, the towering figure known to South Africans the world over by his clan name “Madiba” and the man who spent 27 years in prison before becoming the nation’s first democratically elected president, has died. He was 95 years old.
Born into a Xhosa family in the former Transkei region, Mandela was an international symbol of the fight to topple the apartheid regime as well as the most visible leader of South Africa’s liberation struggle.
One of the nation’s first black lawyers, Mandela set up shop in Johannesburg after fleeing an arranged marriage, a decision he later called one of the most important in his life. His partner in the law practice was
, later the ANC president and a mentor to the younger, charismatic Mandela.
While in Johannesburg, Mandela found himself gradually drawn into the world of politics. He wrote in his memoir
that he realized eventually that this would be his life’s path.
Mandela helped found the
African National Congress’ Youth League
, and later became the organization’s leader. The congress was founded on the philosophy of seeking nonviolent change, but Mandela reluctantly came to the conclusion that nonviolent resistance was futile in the face of a government that responded with lethal force at seminal events like the
.
Based on his assessment, Mandela and others founded
or Spear of the Nation. Known in those years as “
,” Mandela conducted a series of raids before being caught after about 18 months.
The
followed his capture.
It was there that Mandela f
, while dressed in traditional African garb, that he had fought, and was prepared to die, for the ideal of a free and democratic South Africa.
He and the other defendants were not sentenced to death, but rather to life in prison.
For Mandela this meant the beginning of what turned out to be a 27 year term, much of it spent on
. Mandela wrote and spoke about the importance of maintaining a strong posture in the face of Afrikaaner efforts at intimidation. Despite the physical and emotional deprivations he endured, he worked ceaselessly to improve conditions for his fellow prisoners, to be allowed to continue their education and to keep advancing the freedom struggle.
More than 20 years into his term, he made the daring and, to many, controversial decision to reach out via surrogates to the Botha government that had declared a state of emergency during a critical period in the freedom struggle.
Mandela not only knew that the math favored South Africans-you cannot kill us all,
apartheid leader and general Constand Viljoen -he had used his time in prison to study Afrikaans and to gain a better understanding of their mindset and motivations. He also had released much of the bitterness he had felt before his time in incarceration and emerged focused and committed to the necessity of reconciliation.
Journalist
the years of negotiations that ensued and that culminated not only in Mandela’s release in Feburary 1990 from Victor Verster Prison, but with his election in 1994.
During those years Mandela worked with
, the president who had released him, to keep the nation from plunging into civil war. This was no easy task, as deKlerk was not always a willing partner. During the
talks, for instance, deKlerk’s opening statement attacked the African National Congress.
a stinging response.
“Even the head of an illegitimate, discredited, minority regime as his, has certain moral standards to uphold,” Mandela said after walking slowly to the podium.
In addition, threats from the far right and
Mangasotho Buthelezi’s Inkatha Freedom Party
threatened to derail negotiations and the April 1994 election.
The nation was not to be denied.
In April 1994, black South Africans of all racial backgrounds voted, the vast majority for the first time. In a result that raised some eyebrows, the
of the votes-a margin that was enough to assure that it was the ruling party, but not sufficient for a veto-proof majority.
Although he could have easily been elected to a second term, Mandela decided that he would not do so because he wanted to help foster the country’s democratic traditions.
His five years as president were eventful ones.
South Africa won the
. In an act of bold political theater, Mandela prowled the sidelines wearing a green Springboks cap and a copy of captain Francois Pienaar’s jersey. By so doing, he claimed what had been one of the most visible symbols of apartheid oppression as an integral part of the
As those who have seen Clint Eastwood’s film
know, South Africa triumphed memorably over the heavily favored All Blacks of New Zealand, 15-12, on a risky overtime drop goal by flyhalf
.
Mandela’s presence was credited by All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick as contributing to the victory. “To see him walking into the stadium with Francois’ jersey on, and to hear 72,000 people start chanting Mandela, Mandela … then there’s 15 of us there looking, thinking ‘God, how are we ever going to beat these buggers!”
.
Indeed, in the early years of his presidency, Mandela’s locker room visits to South African sporting teams to administer a dash of
repeatedly resulted in unexpected Springbok victories.
His tenure also saw the proceedings carried out by the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
that was part of the negotiated settlement between the ANC and deKlerk’s National Party.
Headed by
, like Mandela a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the commission was the largest in human history. It gave thousands of apartheid survivors and perpetrators alike the opportunity to saw what had happened to them or what they had done. The benefit, according to its boosters, was in piercing the walls of denials and exposing how ghastly and horrific apartheid-era abuses had been. In some cases, as with notorious killer Eugene de Kok, perpetrators were able to meet with the families of their victims, ask for and receive forgiveness. The commission had many critics, and its philosophy of working to unite all members of the nation was quintessential Mandela.
He continued to work tirelessly on a series of causes after his retirement from public life in 2004. His projects ranged from releasing a book that had
documents from throughout his life
, taking up
and establishing a foundation that worked on
.
After he disease
, Mandela
and the need for the nation to openly discuss what had been a taboo subject. “Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because the only way to make it appear like a normal illness like TB, like cancer, is always to come out and say somebody has died because of HIV/AIDS, and people will stop regarding it as something extraordinary,” he said. It was one of a number of areas in which he demonstrated an ability to grow from his earlier positions.
Beyond all of his accomplishments and ceaseless service to the nation, Mandela was loved so deeply by South Africans both because of his pride in his African roots and because of his joyful humanity. He danced at his own inauguration and often wore colorful shirts rarely seen on other heads of state.
The stories of his exchanges with political opponents were also the stuff of legend.
,
, an opposition leader, responded to Mandela’s including his party as a “Mickey Mouse” party by saying that Mandela ran a “Goofy government.” When Mandela was visiting an ailing Helen Suzman in the hospital and found out that Leon was there also, he announced his presence to Leon by saying, “Mickey Mouse, this is Goofy.”
This ability to joke was part of the overwhelming humanity that helped make Mandela the world’s most trusted person, according to a 2011 poll.
It also has been part of why the nation has been on tenterhooks again and again as he has been hospitalized for a series on ailments.
On Thursday the end came.
Mandela leaves behind his wife
, his former wife
, daughters Makaziwe, Zindziswa and Zenani,
17 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren
. In addition to Makgatho, his first wife
and sons Makaziwe and Madiba preceded him in death.
He also leaves behind a legacy of an unstinting fight for justice, a grateful nation and a world that has been changed because of his noteworthy life.
