refusing to accept the injustice and the suppression. Even when apartheid laws were put in place by the government to enforce racial segregation and inequality, he resisted. Nelson Mandela became the hero of his generation and generations after him by reminding everyone by everything he did that what is legal and rational is not necessarily right.

Mandela, N. (2018). I am prepared to die . Nelson Mandela Foundation. Web.

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Head and Heart: The Lessons of Leadership from Nelson Mandela

For the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, we commissioned Mandla Langa to reflect on Madiba’s legacy five years after his passing. Langa is a renowned author of both fiction and non-fiction, and in 2017 partnered with the Foundation on the book Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years , an account of Madiba’s 1994-1999 presidency. The essay by him published here interprets Madiba’s life in relation to local and global contexts.

Almost everyone you meet has a story about Mandela; sometimes not so much about what he did as about how he made them feel. He was self-deprecating about his renown, joking, for instance, about meeting a couple in Nassau in 1991 when he was a guest of Chris Blackwell. An overawed cyclist almost fell off his bike when he saw Mandela. Calling his wife over, he said: “Honey, this is Mr Mandela.” Unimpressed, the wife answered, “Yes, I hear that … but what is he famous for?”

The most pertinent question, which remains unasked throughout the appraisal of Nelson Mandela’s life is, what was it about him that endeared him, sometimes to the level of near-hysteria, to people the world over? South Africans say that he made them feel alive; others, even admirers from far and wide, basked in his reflected sunshine and started connecting with the politics of their land because, they maintained, there were suddenly all these possibilities. It was through the world of artists – the poets mentioned previously – that he, Mandela, became even more alive in the public imagination.

Anyone who was lucky enough to have attended the concert to celebrate Mandela's 70 th birthday while he was still in prison, at Wembley Stadium, London, in June 1988, would admit to have been treated to a transcendental moment. I remember the ecstasy among the South African exile and expatriate community, members of the anti-apartheid and solidarity movement and, of course, the thousands of mainly young people in the audience. Of the artists themselves, I remember the stammering pain mixed with joy on the face of the late Whitney Houston when she took the stage, beginning a long friendship with Mandela and South Africa, which would continue when she met him once he had become president at a dinner hosted by Bill Clinton at the White House in October 1994.

“This performance is very special to me,” she said, preparing to sing for guests in the Rose Garden, “because in 1988 I sang in honour of Nelson Mandela the inmate and tonight I sing for elected president, Nelson Mandela.”

While the world – or, according the to the title of one of Kgositsile’s poetry collections, the present – might be a dangerous place blighted by cynicism and selfishness, it can also be stimulated into tapping its hidden reserves of virtuousness. Mandela’s face became the most immediate representation of that undefined energy called “the struggle” raging at home and lent strength to the worldwide anti-apartheid and solidarity movements, which called for sanctions and isolation of the regime. “If there’s one lesson we can learn from the struggle against racism, in our country as well as yours,” Nelson Mandela said about the United States while on a visit there, “it is that racism must be consciously combatted and not discreetly tolerated.”

Artists, a breed renowned the world over for their low threshold for any form of intolerance, heeded the call to isolate South Africa; in the US, thwarting apartheid’s sleight-of-hand to escape international isolation, Steve van Zandt formed United Artists Against Apartheid and in 1985 produced a rock anthem, I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City , featuring Bruce Springsteen, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan and Gil Scott-Heron.

Not to be outdone, film and stage actors appeared in productions inspired by the South African story. One of the most enduring films is Cry, the Beloved Country , based on the novel by Alan Paton. The veteran actor James Earl Jones, Hollywood’s most distinctive voice, was concerned about how the portrayal of a long-suffering character would go down with a more militant youth. Speaking to the Austin Chronicle in January 1996, he said that he’d read the book a long time ago “and had always wanted to be in [its film version]. But my big question was: How would the gentleness – which I think is the key to my character – how would it go over with young black people? My main concern was that it not appear as something from the past, as a museum piece. I said: ‘When Mandela is freed, we’ll see.’ My character mirrors Mandela’s gentleness. When he was freed, I knew I would make this picture.”

In a word, Mandela freed others to embrace their own freedom. But he knew that this freedom, which for black people involved removing both the physical and mental shackles imposed on them by the white racist regime, would not be complete without the white people – who had been routinely fed on the false diet of racial superiority – shaking off their own shackles. Even though a member of the ANC, in fact, its leader, he knew he had to become a statesman operating above or beyond the constraints imposed by party political loyalties if he were to truly steer his fragmented country on an unswerving path to a non-racial and prosperous democracy. He had once been on stage, playing Creon, the tyrant in Sophocles’ Antigone , on Robben Island and had developed a liking for Greek tragedy and Shakespeare. But this was a different kind of theatre, a theatre of life where, to borrow from James Baldwin again, “a current flowed back and forth between the audience and the actors: flesh and blood corroborating flesh and blood”. It was a theatre of life, real, where missteps could lead to bloodshed and the loss of innocent lives.

Recording artists present the United Artists Against Apartheid record to the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid.

In leadership, the past is prologue

Early in 2018, the centenary year of Nelson Mandela’s birth, South Africans have borne witness to a flurry of political activity that has thrown, rather appropriately, a spotlight on our country’s leadership. At the heart of all this has been a decade-long strain put on our widely admired Constitution. Acts of omission or commission by various people in power have occasioned a series of transgressions typified by corruption and a breach of public trust. The result: one president has resigned, another has taken his place – someone who was instrumental, in fact, in creating our Constitution – and South Africa is gripped by the kind of optimism which, if it doesn’t reach the high-water mark set by Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, at least makes for some sense of much-needed renewal.

While the corruption South Africa has endured could be written off as common to administrations around the world, South Africans feel especially pained by it, mainly because the theft from the public purse diverts resources from the poorest of the poor. Our country’s poorest citizens bear the brunt when it comes to service delivery, which grinds to a halt at the threshold of their desperate dwellings. The grand larceny also distracts us from the much larger debate about the structure of the economy. It leads to silence about the unconscionable levels of inequality here, plus the fact that while the poor – invariably the black majority – are trapped in poverty, the well-resourced – the majority of whom, inescapably, are white – become vocal in decrying corruption, proof positive, so goes the logic, that blacks are incapable of running a modern economy. The ills of the unresolved past and its iniquities give a piquant flavouring to dinner conversations, where the past – a different country that was experienced differently by different people – is either commended or condemned. Common to these conversations, though, is the consensus that the world was a somewhat more tolerable place during the life and times of Nelson Mandela.

Nostalgia for the past – an impulse as prevalent in antiquity as in modern times – comes over people whenever they feel menaced, betrayed or disappointed. As a rule, though, very few people can be nostalgic about periods when they were powerless or set at naught. Dyed-in-the-wool beneficiaries of apartheid plunder, for instance, remember that past fondly; for the majority of black people – and a minority of relatively-committed whites – the return to the inglorious days of apartheid would be as unthinkable as would a return to life on a slave plantation be for African Americans. Paradise, then, could not have been real without the existence of hell. Mandela, a realist, wrote from prison in July 1985: “In my current circumstances, thinking about the past can be far more exacting than contemplating the present and predicting the course of future events.”

Given the all-too-human temptation for blacks to remember the scourge of colonialism and apartheid with an eye on avoiding their rebirth – and for whites to eradicate from living memory the reality of benefitting from the shameful legacy of the sjambok and the pillory, the better to absolve themselves – it would take the commitment of one man to coax our bipolar society into a realistic accommodation of its history. Advising against the principle of retribution, Mandela famously said that “All of us South Africans, both black and white, must build a common sense of nationhood in which all ideas of vengeance and retribution are impermissible.” For him, the moorings of the future were in the present, the now. For us, to know Mandela we must delve back into the past, into the makings of him, which are ineluctably intertwined with the makings of the South Africa we know today.

Nelson Mandela signing the Parliamentary Bible.

Mandela the pacifist, Mandela the warrior: the making of a leader in the field

Voicing an idea that must have roiled in the minds of the multitudes over the last two decades, the late South African poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile wrote:

I fear the end of peace and I wonder if that is perhaps why our memories of struggle refuse to be erased.

The fear of the end of peace or of its corollary, the beginning of war, had motivated Nelson Mandela long before he had consciously internalised his future role as a champion of peace and reconciliation. The fear was not so much a reflexive shrinking away from the possibility of harm to oneself as a deliberate advocacy of measures to shield the more vulnerable from injury or destruction. In this, Mandela’s disposition is in alignment with an Aristotelian notion of courage. The philosopher argued that the courageous person doesn’t fear death if he or she is committed to a noble cause. Mandela said: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. I felt fear myself more times that I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

He not only controlled his fear but his temperament. Prisons were designed to break the prisoner’s spirit; the warders’ prime responsibility was to bend the will of their charges. In Mandela they found a person who knew not only the history of places like Robben Island but of the luminaries that had been imprisoned there through the centuries. There were the legendary Makana, “the commander of the Xhosa army” and Autshumayo, the Khoisan chief of the Goringhaicona who managed to escape from the island. A notable inspiration for Mandela was Maqoma, another celebrated commander who ended up there. In a sense, then, Mandela saw himself as part of a heroic fellowship, identifying with kindred spirits and continuing the journey of resistance started by these illustrious ancestors. He knew that the first step towards conquering a bleak place was to call it home.

“Just as the Portuguese colonialists gave a unique place in history to the island of Fernando Po by imprisoning numerous African patriots … so too have the rulers of South Africa determined that Robben Island should live in the memory of our people. Robben Island – one-time leper colony, Second World War naval fortress guarding the entrance to Cape Town harbour – a tiny outcrop of limestone, bleak, windswept and caught in the wash of the cold Benguela current, whose history counts the years of our people’s bondage. My new home.”

Mandela had a fair idea what the white nationalists in power were capable of wreaking. As a lawyer, first, and full-time political activist subsequently, he had had a ringside seat at the bloody drama that played out in the cities, towns and countryside. There was no spot on the landscape that was spared from hideous goings-on. The most vulnerable were the farmworkers and prisoners forced to work on plantations, such as the potato plantations in Bethal, in present-day Mpumalanga. A chilling account by journalist Janet Smith, writing in 2008, typifies a day in the life of a black South African under apartheid in the period that Mandela mounted his challenge:

“What happened in the 1950s in Bethal should never be forgotten. Many of the farmers compelled their workers to dig up the potato harvest with their bare hands, and those who could not keep up, or became exhausted, were beaten unmercifully. The men and women who died, either from the beatings or the cruel manual labour, were mostly buried out in the open fields, with members of their own families sometimes having to load their bodies into the earth.”

With an understanding that repression had to be confronted head on, Mandela became the ANC’s volunteer-in-chief for the Defiance Campaign against unjust laws in 1952. This, it must be remembered, was just four years after the National Party came into power, a period of great repression. Although the laws the campaign singled out were not repealed, its success lay in its being a very effective recruitment tool. “As a result of the campaign,” Mandela writes in Long Walk to Freedom , “our membership swelled to 100 000” and the “ANC emerged as a truly mass-based organization with an impressive corps of experienced activists who had braved the police, the courts and the jails. The stigma usually associated with imprisonment had been removed.”

But the assault by the state continued unabated, with banning orders served on Mandela and other leaders of the ANC, such as Chief Albert Luthuli, its president. This made it difficult to manoeuvre, organise or mount resistance to the ongoing onslaught, including the removals of the communities from Sophiatown and District Six to make way for white progress. And here, Mandela was candid about the mistakes made. For instance, during the removals, the ANC had coined the slogan, “Over Our Dead Bodies”, which Mandela characterised as “dynamic”, but which “proved as much a hindrance as a help”. For, while it “caught the imagination of the people”, it “led them to believe that we would fight to the death to resist the removal. In fact, the ANC was not prepared to do that at all.”

It was becoming increasingly clear to Mandela that in the end he and his compatriots “had no alternative to armed and violent resistance”. The men and women who formed part of the liberation movement had used all the “non-violent weapons in our arsenal … to no avail”. One of his last attempts to get the government’s attention through non-violent methods came with the convening of the Congress of the People, which took place in Kliptown, Johannesburg on 25 and 26 June 1955. In a re-enactment of a seminal event of more than 40 years earlier, the founding convention of the ANC in Bloemfontein in 1912, more than three thousand delegates from the length and breadth of the country, and a host of different organisations, came together to chart a course aimed at changing history. The upshot of this two-day meeting, which was periodically menaced by the thuggish officiousness of Special Branch detectives brandishing sten guns, was the adoption of the Freedom Charter, a document characterised by Mandela as “a great beacon for the liberation struggle”. The Freedom Charter “captured the hopes and dreams of the people and acted as a blueprint for the liberation struggle and the future of the nation”.

Matters came to a head on 21 March 1960. An anti-pass demonstration by the Pan Africanist Congress massing at the Sharpeville police station was fired on by the police, leaving 69 dead and hundreds injured. The majority of the casualties – men, women and children – had sustained gunshot wounds to the back while fleeing. There had been other notable examples of gross dereliction on the part of the state, such as the Coalbrook mine disaster in 1960 where 435 people, mainly black, suffocated or drowned under miles of rock. The Sharpeville Massacre, as it has come to be known, was a more naked form of violence whose effects reverberated across the globe. In South Africa, there were more demonstrations – called “civil unrest” in official euphemese – and resultant deaths and injuries. With liberation movements banned and any peaceful avenue to resolution of the country’s intractable problems effectively closed, there was no alternative but to rethink the strategy of passive resistance.

Finally, on the last weekend in March 1961, just days before the end of the marathon Treason Trial, Mandela popped up in Pietermaritzburg at the All-in Africa Conference. There he was mandated to write to Prime Minister HF Verwoerd about establishing a convention on a non-racial constitution for South Africa and to follow this path rather than hauling South Africa out of the Commonwealth of Nations. Verwoerd ignored the two letters Mandela wrote warning of a three-day stay-at-home for 29, 30 and 31 May. An extreme show of force on the first day and a last-minute turn around by the English press, which had previously promised to support the strike, led to disappointing support and Mandela called it off on day two.

The government’s wilful deafness and utter disregard for the lives of black people were therefore the catalyst towards the formation in June 1961 of Umkhonto weSizwe, the military wing of the ANC, and its launch on 16 December 1961, with Nelson Mandela as its first commander-in-chief. For Mandela, the decision to take up arms was predicated on the actions of the state. “Where the oppressor uses peaceful methods,” he said, “the oppressed will also use peaceful methods, but if the oppressor uses force, the oppressed will also retaliate in force.”

Announcing the first actions of sabotage by Umkhonto weSizwe after its formation, Mandela said: “If the government reaction is to crush by naked force our non-violent struggle, we will have to reconsider our tactics. In my mind we are closing a chapter on this question of a non-violent policy.” This rationale for taking up arms was contained in the leaflets from the ANC, which exhorted the oppressed to rise up.

“The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means within our power in defence of our people, our future and our freedom. The government has interpreted the peacefulness of the movement as weakness; the people’s non-violent policies have been taken as a green light for government violence. Refusal to resort to force has been interpreted by the government as an invitation to use armed force against the people without any fear of reprisals. The methods of Umkhonto weSizwe mark a break with that past.”

By the time these words filtered through the townships and hostels, farms and plantations, factories and schools – words replayed in clandestine radio broadcasts and from the capitals of countries, some of which have now been erased from world maps – the Soviet Union, the Democratic German Republic, Czechoslovakia, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Zambia – Mandela and much of the top leadership of the liberation movement were in prison. His journeys across Africa immediately before his final arrest, his last moments of operating as a free man – moments that told him how thoroughly unfree he had been in his native land – had prepared the ground for the ANC to establish its diplomatic missions abroad and spread the word of liberation.

While Mandela was in shackles, it would be Walter Sisulu, his mentor and one of the world’s most consistent political leaders, who would produce the first Radio Freedom broadcast from the ANC’s underground farm north of Johannesburg, in June 1963. “I speak to you from somewhere in South Africa,” Sisulu announced. “Never has the country, and our people, needed leadership as they do now, in this hour of crisis. Our house is on fire.”

The Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960.

Mandela the prisoner: the making of a leader inside

Nelson Mandela’s story, therefore, is about how he set out to put out the blaze.

In 1969, Mandela’s son died, three months after he had learnt of his wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela’s incarceration. He received a terse telegram informing him of his son’s death in a “motor accident in Cape Town”. The son, Thembekile – which means “the trusted one” – “was then 25, and the father of two small children”. Notwithstanding his pleas, Mandela’s keepers refused him permission to attend his son’s funeral. “As a father,” he said, “it was my responsibility to make sure that my son’s spirit would rest peacefully.”

There was nothing, therefore, in the behaviour of his captors to give Mandela a sense that he was dealing with rational people. Their actions went against anything he had known. Having grown up in the royal family of abaThembu – and being familiar with wars of resistance – he knew the code of conduct among people involved in hostilities. Even armies, who stared at each other from a great gulf, allowed enemies a brief respite to bury their dead. Mandela’s captors were simply not worth saving; unleashing the force of the state, they had heaped indignity upon indignity on their charges; their regime was nothing more than an obscenity.

Not daring to make the first move, however, or leaving the apartheid authorities to their own devices, unchecked on their path to ruin – where they would take the whole country down with them – would have been as equally reckless, as morally questionable as allowing the fire to rage on. Although he knew that his initiative could have ended up in defeat, he could not stand aside, as is evidenced in a passionate letter he wrote to give encouragement to Winnie:

“For one thing those who have no soul, no sense of national pride and no ideals to win can suffer neither humiliation nor defeat; they can evolve no national heritage, are inspired by no sacred mission and can produce no martyrs or national heroes.”

Notwithstanding Mandela’s wariness about the apartheid authorities, he had studied them long enough to see glimpses of humanity in some of them. He would later tell Patti Waldmeir in an interview that one thing he had discovered was that “men are not the same, even when dealing with a community that has a tradition of insensitivity towards human rights”.

There are few places as lonely and as depersonalising as prison. Prison destroys the soul, giving power to warders, who are weighed down by their own impotence in the bigger world. It is here that people are broken. Were it not for the fact that they were handmaidens, the cats’ paws of an inhuman administration, I would personally find the warders worthy of sympathy, for they were confronted by something alien to their upbringing and the teachings of their churches, which they had taken with their mothers’ milk. They’d never confronted black people whose conduct was out of character with what was expected of prisoners. It was on Robben Island that the warders could significantly lose their own freedom and sense of self. Much later, some of them would testify how their friendship with Mandela started to rekindle their connection with humanity.

It was is this realisation, this understanding of one’s role as a force on the inside, that the prisoner slowly takes over – assumes – the moral high ground and wrests legitimacy from the regime and its representatives. It is in the panic that comes over those who experience control slipping from their fingers that starts to arm the prisoner with resolve. During Mandela’s many years of incarceration, according to A Prisoner in the Garden , the authoritative prison archive of Nelson Mandela,

“Prison authorities compiled a detailed record around prisoner 466/64. They carefully recorded, duplicated and filed every piece of paper, relating to Mandela. These included results of medical tests, correspondence with family and friends, formal complaints against prison conditions and early negotiations with his captors. The prison files reveal the extent of the web of surveillance that existed in apartheid South Africa, the depth of paranoia around Mandela and, most strikingly, the power that this Robben Island prisoner wielded in spite of his status as an inmate.”

It was partly this status in prison – for he must have understood the effect of his own personality on his captors – that empowered Mandela to set out on a mission that would entail his release and culminate in his ascendancy to the presidency of the country. While alerting him to his own vulnerability, prison was also a place where he came to terms with himself, his predicament and the conundrum that faced his country.

Fifteen years before his release, in a letter dated 1 February 1975, Mandela wrote to Winnie, who was in Kroonstad women’s prison in the Free State. In the letter he characterised a prison cell as a place that “gives you the opportunity to look daily into your entire conduct, to overcome the bad and develop whatever is good in you”. Although meant for his wife, who certainly needed his support to survive one of the bleakest periods of her incarceration, when she suffered from periodic bouts of claustrophobia, the advice was also directed inwardly – especially the part where he suggested meditation nightly before going to sleep.

It was this sense of discipline that contributed to the peculiar aura of gravitas surrounding Mandela. In his early years on Robben Island, he found himself imprisoned with a cross-section of South African society. There were of course the grand old men of the struggle, like Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki, to name a few. It was, however, the young entrants into the prison population, the adherents of the Black Consciousness movement – firebrands who imagined they would shake Robben Island from its slumber – that further opened Mandela’s eyes to the country’s unique shape.

It was here that he came face to face with the fact that he didn’t have all the answers; and that people could differ with him – in a patently disagreeable manner. He crossed swords with Harry Gwala and countenanced the frustrated belligerence of people like Strini Moodley, who held that the old-timers were too tame. In a wide-ranging interview with Alec Russell of the Financial Times on 7 June 2015, Mac Maharaj, who would spend a substantial time with Nelson Mandela – and who helped smuggle drafts of The Long Walk to Freedom out of Robben Island – remembers exchanges that illustrate Mandela’s way of thinking:

“He understood where I was coming from. He understood that I was committed to the issue of an armed struggle based on mass mobilisation. But he said to me, Mac, in the end … how do you ambush the other side? You have inferior forces, you have inferior weaponry, but how are you going to defeat that chap? […] if you don’t know your opposite, how are you going to get them to respond the way you want … I said, but I’ve read Commando by one of the Afrikaner leaders, Denys Reitz, and other books so I have an idea how they think. Mandela responded that those were specific instances under previous commander. So what must I do? I ask. He says, learn the language. OK, I said, I’ll learn. He says, no, learn their poetry, understand their culture.”

From the personal accounts by late entrants into the prison community, Mandela came to learn, not only of the different approaches that those involved in the Struggle for freedom were taking, but also of the regime’s relentless slaughter of an unarmed populace. The toll was especially high in the aftermath of a series of states of emergency enforced first in 1985. The intensified repression was aimed at countering heightened – and widespread – resistance, which was inspired in the main by the Mass Democratic Movement. Appalled at the level of desperation, Mandela could see the country easily turning into a wasteland.

One of many posters demanding that Nelson Mandela be set free.

Mandela the president: a leader takes power, partly by reading a poem

“A good head and a good heart,” Nelson Mandela wrote, “are always a formidable combination.” There are “few misfortunes in this world,” he said on another occasion, “that you cannot turn into a personal triumph if you have the iron will and the necessary skill”.

It is not often that we can count ourselves lucky for having witnessed the making of history. The official announcement signalling the dismantling of apartheid with the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 is as etched in my mind as could be V-Day, the assassination of JFK or of Martin Luther King, Jr, or – much later – the day the planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York for a succession of generations.

As there is something ineffable about these moments, and memory is sometimes unreliable, it is always advisable to get them corroborated by other witnesses. Here, the poets who have a licence to dream on behalf of their communities are especially helpful. Nelson Mandela would himself give honour to poetry by reading Ingrid Jonker’s poem, The Child is Not Dead , in its original Afrikaans during his address at the opening of the first democratic parliament on 24 May 1994. He said:

“The time will come when our nation will honour the memory of all the sons, the daughters, the mothers, the fathers, the youth and the children who, by their thoughts and deeds, gave us the right to assert with pride that we are South Africans, that we are Africans and that we are citizens of the world.”

Then he spoke of Jonker, who was “both a poet and a South African”, and who, in the dark days when all seemed hopeless, when many refused to hear her resonant voice, took her own life. “To her and others like her,” Mandela said, “we owe a debt to life itself. To her and others like her, we owe a commitment to the poor, the oppressed, the wretched and the despised.”

Ingrid wrote:

The child is not dead the child lifts his fists against his mother who shouts Africa! ...

The child is not dead Not at Langa nor at Nyanga nor at Orlando nor at Sharpeville nor at the police post at Philippi where he lies with a bullet through his brain ...

the child is present at all assemblies and law-giving the child peers through the windows of houses and into the hearts of mothers this child who only wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere

the child grown to a man treks on through all Africa the child grown to a giant journeys over the whole world without a pass!

For Mandela, who had always prized children and childhood, it was inevitable that he saw the symbolic connection between the death of one child as an example of a dream deferred. He reasoned, however, that a death must not be in vain but should galvanise all to create a liveable future for all South Africans. He wrote, and said:

“And in this glorious vision, she instructs that our endeavours must be about the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child.

“It is these things that we must achieve to give meaning to our presence in this chamber and to give purpose to our occupancy of the seat of government.

“And so we must, constrained by and yet regardless of the accumulated effect of our historical burdens, seize the time to define for ourselves what we want to make of our shared destiny.

“The government I have the honour to lead and I dare say the masses who elected us to serve in this role, are inspired by the single vision of creating a people-centred society.”

With these words, and Jonker’s poetry, a restless society, split apart by violence and strife, was steadied by the hand of a man who had learnt to be alone with himself for almost three decades.

It is, however, his five-year presidency that has come under scrutiny, because this was where he was responsible to the totality of the South African citizenry and not just to the ANC. In this period, a blip in the hundreds of years it took to manufacture modern-day South Africa, he must have appreciated that he would become weighed down by the burden of expectation from a populace in need of a quick miracle. In a sense, this country of wilful amnesia and selective nostalgia heaved a sigh of uneasy relief with Mandela’s acclaimed ascendancy to power. He was a ready-made scapegoat and messiah all rolled into one; the tension between these two poles would have led many straight into a madhouse. Mandela couldn’t have been oblivious to his own predicament. He had seen from history how some leaders that might have come to power via a popular mandate were overthrown on the strength of a faltering economy.

Mandela was familiar with the case of the late Chilean socialist president, Salvador Allende, who came to power when the country was in the grip of severe economic crises. To make matters worse, he was trying to build a socialist society through the nationalisation of industries in the face of unemployment, inflation and widespread malnutrition. Mandela’s own flirtation with nationalisation ended soon after the trip to Davos in 1992 where he was told, in no uncertain terms, by leaders from China and Vietnam how such a policy had led to the ruin of many a country’s economy. President Allende, as Mandela would 20 years’ thence, restored diplomatic relations with China, Cuba and various countries deemed undesirable by the Western powers. Notwithstanding Allende’s popularity with the farmers and the man and woman on the street, he had so alienated business and other politicians with his adoption of socialist policies that it was possible for his government to be overthrown in September 1973 by a military coup organised by Henry Kissinger and the CIA.

Aware that the goodwill that derived from the peaceful transition would not last unless leveraged upon – and cognisant of the dire consequences of an underserved public – Mandela knew that the biggest hurdle to overcome was the one of socio-economic transformation. The analysis of the office of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), an integrated socio-economic framework, was that “the South African economy is in deep-seated structural crisis, and as such requires fundamental restructuring”.

Growth and development, Mandela would note, were more than interdependent; they were mutually reinforcing. Addressing inequalities, he maintained, would expand markets at home, open markets abroad and create opportunities to promote representative ownership of the economy. The expansion of the economy would raise state revenues by expanding the tax base, rather than by permanently raising taxes. The success of this approach would entail the government getting into “active partnerships with civil society, and with business and labour … [to] jointly pursue the broader challenges of extending opportunities to the millions of adult South Africans who can currently find no place in the formal economy … Our people elected us because they wanted change.” He further remarked that while “people have high expectations which are legitimate … [and while] the government cannot meet all these needs overnight, we must put firmly into place the concrete goals, time frame and strategies to achieve this change”.

Analysing Mandela’s economic legacy, Matthew Davies, business reporter for BBC News, writes:

“In some senses, Mr Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) inherited an economy that was heading for bankruptcy.”

So, it was to prove a difficult task to create a silk purse of an economy from the pig’s ear that apartheid had left behind. However, many analysts point out that great strides were made in delivering some of the Freedom Charter aspirations in the early years of the new South Africa. Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the Efficient Group, says:

“Many millions of people got running water, electricity, etc.

“But the infrastructure was neglected, and slowly state inefficiency and corruption became serious problems.”

The ANC had once been greatly enamoured of the social democratic model it had seen in various countries, especially Sweden; here, they saw a seamless relationship between government, labour and the private sector, to the extent that the boards of large corporations had trade union representatives. “Our present position on this aspect [of the economy] is the same as that of the Federal Republic of Germany, which contains in its constitution a clause on nationalisation as one of the options the government might employ in case of need. That option has not been exercised in that country for decades.

In truth, however, the complex question facing South Africa today – the economic quandary the country faces today, the runaway unemployment, the unacceptable levels of inequality – simply means that an anomaly in the negotiations became the recessive gene carried in the bloodstream of our democracy. It bespeaks a weakness, perhaps, on Mandela’s side, where he was distracted away from the granular detail of negotiations and concentrated, mainly, on the business of fostering stability and nation-building. He had a handpicked team, which, one believes, was also blindsided when it came to the question of the future implications of the economy. Given the outpourings of international goodwill towards our emergent democracy at the time of negotiations – for instance, the developmental experts and thinkers that could be found in the solidarity movement – Mandela’s team passed up an opportunity to tap into resources which could have strengthened its negotiating strategies.

Delivering the Political Report of the NEC to the 49th National Conference, which was held in Bloemfontein in December 1994, a disappointed Mandela summarised the incipient disaffection among the majority who voted for the ANC. He decried the “tendency for ruling parties is to claim success for each and every step they have taken in government. Let us be honest and say that we would have been satisfied if more people could concretely feel the impact of social change.”

The compromises reached in order to set up building blocks towards the emergent democracy had left the ANC with very little leverage in terms of economic clout. Mandela advised the conference to “admit that, in the process we did also falter”, and lamented that “the reality is that democratic forces in our country have captured only elements of political power”.

Nelson Mandela, as President of South Africa, at World Trade Organization talks in Geneva in May 1998.

Mandela nudges the world towards goodness

The American writer James Baldwin made bold to suggest that “the poets … are finally the only people who know the truth about us”. One such poet was the German playwright Bertolt Brecht, whose oft-quoted ascription of unhappiness to countries in need of heroes was as much a caveat for his troubled country as it is for the rest of today’s troubled world. Brecht’s – or even Baldwin’s – prophetic truth is evidenced in the state of anxiety currently holding the entire global society in thrall.

On 3 January 2018, two events, a birth and a death, took place within minutes of each other. Another prophetic poet, who I mentioned earlier on, was Keorapetse Kgositsile. I had discussed the implications of a July celebration of the centenary of Mandela’s birth with him: he had dedicated a poem to Mandela, which exhorted the listener to “defy the devils who traded in the human Spirit”. Then, suddenly, he was gone, after a short illness. I wondered what he would have made of Mandela’s contested legacy in this centennial year, remembering how my big-hearted, diminutive poet friend routinely made short shrift of the revisionism that flows out of ignorance of the conditions that had informed Mandela’s choices.

The second event was the birth of my grandniece, Chloe. Watching this helpless bundle balanced in the crook of her mother’s arm, I thought of the world, the country that Mandela and now Kgositsile had left and one in which Chloe was now demanding to be fed. Although unhappy at the collapse – or desecration – of most of Mandela’s ideals at the hands of an unprincipled leadership within the African National Congress, Kgositsile was comforted that the structures supporting democracy were still in place. Indeed, an overwhelmingly huge percentage of South Africans derive comfort from the knowledge that Mandela’s bequest – however imperfect – is a far cry from the state of tyranny under apartheid.

Mandela’s unique journey from the day he stepped out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison in 1990 – through his six-year presidency of the ANC from 1991 to 1997, and of the Republic of South Africa in 1994, to the moment he stepped down after one term in 1997 – has been represented in various media, including books, films and stage plays. It is a journey marked by Mandela’s adoption of his own advice for his son:

“To lead an orderly and disciplined life, and to give up the glittering pleasures that attract the average boy, to work hard and systematically in your studies throughout the year, will in the end bring you coveted prizes and much personal happiness.” – Nelson Mandela writing to his son, Makgatho, 28 July 1969

Mandela’s code of discipline, which was underpinned by sacrifice, has also been recorded and published in numerous biographies, and in The Long Walk to Freedom – an autobiography written, in part, to show how his own life experience could serve as an example for others to follow. He was meticulous in ensuring that an archive of his life would be made as accessible and as comprehensively as possible. The collections housed at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, vast as they might be, are by no means able to present him in sum, however, this man who towered above his contemporaries at home and abroad. It is to poetry we must turn for that – to poets like Kgositsile and his confreres, who heralded Mandela’s destiny, filling in the blanks and puncturing the veil of secrecy in times when his image was taboo, giving the world an understanding of the man who, in the words of the Spanish poet Miguel Hernandez, “behaves inside a dungeon as if he already were free”.

His gaolers tried to force the bitter destiny of the Book of Job on him: His remembrance shall perish from the earth and he shall have no name on the street . To no avail. Mandela lived in poetry, which, according to Nadine Gordimer’s foreword to the anthology Halala Madiba , is “the highest literary form of the gift of intense imaginative identification with the subject”. The concluding lines from Departure From the Isle of Torments by the late former South African poet laureate, Mazisi Kunene, capture the essence of that long journey of a man whose intellect and emotion – head and heart – were the essential qualities for the management of a most trying transition. Kunene writes:

Behold the swaying multitudes, the frenzied laughter: You did the nation well by returning!

Doing the nation well was Mandela’s preoccupation from the very start. Proud, authoritative and forthright – attributes that could be sourced to his upbringing as a scion of the royal house of abaThembu – Mandela would find Robben Island and successive prison environments conducive to acquiring leadership skills – skills that didn’t, and don’t, form part of the curricula in leadership academies. For one, the isolation of prison, the enforced hibernation, became a refresher course in survival. It brings to mind Ralph Ellison’s unnamed hero in Invisible Man , who discovers that being invisible can be a source of strength, where covert action becomes a springboard “for more overt action”.

The unintended consequence of the apartheid state’s attempt to render Mandela invisible was unprecedented curiosity – What is he like? people asked – which led to a veritable explosion of his image. The media, print and broadcast, was awash with a face that had become as ubiquitous as spring air – and as revitalising. Old black-and-white pictures flickered across screens: Mandela in a group photo as a 20-year-old student at Healdtown Comprehensive School; in a portrait wearing traditional attire; in 1951, standing next to Ruth First at an ANC conference in Bloemfontein; in 1956, singing among 150 fellow accused at the marathon Treason Trial in Pretoria; a bearded Mandela bulked up by army fatigues, standing with Algerian Army commanders in 1962. Across the globe, television sets beam contrasting images of a youngish Mandela in his jackal-skin kaross worn toga-like as he strides defiantly in slow motion during his 1962 trial for leaving the country without a passport and inciting a strike. He was sentenced on 7 November 1962 to five years in prison. There are many more, a catalogue of the various incarnations he has had to pass through. The most enduring images, however, are of Mandela as a free man, a man who embodied freedom with such assuredness that it became synonymous with his name. In all this, the making of Mandela the symbol can be credited to the regime that threw him in prison.

In 1999 Nelson Mandela handed power to Thabo Mbeki, who served as South Africa's second democratically elected president.

Mandela the symbol: a leader gives power up

Therefore, itself rich in symbolism, one of Mandela’s most memorable gestures, judged counter-intuitive by Professor Njabulo Ndebele, was in 1997 when he stepped down as president of the ANC. The presidency of the ANC is held in high esteem for the simple reason that it confers on the incumbent the stewardship of the National Executive Committee, a council that could, if need be, bring about a resignation of the state president. Paradoxically, giving up power was Mandela’s most powerful moment. In his introduction to the chapter on Mandela in South Africa’s Nobel Laureates , edited by Kader Asmal, David Chidester and Wilmot James, Prof. Ndebele observes that a leader,

“too conscious of having power, and who wields it self-consciously, does not really have it. On the other hand, a leader who works with power, and who discovers the extent of it in the course of confronting situations whose resolution requires inevitable recourse to power, has vast amounts of it.”

Mandela’s action drew muted criticism from some of his superannuated brethren on the continent and far afield, who saw it as an incitement for their domestic masses to start questioning their extended tenure. For Mandela, leadership was mainly about advancing the cause of others, because he understood how they – especially strangers in neighbouring countries who suffered untold misery in sanctions and cross-border raids launched by the South African military – had paid a huge price. He was scathing of leaders, even “erstwhile revolutionaries [who] have easily succumbed to greed, and the tendency to divert public resources for personal enrichment”. He lauded the “universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status. These are men and women, known and unknown, who have declared total war against all forms of gross violation of human rights wherever in the world such excesses occur.”

Therefore, when he was in various circumstances required to comment on the leadership in, say, the Southern African Development Community, he stressed the importance of serious planning for regional growth and development. These were not mere words or the rehearsed platitudes that characterise speeches in summits; coming from a generation of hard idealists who had grown up in the principle of a united Africa, Mandela believed that the current crop of leadership could turn the tide against poverty and inequality in the region. This because, as he put it, “our fortunes are so interdependent. None of us can achieve sustainable growth and development, or peace and stability, in isolation.” In this regard, people who acted as gatekeepers that cut off access to him and alienated him from his natural constituencies could get Mandela nettled.

“It sometimes pains me,” he wrote in his diary on 7 January 1998, “when dependable friends who have shared resources with us when we were alone in our fight against apartheid, but who are regarded by the staff as mere strangers bent on disturbing the President.”

Rivonia triallists Ahmed Kathrada, Andrew Mlangeni, Nelson Mandela and Denis Goldberg.

Mandela: cherishing life despite threats of dreadful outcomes

Today, as South Africa and the world gear up to celebrate the centenary of his birth, the inevitable question comes up: What would our country be like if Mandela had not stepped into the breach to assume leadership at a most perilous period of our history? Aligned to this question is the subtext in current debates about the economy, where queries are being raised – oftentimes with a real purpose to elicit knowledge and sometimes with an aim of breaking down what is held to be the mystique around Mandela – about whether the negotiations in the early 1990s were skewed against the black majority. Was the Mandela project a massive sell-out? Behind these unasked questions – one is helplessly forced to conclude – are justifications for the fancied sell-out: the old people were deferential to white counterparts on the negotiation table. They were scared of the white man.

Commentators tend to approach the debacle – the human tragedy – that characterised South Africa from its inception as a colonial construct to the present moment, where it struggles to integrate its discrete pieces into a coherent whole, much the same way sports fans do a post-match analysis. Armed with the advantage of hindsight and instant replay technology, the analyst can reimagine, but never quite empathise with, what took place in the arena. The act of recreating the past is always subverted by the gaps lying between what has been experienced by the flesh-and-blood actors – the gruelling trial that informs their decisions – and our collective grasp of their actions long after the noise of battle has died down.

It is always tempting, when dealing with a venerated figure like Mandela, for commentators who wish to ascribe to him an unassailable saintliness to urge detractors to remember what it was like back then, meaning that, given the overwhelming odds stacked against him, it would be understandable if Mandela capitulated and quailed before his captors. But all evidence points to a man who was single-mindedly steadfast in his quest to create a democratic and non-racial country of the future. The hardship was a temporary inconvenience, a time when he had to do the groundwork for a radical change, especially in the heady 1980s when repression in the country increased, a sign that the regime was losing its grip.

In a conversation with Richard Stengel, his interlocutor and collaborator towards the writing of Long Walk to Freedom , Mandela is asked if the people of his generation “still have a kind of deference towards the white man that will not exist in the younger generation?”. Or, put differently, if there was some residual inferiority to the white man roiling in the mind of leaders like Mandela. Mandela gave an emphatic no, because, he said,

“When you have been in the liberation movement for so long and you have been in and out of jail … you got our people now not to fear repression, to be prepared to challenge it. And if a man can challenge a law and go to jail and come out, that man is not likely to be intimidated, you see, by jail life, generally speaking. And therefore, even in our older generation, there is no inferiority except that it may be said that we are more mature in handling problems.”

We cannot today realistically know what Mandela et al felt when faced with incarceration. We have his word and the testimony of his compatriots. We do know, however, that it was a grim period, which none of us, certainly not the children of the dispossessed, would wish to revisit. The rash of memoirs by some of the principal and minor players of the hideous time puts a gloss on their culpability, where even securocrats like Niël Barnard come up smelling of roses; even the biographies by some of the warders are reminiscent of people striving very hard to put the events of the past through a colander whereby the grainy truth is sifted out and all we are left with is empty sweetness.

What we can take from what we know about Mandela is that he strove to enshroud himself and those around him with dignity that makes it hard for the enemy to unravel. From their arrival in prison, he insisted on being addressed as Mr Mandela. “You must fight the battle for dignity on the first day you go to jail,” he told Oprah Winfrey in an interview. “We put our foot down and insisted on being respected, even though we were prisoners.” This response cannot – by any stretch of the imagination – be credited to someone who is cowed by others, black or white.

Graffiti commemorating the Rivonia Trial, which ran from October 1963 to June 1964.

Mandela: putting words to eloquent silences

Even though privately concerned if his gamble backfired, Mandela’s readiness to face down the generals who spat fire and promised to put the country to the torch was an act of great courage. It is here, also, that his counter-intuitive stance towards leadership proved equal to the task: he defanged the right wing and brought it to be part of the negotiations towards a democratic future. Through the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which allowed for a long cathartic moment, violators of human rights stepped forth and owned up, thus ensuring some form of closure for their victims.

Not all were courageous, some following FW De Klerk in stalling about their culpability during South Africa’s darkest hours. It is here, I believe, that those who have no idea what instability can wreak – who are oblivious of the devastation in the blood-stained corners of the globe – scoff at Mandela’s gestures of reconciliation. As for the troubles South Africa sometimes find itself in, where the restive youth cries for reforms, it should be borne in mind that Mandela’s main preoccupation was to build this foundation on which our democratic society is based. To use a crass metaphor, a father builds a house but cannot be blamed for the incapacity of his children to improve on the dwelling.

He was not a saint, as he has repeatedly reminded us with his immortal quip that “a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying”. He had many transgressions, some of which would convert into virtues, in the scheme of things. Without verbalising it, he embodied what is credited to one-time president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, that leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness and that, acting alone, the leader must accept everything alone.

Mandela knew fully well that the ANC was viscerally opposed to the idea of talking to the regime. By the time of the 1985 ANC consultative conference in Kabwe, Zambia, there were rumours of people in the ANC engaging in talks with Pretoria. Aware of the hostility to those talks, which were dismissed as enemy manoeuvres, OR Tambo had to steer a cautious course. But the practicalities of the times – the ouster of the ANC from Mozambique, cross-border raids in neighbouring countries and the clamour of Umkhonto weSizwe fighters that they wanted to go home – coalesced into an acceptance of the reality of a negotiated settlement. It would, of course, be accompanied by an intensification of armed actions inside the country.

Isolated from his support network, watching the carnage against defenceless people being played out on the daily news bulletins, Mandela started tentative steps towards brokering a negotiated settlement. He had consulted Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and Govan Mbeki about this intention – and was told in no uncertain terms that this was a very bad idea. Much later, alone, Mandela went into action.

Mac Maharaj has said that Mandela was a man who took responsibility for his action. Having decided that the time had come for talks to start – an impulse no different from the moment he decided on armed action – Mandela knew he would have to go against the advice of the prison collective. In time, the collective – which also involved Oliver Tambo in Lusaka – accepted the strategy of talking to the enemy. He accepted that, in the event of the plan blowing up in his face, he would carry the can. In his own notes on leadership, Mandela has written that “the leader’s first task is to create a vision.

“His second is to create a following to help him implement the vision and to manage the process through effective teams. The people being led know where they are going because the leader has communicated the vision and the followers have bought into the goal he has set as well as the process of getting there.”

In the year of celebrating Mandela’s centenary, South Africa is still grappling with the process of getting “there”, the idealised destination no different from the Promised Land for the fabled biblical wanderers. Each generation has come up and defined its mission; land and economic transformation, twin imponderables that have been left unaddressed for centuries, stand out and cry for resolution. A new cadre of leaders asks questions and challenges the answers given as being not enough. Sometimes the questions go to the very legitimacy of the Constitution, an enduring irony given the provenance of the Constitution. What is significant is that the country has come to growth. Mandela has left. Many others, poets like Keorapetse Kgositsile, who were part of the generation after Mandela, have also left and many are, to use the poet’s words, in the departure lounge. The youth, dreaming dreams and hoping hopes, strives to carve out a reality that will ensure their own survival. They too will in time grow old and drag their increasingly disgruntled children into meetings and councils, to plan on how to change their lots. And Chloe, my grandniece, will not remember her hour of helplessness and hunger. The world will move on, secure in its moorings. Mauritian friend, Edouard Maunick, expresses the world’s appreciation in these lines:

I much hope to put my step in his And in unbroken eloquent silence Listen along a long long way To the unique and untold saga Of Mandela conquistador of freedom.

There is no doubt that Mandela, a modern titan, was as much the creator of history as he was its product. He could have chosen other routes to usher in the democracy that we now enjoy; he, however, chose alchemy of head and heart, logic and compassion, to coax out of a complex and volatile society, something of value. The recent transition of power that South Africa has seen, in which President Jacob Zuma – our latter-day Ozymandias – gave way to the democratic impulses entrenched in the ANC and embodied by Mandela’s close confidant, Cyril Ramaphosa, is testament to Mandela’s enduring personal triumph.

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Mandela Day 2023: Nelson Mandela Essay and Speech in English for School Assembly and Events

Nelson mandela international day essay and speech in english: on this nelson mandela international day, get a short essay, unique paragraph and speech for your school assembly, essay writing, speech competitions and other events in simple and easy language..

Nelson Mandela Essay and Speech in English for School: Nelson Mandela International Day falls on July 18th each year. It honours the legacy of Nelson Mandela's life. Designated by the UN, it encourages people to spend 67 minutes in community service, representing Mandela's 67 years of activism. For Nelson Mandela International Day 2023, Nelson Mandela Foundation envisions for the world to unite and act decisively against the consequences of climate change and food insecurity. International Mandela Day promotes humanitarianism, reconciliation, and awareness of social issues. It inspires individuals, organisations, and governments to address poverty, inequality, and discrimination. Through events, education, and reflection, the day fosters kindness, care about others and making peace. It inspires individuals, groups, and governments to fight poverty, inequality, and unfair treatment to make the world, just and fair, a better place for everyone. Mandela Day 2023 Theme is “It Is In Your Hands”.

In this article, we have brought for you easy short speeches and essays on Nelson Mandela. These speeches and essays on Nelson Mandela International Day can be used in your school assembly, in essay writing homework, speech competitions, extempore and even for general knowledge pop quiz revision, etc.

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• What is the importance of Mandela Day? + Mandela Day is an annual global celebration that takes place on July 18 each year to honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.
• What is a very short note on Nelson Mandela? + Born on July 18, 1918, in a small village in South Africa, Nelson Mandela dedicated his entire life to fighting against apartheid, a system of racial segregation that oppressed the majority of South Africans. Check this article to get unique short essay and speech on Nelson Mandela.
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• English Essay on Nelson Mandela

An Essay on Nelson Mandela is Available at Vedantu

The best analogy that can be given for Nelson Mandela to the Indian students is, Nelson Mandela was to Africa what Mahatma Gandhi was to India. Because Nelson Mandela did the same thing for Africa, As Mahatma Gandhi did for India. Nelson Mandela made the same sacrifices for Africa, as Mahatma Gandhi Made for India. Nelson Mandela believed in the same ideals and virtues as that of Mahatma Gandhi, which is to say Non-violence and truth, and for all his life he walked on the same path.

An Introduction

There was a time when facilities were divided among people on the basis of their skin colour. From the seat reservations in public transport to any other public facilities, everywhere, whites used to get better facilities whereas dark-skinned people, the blacks, got the worst services. White supremacy existed in every country under British colonialism. In some countries, racial discrimination was found on a larger scale whereas in others on a smaller scale. However, in South Africa, it became worse. 

Three-fourths of the total population were black people there. The country's economy used to run on the strength of their hard work, but all the good facilities were available to the whites. Although racial discrimination was there in South Africa for a long time, the National Party government made a rule in 1948 that blacks and whites would live in different places and the public facilities were divided according to their skin colours. Since good always triumphs over evil, the struggles of Nelson Mandela put an end to the rules of racial discrimination, after which everyone started getting equal facilities. It was not so easy. Nelson Mandela had to spend 28 years of his life in prison. Mandela was a man who followed Gandhi's path. He did this without taking up arms, without any bloodshed.

A Brief Background of Africa During the Time of Nelson Mandela.

Africa is not in any sense a stranger from the racial discrimination, exploitation, and horrors of British colonialism. Though many countries of Asia, such as India have faced all these problems, it, unfortunately, took a rather devastating form in Africa. The humans were divided by their skin colour, the fair one gets the reservations in all the public facilities and were considered high-class people, while the black was always looked down upon. Only because of their skin colour were they not the same as their fair counterparts. And these were the times in which Nelson Mandela was born.

A history of Nelson Mandela

It was the 18th of July 1918 when Rohlihala (Nelson) Mandela was born in the small village located on the banks of Mbashe River in South Africa, to mother Nosakeni and father Gadla henry. The name Rohilihala literally means ``Mischievous”, but his school teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the English name “Nelson'' because it was the custom during those times in Africa to give English names, and hence Rohilihala became “Nelson Mandela''. Nelson Mandela attended the Clark Barry Missionary school for his early schooling.

When Nelson Mandela was just 12 years old, an unfortunate thing happened in the form of the death of his father Gadla Henry. But Nelson Mandela’s family took so much care of him and never let the absence of the father affect the 12-year-old boy. Nelson Mandela was the only member of his family to attend the school, and hence his whole family supported him in all the aspects of his school.

He graduated from the Methodist Healdtown college, which was a college built especially for black people. This was the time when he had started his fight against injustice and inequality of racial discrimination. And here in this college, he met a man by the name of Olive Tambo, a relation with whom transformed into a lifelong friendship. Nelson Mandela always had full-fledged support of Oliver Tambo in his struggle against Apartheid, meaning apartness.

Apartheid was the policy in South Africa that governed the relations between the Whites, who were the minority, and the Black, who were the majority, in the latter half of the last century, that is to say, the 20th century. In the name of governance, all the Apartheid did was racial segregation and economic discrimination against the blacks. Nelson Mandela fought bravely against the Apartheid during his lifetime.

Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo, South Africa. His mother's name was Nosakeni and his father's name was Gadla Henry. Earlier, Nelson Mandela was named Rohlihala by his parents, which means mischievous, but his school teacher changed his name to Nelson. Nelson Mandela did his early studies at Clark Barry Missionary School. Nelson Mandela was just 12 years old when his father died, but his family never let the absence of his father affect his life. His family continued to help him in every way for higher studies since Nelson was the only member of the whole family who went to school. 

He graduated from Healdtown College. Healdtown was a college specially built for black people. In this college, Nelson Mandela met a friend and remained friends with him throughout his life and always supported him in his struggle against Apartheid. Right from the days of college, he started the fight against racial discrimination and started gathering people, due to which he was expelled from college. In 1944, he joined the African National Congress, in which he had started the movement against racial discrimination. In 1947, he was elected as a  secretary of that party. Later many people joined him and strived towards their goal but in 1961, a case of treason was filed against Mandela and he was imprisoned along with some of his friends. Though he was later found innocent and was released, yet, again on 5th August 1962, he was arrested on charges of inciting the workers to go on strike. On 12th July 1964, after trials for almost 2 years, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was sent to the most strictly guarded jail for imprisonment but even after that, his courage never diminished. He also started sharing his opinions with the black prisoners in jail. On the other hand, his party also tried its best to get him released but failed. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 28 years. Finally, in 1989, the government changed in South Africa and the liberal leader F. W. Clarke became the President of the country. Considering the struggle of Nelson and his party, he ordered the removal of all restrictions on black people and decided to release all the prisoners who were imprisoned without any serious charges.

A Quick Outline of Nelson Mandela’s Life from 1940 onwards.

1944 = joined the national congress of Africa.

1947 = elected as a secretary of the African national congress.

1961 = A case of treason was filed against him, and he was imprisoned along with his friends.

1962 = he was found innocent and was released from prison. But was again on 5th August of the same year on other charges.

1964 = sentenced to life imprisonment, and remained imprisoned for 28 years.

1989 = a government was changed, and Nelson Mandela was released, the following year.

1990 = Mandela was awarded a Bharat Ratna.

1993 = He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994 = Became the first president of the country

5 Dec 2013 = Passed away at the age of 95.

Nelson Mandela’s Struggles of Life

On February 1, 1990, Mandela was released from prison. In the Presidential election of South Africa that was held in 1994, black people could also participate. Mandela participated in this election and his party African National Congress formed the government with a majority. On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first President of his country and made all rights equal for the whites and the blacks. Nelson Mandela, much like Mahatma Gandhi, followed a non-violent path, he considered Mahatma Gandhi as his inspiration. 

Nelson Mandela was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the most prestigious award of India, in 1990. He was the second foreigner to be given this award after Mother Teresa, who was awarded in 1980. In 1993, Nelson Mandela was awarded the Nobel Prize for world peace, for the struggle against Apartheid throughout his life, and to empower the blacks in South Africa. On December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela passed away, at the age of 95. He says that “When a person considers the service of his country and people as his duty, he gets peace in doing that work. I think I have tried that and that is why I can sleep peacefully till the end.”

 Conclusion

Nelson Mandela, much like Mahatma Gandhi, advocated a nonviolent path, he considered Gandhi as his source of inspiration. For this reason, he is also called African Gandhi. Nelson Mandela has also been awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's biggest award in 1990.

FAQs on English Essay on Nelson Mandela

1. Who is Nelson Mandela?

Nelson Mandela raised his voice against racial discrimination in South Africa. He spent 28 years of his life in prison as a part of his struggle to put an end to racial discrimination in South Africa. After this, blacks and whites were entitled to equal rights, and they enjoyed equal public facilities.

2. Name Nelson Mandela’s Publication?

Some of Nelson Mandela’s publications are as follows.

No Easy Walk to Freedom

The Struggle is my Life

In His Own Words

I am Prepared to Die

Long Walk To Freedom

3. What Did Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi Have in Common?

Nelson Mandela, much like Mahatma Gandhi, advocated a nonviolent path, he considered Gandhi as his source of inspiration. He struggled for years against white supremacy without any armed movements and bloodshed.

4. What are the lessons that can be learned from the life of Nelson Mandela?

There are quite many lessons to be learned from the life of Nelson Mandela:

Keep Working: Nelson Mandela never stopped working towards his aim he always kept on working.

Remain Focused: From the very early stage of his life he was very clear about his aim and he remained focused on it for the rest of his life.

Work for others: Nelson Mandela always worked for others and hence he is immortalized in the memory of our memory. He gave all his life for the selfless work of his country.

5. Why should I use the essay provided by Vedantu, instead of writing my own?

It is always a very good idea to write essays by yourself, but it is also a good idea to have some guidance in doing the same. And hence the essay that Vedantu provides on the life of Nelson Mandela can serve the purpose of a guide to the students. Furthermore, the essay that Vedantu provides is designed from the perspective of the students and that too by the expert teachers. Therefore, it gives a good idea regarding how to approach such an essay elaborately.

6. What are the lessons that can be learned from the life of Nelson Mandela?

7. Why should I use the essay provided by Vedantu, instead of writing my own?

Nelson Mandela Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on nelson mandela.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the Transkei village close Umtata. Nelson Mandela was sent to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school with some reputation where he enrolled after getting a primary education at a local mission school. He then registered for the Bachelor of Arts degree at Fort Hare University College where he was appointed to the Representative Council of the Student. Also, he was suspended for joining a protest boycott from college. He went to Johannesburg where, by correspondence, he finished his BA, took clerkship papers and began studying for his LLB . The Nelson Mandela essay is an insight into the life and works of the great man.

The greatest pleasure of Nelson Mandela, his most private moment, is to watch the sunset playing with the music of Händel or Tchaikovsky.

During daylight hours locked up in his cell, deprived of music, he was denied these two simple pleasures for centuries. Concerts were organized with his fellow inmates as far as possible, especially at Christmas time, where they would sing.

Nelson Mandela finds music very uplifting and is interested in European classical music as well as African choral music and the many talents in South African music. But above all, one voice stands out – Paul Robeson’s, whom he defines as our hero.

The years in prison strengthened already engraved practices: athlete’s disciplined eating system started in the 1940s, as did the early morning practice. Nelson Mandela is still up by 4.30am today, regardless of how late he worked last night.

He started his exercise routine by 5 am, which lasts for at least an hour. Breakfast is at 6.30 when newspapers are read during the days. With a normal working day of at nearly 12 hours, time management is critical and Nelson Mandela is highly impatient with impunctuality, considering it to be insulting to those with whom you deal.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Life of Nelson Mandela

He has conducted comprehensive traveling since his release from prison when he spoke. Nelson Mandela claims: “The biography of Pandit Nehru helped me prepare for my discharge. Who wrote about what’s going on when you leave prison.

My daughter Zinzi claims she grew up without a dad who became the nation’s dad when he came back. This has put on my shoulders a huge burden.

And wherever I travel, I instantly start missing the familiar–the mine dumps, the uniquely South African color and smell, and especially the individuals. I don’t like being away for a long moment. There’s no place like home for me.

Mandela accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as a tribute to all those who worked for peace and opposed racism. This individual has been awarded as much as it has been to the ANC and all the individuals of South Africa.

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Short Essay on Nelson Mandela [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

Nelson Mandela was a political leader and a former president of South Africa. For his contribution to restoring peace and stability in the region, he is still remembered around the world. In today’s session, you will learn about the life of Nelson Mandela in order to write an essay on this eminent person for your upcoming exam.

Table of Contents

• Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 100 Words 
• Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 200 Words 
• Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 400 Words 

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 100 Words

Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest leaders and freedom fighters of South Africa. He was born on 18th July 1918. He studied law and became a successful lawyer. While practising law, he got involved in anti-apartheid, anti-colonial, nationalist movements and soon joined the African National Congress.

South Africa, at that time, was ruled by a white-only government and blacks were discriminated against in their own country. Mandela, along with other revolutionaries, fought against the oppressive rule. Because of their efforts, the white supremacist government was finally overthrown and Nelson Mandela became the first president of a multi-racial democratic South Africa in 1994. He was also the country’s first black president. He died on 5th December 2013, aged 95. He will always be remembered as an icon of democracy and social justice.

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 200 Words

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African revolutionary leader and freedom fighter who played an important role in ending apartheid in the country. He was born on 18th July 1918 in a village called Mzevo into the Thembu royal family. Although his family was illiterate, he was sent to study in a local school by his mother.

He later studied law and started working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. While he was still studying, he faced racism and saw the terrible political state of his country. Soon, he started getting involved in anti-apartheid, anti-colonial, nationalist movements and joined the African National Congress. 

South Africa, at that time, was ruled by a whites-only government, and blacks were discriminated against in their own country. Mandela, along with other revolutionaries, fought against the oppressive rule and was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. However, even after spending a total of 27 years in jail, Mandela did not give up and continued with his efforts to end apartheid in the country. 

Finally, after decades of struggle, South Africa rose as a multi-racial democratic country and Nelson Mandela became its first president in 1994. He was also the country’s first-ever black president. He was an advocate of human rights and brought peace and stability to his country. Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest leaders in the world and he will always be remembered as an icon of democracy and social justice. 

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 400 Words

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was one of the most important leaders in the history of South Africa as well as the world. He was born on 18th July 1918 in a village called Mzevo into the Thembu royal family. Although his family was illiterate, he was sent to study in a local school by his mother.

He later studied law and started working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. While he was still studying, he came face-to-face with racism and saw the terrible political state of his country. Soon, he started getting involved in anti-apartheid, anti-colonial, nationalist movements and joined the African National Congress. 

South Africa, at that time, was ruled by a whites-only government, and blacks were discriminated against in their own country. Mandela, along with other revolutionaries like Anton Lembede and Oliver Tambo, fought against the oppressive rule and was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned.

However, even after spending a total of 27 years in jail, Mandela did not give up and continued with his efforts to end apartheid in the country. He led defiance campaigns against the government as well as the mass stay-at-home strikes. He also joined hands with anti-apartheid leaders around the world and trained in guerilla warfare. 

Nelson Mandela and his fellow leaders worked hard to end apartheid and bring justice to the millions of black Africans who had been suffering under the white supremacist government. After decades of struggle for freedom and equality, South Africa rose as a multi-racial democratic country in 1994, with the first fully democratic elections held on 27th April 1994.

The African National Congress, under the leadership of Mandela, won the elections by a huge margin and Nelson was sworn as the first president of a democratic South Africa. He held office till 1999 and was focused on national unity and reconciliation. 

Nelson Mandela’s government worked a lot for the betterment of society, granting old-age pensions, free healthcare for young children and pregnant women, building houses, providing electricity and connectivity as well as making proper education available for kids. Even after retiring from the political scene, he continued to work towards rural development, school construction and combating HIV/AIDS. He died on 5th December 2013 after suffering from a respiratory infection. 

Nelson Mandela was an advocate of human rights and brought peace and stability to his country. He was one of the greatest leaders in the world and he will always be remembered as an icon of democracy and social justice. 

That’s all about my presentation on the life of Nelson Mandela. Hopefully, this session has become able to fulfil your requirement.  If you have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know through the comment section below. 

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