Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July
1918 – 5th December 2013 was a South Africa anti-apartheid
revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as president of South
Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South Africa to the office,
and the first elected in a fully representative election. His government
focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling
institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial
reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he
served as president from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was secretary
General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.
ON HUMANITY
For 67 years Nelson Mandela devoted
his life to the service of humanity-as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of
conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected
president of a free South Africa.
Mandela took Xum’s place on the ANC
National Executive in March 1950. That month, the Defend Free Speech Convention
was held in Johannesburg, bringing together African, Indian and communist
activists to call an anti-apartheid general strike. Mandela opposed the strike
because it was not ANC-led , but a majority of black workers too part,
resulting in increased police repression and the introduction of the Suppression
of Communism Act, 1950, affecting the
actions of all protest groups. In 1950, Mandela was elected national president
of the ANCYL; at the ANC national conference of December 1951, he continued
arguing against a racially united front, but was outvoted. Thenceforth, he
altered his entire perspective, embracing such an approach; influenced by
friends like Moses Kotane and by the Soviet Union’s support for wars of
independence, Mandela’s mistrust of communism also broke down. He became
influenced by the texis of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin
and Mao Zedong, and embraced dialectical materialism. In April 1952, Mandela
began work at the H.M Basner law firm, though his increasing commitment to work
and activism meant he spent less time with his family.
In 1952, the ANC began preparation
for a joint Defiance Campaign against apartheid with Indian and communist
groups, founding a National Voluntary Board to recruit volunteers. Deciding on
a path of nonviolent resistance influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, some considered
it the ethical option, but Mandela instead considered it pragmatic. At a Durban
rally on 22 June, Mandela addressed an assembled crowd of 10,000, initiating
the campaign protests, for which he was arrested and briefly interned in
Marshall Square prison. With further protests, the ANC’s membership grew from
20,000 to 10,000; the government responded with mass arrests, introducing the Public
Safety Act, 1953 to permit martial law. In May, authorities banned Transvaal
ANU president J.B. Marks from making public appearances; unable to maintain his
position, he recommended Mandela as his successor. Although the
ultra-Africanist Bafabegiya group opposed his candidacy, Mandela was elected
regional president in October. On 30 July 1952, Mandela was arrested under the
Suppression of Communism Act and stood trial as a part of the 21 accused –
among them Moroka, Sisulu and Dadoo – in Johannesburg. Found guilty of
“statutory communism”, years. In December, Mandela was given a six month ban
from attending meetings or talking to more than one individual at a time,
making his Transvaal ANU presidency impractical. The Defiance Campaign meanwhile
petered out. In September 1953, Andrew Kunene read out Mandela’s “No Easy Walk
to Freedom” speech at a Transvaal ANC meeting; the title was taken from a quote
by Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, a seminal influence on Mandela
thought. The speech laid out a contingency plan, or M-plan, involved dividing
the organization into a cell structure with a more centralized leadership.
Mandela
obtained work as an attorney for the firm Terblanche and Briggish, before
moving to the liberal-run Helman and Michel, passing qualification exams to
become a full-fledged attorney. In August 1953, Mandela and Oliver Tambo opened
their own law firm, Mandela and Tambo, operating in downtown Johannesburg. The
only African-run law firm in the country, it was popular with aggrieved blacks,
often dealing with cases of police brutality. Disliked by the authorities, the
firm was forced to relocate to a remote location after their office permit was
removed under the Group Areas Act; as a result, their custom dwindled. Though a
second daughter, Makaziwe Phumia, was born in May 1954, Mandela’s relationship
with Evelyn became strained, and she accused him of adultery. Evidence has
emerged indicating that he was having affairs with ANC member Lillian Ngoyi and
Secretary Ruth Mompati; persisten but unproven claims assert that the latter
bore Mandela a child. Disgusted by her son’s behaviour, Nosekeni returned to
Tanskei, while Evelyn embrace the Jehovah’s Witnesses and rejected Mandela’s
obsession with politics.
Mandela
came to the opinion that the ANC “had no alternative to armed and violent
resistance” after taking part in the unsuccessful protest to prevent the
demolition of the all-black Sophiatown suburb of Johannesburg in February 1995.
He advised Sisulu to request weaponry from the People’s Republic of China, but
while supporting the anti-apartheid struggle, China’s government believed the movement
insufficiently prepared for guerilla warfare. With the involvement of the South
African Indian Congress, the Coloured people’s congress of democrats, the ANC
planned a congress of the people, calling on all South Africa to send in
proposals for post-apartheid era. Based on the responses, a freedom Charter was
drafted by Rusty Bernstein, calling for the creation of a democratic,
non-racialist state with the nationalization of major industry. When the
chapter was adopted at June 1955 conference in Kliptown attended by 3000
delegates, police cracked down on the event, but it remained a key part of
Mandela’s ideology.
Following
the end of a second ban in September 1955, Mandela went on a working holiday to
Transkei to discuss the implications of the Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 with
local tribal leaders, also visiting his mother and Noengland before proceeding
to Cape Town. In March 1956 he received his third ban on public appearances,
restricting him to Johannesburg for five years, but he often defied it. His
marriage broke down as Evelyn left Mandela, taking their children to live with
her brother. Initiating divorce proceedings in May 1956, she claimed that
Mandela had physically abused her; he denied the allegations, and fought for
custody of their children. She withdrew her petition of separation in November,
but Mandela filed for divorce in January 1958; the divorce was finalized in
March, with the children placed in Evelyn’s care. During the divorce
proceedings, he began courting and politicizing a social worker, Winnie
Madikizela, who he married in Bizana on 14 June 1958. She later became involved
in ANC activities, spending several weeks imprisoned.
On
5 December 1956, Mandela was arrested alongside most of the ANC Executive for
“high treason” against the state. Held in Johannesburg prison amid mass
protests, they underwent a preparatory examination in Drill Hall on 19
December, before being granted bail. The defence’s refutation began on 9
January 1957, overseen by defence lawyer Vernon Berrange, and continued until
adjourning in September. In January 1958, Judge Oswald Pirow was appointed to
the case, and in February he ruled that there was “sufficient reason” for the
defendants successfully applying to have the three judges – all linked to the
governing National Party – replaced. In August, one charge was dropped, and in
October the prosecution withdrew its indictment, submitting a reformulated
version in November which argued that the ANC leadership committed high treason
by advocating violent revolution, a charge the defendants denied.
In April 1959, militant Africanists
dissatisfied with the ANC’s united front approach founded the Pan-African
Congress (PAC); Mandela’s friend Robert Sobukwe was elected president, though
Mandela thought the group “immature”. Both parties campaigned for an anti-pass
campaign in May 1960, in which Africans burned the passes that they were
legally obliged to carry. One of the PAC-organized demonstrations was fired
upon by police, resulting in the deaths of 69 protesters in the Sharpeville
massacre. In solidarity, Mandela publicly burned his pass as rioting broke out
across South Africa, leading the government to proclaim martial law. Under the
State of Emergency measures, Mandela and other activists were arrested on 30
March, imprisoned without charge in the unsanitary conditions of the Pretoria
Local prison, while the ANC and PAC were banned in April. This made it difficult
for the their lawyers to reach them, and it was agreed that the defence team
for the Treason Trial should withdraw in protest. Representing themselves in
court, the accused were freed from prison when the state of emergency was
lifted in late August. (94) Mandela used his free time to organize an All-in
African Conference near Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in March, at which 1,400
anti-apartheid delegates met, agreeing on a stay-at home protests to mark 31
May, the day South Africa became a republic. On 29 March 1961, after a six-year
trial, the judges produced a verdict of not guilty, embarrassing the
government.
Disguising
himself as a chauffeur, Mandela travelled the country incognito, organizing the
ANC’s new cell structure and a mass stay-at-home strike for 29 May. Referred to
as the “Black pimpernel” in the press – a reference to Emma Orczy’s 1950 novel
The Scarlet Pimpernel-the police put out a warrant for his arrest. Mandela held
secret meetings with reporters, and after the government failed to prevent the
strike, he warned them that many anti-apartheid activists would soon resort to
violence through groups like the PAC’s poqo. He believed that the ANC should
form an armed group to channel some of this violence, convincing both ANC
leader Albert Luthuli-who was morally opposed to violence-and allied activist
groups of its necessity.
Inspired by Fidel Castro’s 26th
of July Movement in the Cuban Revolution, in 1961 Mandela co-founded Umakhonto
we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”, abbreviated MK) with Sisulu and the communist
Joe Slovo. Becoming chairman of the militant group, he gained ideals from
illegal literature on guerilla warfare by Mao and Che Guevara. Officially
separate from the ANC, in later years MK became the group’s armed wing. Most
early Mk members were white communists; after hiding in communist Wolfie
Kodesh’s flat in Berea, Mandela moved to the communist-owned Lilies leaf Farm
in Rivonia, there joined by Raymond Mhlaba, Slovo and Bernstein, who put
together the Mk constitution. Although Mandela himself denied ever being a
communist Party member, historical research has suggested that he might have
been for a short period, starting from the late 1950s or early 1960s. Operating
through a cell structure, the Mk agreed to acts of sabotage to exert maximum
pressure on the government with minimum causalities, bombing military
installations, power plants, telephone lines and transport link at night, when
civilians were not present. Mandela noted that should these tactice fail, Mk would
resort to guerilla warfare and terrorism.” Soon after ANC leader Luthuli was
awarded the Nobel peace Prize, the Mk publicly announced its existence with 57
bombings on Dingane’s Day (16 December) 1961, followed by further attacks on
New Year’s Eve.
The ANC agreed to send Mandela as a
delegate to the February 1962 Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central
and Southern Africa (PAFMECSA) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Travelling
there in secret, Mandela met with Emperor Haile Selassie I, and gave his speech
after Selaisse’s at the conference. After the conference, he travelled to
Cairo, Egypt, admiring the political reforms of President Gamal Abdel Nasser,
and then went to Tunis, Tunisia, where President Habib Bourguiba gave him £5000
for weaponry. He proceeded to Morocco, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and
Senegal, receiving funds from Liberian President William Tubman and Guinean
President Ahmed Sekou Toure. Leaving Africa for London, England, he met
anti-apartheid activities, reporters and prominent leftist politicians.
Returning to Ethiopia, he began a six-month course in guerrilla warfare, but
complete only two months before being recalled to South Africa.
Police
shots of several people accused in the Rivonia Trial, along with some unindicted
co-conspirators. The portrait at the top is Nelson Mandela, the chief accused.
The Chaplinesque-looking man in the lower right-hand corner is Walter Sisulu.
On 5 August 1962, police captured
Mandela along with Cecil Williams near Howick. Jailed in Johannesburg’s
Marshall square prison, he was charged with inciting worker’s strikes and
leaving the country without permission. Representing himself with Slovo as
legal advisor, Mandela intended to use the trial to showcase “the ANC’s moral
opposition to racism” while supporters demonstrated outside the court. Moved to
Pretoria, where Winnie could visit him, in his cell he began correspondence
studies for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of London. His
hearing began on 15 October, but he disrupted proceedings by wearing a
traditional kaross, refusing to call any witnesses, and turning his plea of
mitigation into a political speech. Found guilty, he was sentenced to five
years’ imprisonment; as he left the courtroom, supporters sang Nkosi Sikelel
iAfrika.
“In
a way I had never quite comprehended before, I realized the role I could play
in court and the possibilities before me as defendant. I was the symbol of
justice in the court of the oppressor, the representative of the great ideals
of freedom, fairness and democracy in a society that dishonoured those virtues.
I realized then and there that I could carry on the fight even in the fortress
of the enemy”. Mandela, 1994.
On 11 July 1963, police raided
Liliesleaf Farm, arresting those they found there and uncovering paperwork
documenting MK’s activities, some at Pretoria Supreme Court on 9 October, with
Mandela and his comrades charged with four counts of sabotage and conspiracy to
violently overthrow the government. Their chief prosecutor was Percy Yutar, who
called for them to received the death penalty. Judge Quartus de Wet soon threw
out the prosecution’s case for insufficient evidence, but Yutar reformulated
the charges, presenting his new case from December until February 1964, calling
173 witnesses and bringing thousands of documents and photographs to the trail.
With
the exception of James Kantor, who was innocent of all charges, Mandela and the
accused admitted sabotage but denied that they had ever agreed to initiate
guerilla war against the government. They use the trial to highlight their
political cause; one of Mandela’s speeches – inspired by Castro’s “History will
absolve me” speech – was widely reported in the press despite official
censorship. The trail gained international attention, with global calls for the
release of the accused from such institutions as the United Nations and World
Peace Council. The University of London Union voted Mandela to its presidency,
and nightly vigils for him were held in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. However,
deeming them to be violent communist agitators, South Africa’s government
ignored all calls for clemency, and on 12 June 1964 de Wet found Mandela and
two of his co-accused guilty on all four charges, sentencing them to life imprisonment
rather than death.
Mandela and his co-accused were
transferred from Pretoria to the prison on Robben Island, remaining there for
the next 18 years. Isolated from non-political prisoners in Section B, Mandela
was imprisoned in a damp concrete cell measuring 8 feet (2.4m) 7 feet (2.1m),
with a straw mat on which to sleep. Verbally and physically harassed by several
white prison wardens; the Rivonia Trial prisoners spent their days breaking
rocks into gravel, until being reassigned in January 1995 to work in a lime
quarry. Mandela was initially forbidden to wear sunglasses, and the glare from
the lime permanently damaged his eyesight. At night, he worked on his LLB
degree, but newspapers were forbidden, and he was locked in solitary
confinement on several occasions for possessing smuggled news clippings.
Classified as the lowest grade of prisoner, Class D, he was permitted one visit
and one letter every six months, although all mail was heavily censored.
The
political prisoners took part in work and hungers strike – the latter
considered largely ineffective by Mandela - to improve prison conditions,
viewing this as a microcosm of the anti-apartheid struggle. ANC prisoners
elected him to their four-man “High Organ” along with Sisulu, Govan Mbekki and
Raymond Mhlaba, while he also involved himself in a group representing all
political prisoners on the island, Ulundi, through which he forged links with
PAC and Yu Chi Chan Club members. Initiating the “University of Robben Island,”
whereby prisoners lectured on their own areas of expertise, he debated topics
such as homosexuality and politics with his comrades, getting into fierce
arguments on the latter with Marxists like Mbeki and Harry Gwala. Though
attending Christian Sunday services, Mandela studies Islam. He also studies
Afrikaans, hoping to build a mutual respect with the warders and convert them
to his cause. Various official visitors met Mandela; most significant was the
liberal parliamentary representative Helen Suzman of the Progressive Party, who
championed Mandela’s cause outside prison.
In
September 1970 he met British Labour party MP Dennis Healey. South African
Minister of Justice Jimmy Kruger visited in December 1974, but he and Mandela
did not get on. His mother visited in 1968, dying shortly after, and his
firstborn son Thembi died a car accident the following year; Mandela was
forbidden from attending either funeral. His wife was rarely able to visit,
being regularly imprisoned for political activity, while his daughters first
visited in December 1975; Winnie got out of prison in 1977 but was forcibly
settled in Brandfort, still unable to visit him.
From
1967, prison conditions improved, with black prisoners given trousers rather
than shorts, games being permitted, and food quality improving. In a FIFA
documentary, Mandela commented on how football gave hope to his fellow inmates;
“the game made us fell alive and triumphant despite the situation we found
ourselves in”. In 1969, an escape plan for Mandela was developed by Gorden
Bruce, but it was abandoned after being infiltrated by an agent of the South
African Bureau of State Security (BOSS), who hoped to see Mandela shot during
the escape. 1970, Commander Piet Badehnorst became commanding officer. Mandela,
seeing an increase in the physical and mental abuse of prisoners, complained to
visiting judges, who had Badenhorst reassigned. He was replaced by Commander Willie
Willemse, who developed a co-operative relationship with Mandela had become a
Class A prisoner, allowing numbers of visits and letters; he corresponded with
anti-apartheid activist like Mangosuthu
Buthelezi and Desmond Tutu. That year, he began his autobiography, which
was smuggled to London, but remained unpublished at the time; prison
authorities discovered several pages, and his study privileges were stopped for
four years. Instead he devoted his spare time to gardening and reading until
her resumed his LLB degree studies in 1980.
By
the late 1960s, Mandela’s fame had been eclipsed by Steve Biko and the black
Consciousness Movement (BCM). Seeing the ANC as ineffectual, the BCM called for
militant action, but following the Soweto uprising of 1976, many BCM activists
were imprisoned on Robben Island. Mandela tried to build a relationship with
these young radicals, although he was critical of their racialism and contempt
for white anti-apartheid activists. Renewed international interest in his
plight came in July 1978, when he celebrated his 60th birthday. He
was awarded an honorary, doctorate in Lesotho, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for
International Understanding in Indian in 1979, and the Freedom of the City of Glasgow,
Scotland in 1981. In March 1980 the slogan “Free Mandela!” was developed by
journalist Percy Qobaza, sparking an international campaign that led the UN
Security Council to call for his release. Despite increasing foreign pressure,
the government refused, relying on powerful foreign Cold War allies in US President
Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Thatcher consider Mandela a
communist terrorist and supported the suppression of the ANC.
In
April 1992 Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai Cape Town along
with senior ANC leader Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mangeni Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond
Mhlaba; they believed that they were being isolated to remove their influence
on younger activists conditions at Pollsmoor were better than at Robben Island,
although Mandela missed the camaraderie and scenery of the Island. Getting on well
with Pollsmoor’s commanding officer, Brigadier Munro, Mandela was permitted to
create a roof garden, also reading voraciously and corresponding widely, now
permitted 52 letters a year. He was appointed patron of the multi-racial United
Democratic Front (UNF). Found to combat reforms implemented by South African
President P.W Botha. Botha’s National Party government had permitted Coloured
and Indian citizens to vote for their own parliaments which would have control
over education, health, and housing, but black African were excluded from the system:
like Mandela, the UDF saw this as an attempt to divide the anti-apartheid
movement on racial lines.
Violence
across the country escalated, with many fearing civil war. Under pressure from
an international lobby, multinational banks stopped investing in South Africa,
resulting in economic stagnation. Numerous banks and Thatcher asked Botha to
release Mandela – then at the height of his international fame – to defuse the
volatile situation. Although considering Mandela dangerous “arch-Marxist”, in
February 1985 Botha offered him a release from prison on condition that he
“unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon”. Mandela spurned that
offer, releasing a statement through his daughter Zindzi stating “What freedom
am I being offered while the organization of the people [ANC] remains banned?
Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”
In 1985 Mandela underwent surgery on
an enlarged prostate gland, before being given new solitary quarters on the
ground floor. He was met by “seven eminent person”, an international delegation
sent to negotiate a settlement, but Botha’s government refused to co-operate,
in June calling a state of emergency and initiating a police crackdown on
unrest. The anti-apartheid resistance fought back, with ANC committing 231
attacks in 1986 and 235 in 1987. Utilizing the army and right-wing
paramilitaries to combat the resistance, the government secretly funded Zulu nationalist
movement Inkatha to attack ANC members, furthering the violence. Mandela
requested talks with botha but was denied, instead secretly meeting with
Minister of Justice Kobie Coetsee in 1987, having a further 11 meetings over 3
years. Coetsee organized negotiations between Mandela and a team of four
government figures starting in May 1988; the team agreed to the release of
political prisoners and the legalization of the ANC would only end the armed
struggle when the government renounced violence.
Mandela’s
70th birthday in July 1988 attracted international attention,
notably with the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at
London’s Wembley Stadium. Although presented globally as a heroic figure, he
faced personal problems when ANC leaders informed him that Winnie had set
herself up as head of a criminal gang, the “Mandela United Football Club”, who
had been responsible for torturing and killing opponents – including children -
in Soweto. Though some encourage him to divorce her, he decided to remain loyal
until she was found guilty to trial.
The democratic process was
threatened by the Concerned South Africans Group (COSAG), an alliance of
far-right Afrikaner parties and black ethnic-secessionist groups like Inkatha;
in June 1993 the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) attacked
the Kempton Park World Trade Centre. Following the murder of ANC leader Chris
Hani, Mandela made a publicized speech to calm rioting, soon after appearing at
a mass funeral in Soweto for Tambo, who had died from a stroke. In July 1993,
both Mandela and de Klerk visited the US, independently meeting President Bill
Clinton and each receiving the Liberty Medal. Soon after, they were jointly
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. Influenced by young ANC figures, and
played down his support for nationalization, fearing that he would scare away
much needed foreign investment. Although criticized by socialist ANC members,
he was encouraged to embrace private enterprise by members of the Chinese and
Vietnamese Communist parties at the January 1992 World Economic Forum in
Switzerland. Mandela also made a cameo appearance as a schoolteacher reciting
on of Malcolm X’s speeches in the final scene of the 1992 film Malcolm X.
With the election set for 27 April
1994, the ANC began campaigning, opening 100 election offices and hiring advisor
Stanley Greenberg. Greenberg orchestrated the foundation of People’s Forums
across the country, at which Mandela could appear; though a poor public
speaker, he was a popular figure with great status among black South Africans.
The ANC campaigned on a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to build
a million houses in five years, introduce universal free education and extend
access to water and electricity. The party’s slogan was “a better life for all”,
although it was not explained how this development would be funded. With the
exception of the weekly mail and the new nation, South Africa’s press opposed
Mandela’s election, fearing continued ethnic strife, instead supporting the
National or Democratic Party. Mandela much time to fundraising for the ANC,
touring North America, Europe and Asia to meet wealthy donors, including former
supporters of the apartheid regime. He also urged a reduction in the voting age
from 18 to 14; rejected by the ANC, this policy became the subject of ridicule.
Concerned
that COSAG would undermine the election, particularly in the wake of the battle
of Bop and shell House Massacre – incidents of violence involving the AWB and
Inkatha, respectively – Mandela met with Afrikaner politicians and generals,
including P.W. Botha, Pik Botha and Constand Viljoen, persuading many to work
within the democratic system, and with de Klerk convince Inkatha’s Buthelezi to
enter the elections rather than launch a war of secession. As leaders of the
two major parties, de Klerk was Mandela appeared on a televised debate;
although de Klerk was widely consider it a victory of Mandela. The election
went ahead with little violence, although an AWB cell killed 20 with car bombs
Mandela voted at the Ohlange High school in Durban, and though he was elected
President, he publicly accepted that the election had been marred by instances
of fraud and sabotage. Having taken 62% of the national vote, the ANC was just
short of the two-thirds majority needed to unilaterally change the
constitution. The ANC was also victorious in 7 provinces, with Inkatha and the National Party each taking
another.
Presiding over the transition from
apartheid minority rule to a multicultural democracy, Mandela saw national
reconciliation as the primary task of his presidency. Having seen other
post-colonial African economies damaged by the departure of white elites,
Mandela worked to reassure South Africa’s white population that they were
protected and represented in “the Rainbow National Party officials became ministers
for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, and Minerals and Energy, and Buthelezi
was named Minister for Home Affairs. The other cabinet positions were taken by
ANC members, many of whom – like Joe Modise, Alfred Nzo, Joe Slovo, Mac Maharaj
relationship with de Klerk was strained; Mandela thought that de Klerk was
intentionally provocative, while de Klerk felt that he was being intentionally
humiliated by the president. In January 1950, Mandela heavily chastised him for
awarding amnesty to 3,500 police just before the election, and later criticized
him for defending former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan when the latter was
charged with murder.
Mandela
personally met with senior figures of the apartheid regime, including Hendrik
Verwoerd’s widow bêtise Schoombie and the lawyer Percy Yutar; emphasizing
personal forgiveness and reconciliation, he announced that “courageous people
do not fear forgiving, for the sake of pear.” He encouraged black South
Africans to get behind the previously hated national rugby team, the
Springboks, as South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After the
Springboks won an epic final over New Zealand, Mandela presented the trophy to
Captain Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner, wearing a springbok’s shirt with
Pienaar’s own number 6 on the back. This was widely seen as a major step in the
reconciliation of white and black South Africans; as de Klerk later put it”.
Mandela efforts at reconciliation assuaged the fears of whites, but also drew
criticism from more militant blacks. His estranged wife, Winnie, accused the
ANC of being more interested in appeasing whites than in helping blacks.
More controversially, Mandela
oversaw the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate
crimes committed under apartheid by both the government and the ANC, appointing
Desmond Tutu as it chair. To prevent the creation of martyrs, the Commission
granted individual amnesties in exchange for testimony of crimes committed
during the apartheid era. Dedicated in February 1996, it held two years of
hearings detailing rapes, torture, bombings, and assassinations, before issuing
its final report in October 1998. Both de Klerk and Mbeki appealed to have
parts of the report suppressed, though only the Klerk’s appeal was successful.
Mandela praised the Commission’s work, stating that it “held helped us move
away from the past to concentrate on the present and the future.