An Auction Of Nelson Mandela’s Possessions Is Suspended As South Africa Fights To Keep Them

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, center, wears a printed shirt in Johannesburg, on July 13, 2003 as part of his 85th birthday celebrations. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

BY MOGOMOTSI MAGOME

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The planned auction of dozens of artifacts belonging to Nelson Mandela has been suspended pending a court application to completely halt it, the body that protects South Africa’s cultural heritage said Tuesday.

The online auction had been scheduled by New York-based Guernsey’s auction house on Feb. 24, in conjunction with Dr Makaziwe Mandela, the eldest daughter of the anti-apartheid icon and South Africa’s first democratically elected president who died in 2013.

It had received widespread criticism from the public and the South African government, which is supporting a court application by the South African Heritage Resources Agency, or SAHRA, to appeal an earlier court judgment that gave the auction the go-ahead.

Items listed for the auction include Mandela’s iconic Ray-Ban sunglasses and “Madiba” shirts, personal letters he wrote from prison, as well as a blanket gifted to him by former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

A champagne cooler that was a present from former U.S. President Bill Clinton was also on the list, with bidding for it starting at $24,000. Also among the items is Mandela’s “book” — his identification document following his 1993 release from prison.

On its website, Guernsey’s described the planned auction as “nothing short of remarkable,” and said that proceeds would be used for the building of the Mandela Memorial Garden in Qunu, the village where he is buried.

A note on the auctioneers’ website on Tuesday indicated that the auction had been suspended without providing any further details.

SAHRA said in statement that the suspension is a result of its engagement with Dr. Mandela and the auction house.

“SAHRA welcomes the decision by Guernsey’s Auction House to suspend the auction,” the agency said.

The agency is awaiting the outcome of an application for leave to appeal the decision by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to let the auction go ahead, dismissing an interdict by the agency in December last year.

The agency argues that the items to be auctioned are the country’s cultural heritage artifacts and should be preserved for future generations instead of being sold to the highest bidder.

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Sri Lankans Can Learn From Mandela’s Visionary Thinking

Excerpts Of The Nelson Mandela
Memorial Lecture Delivered By
Premakumara de Silva,
Chair Professor Of Sociology, 

University Of Colombo

On 18 July 2023 at the Tharangani Hall, Sri Lanka Film Co-operation, Colombo. The lecture was organised by The Ministry of Higher Education and High Commission of South Africa, in Colombo.

As we all know, Mr. Nelson Mandela was an antiapartheid activist, politician and philanthropist who became South Africa’s first black President from 1994-1999. He was born in Cape Province, South Africa, on 18th July 1918, day like this. He died at age of 95 on 5th December 2013 in Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela was an extraordinary leader, who fought for the citizen’s rights and was the main influence in removing apartheid, which was practiced as the law of the land in South Africa since 1948. This law not only created a social gap between the Whites and the Blacks in the country but also fuelled the discrimination against the black population.

The policies during his leadership (1994-1999) were mainly aimed at improving the economy while reducing the social inequalities. One such policy is the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RPD). The purpose of this RPD is to overcome the social and economic problems faced by South Africans, such as violence, lack of jobs, of housing, equal access to adequate education, and healthcare. At the time of Apartheid, there was a division of cities where White people were placed in developing cities while Black people were placed in cities that were marginalized and neglected, even their housing was in the form of huts. So South Africa was a structurally unequal society where Black people were visibly marginalized and discriminated on the basis of colour of their skin.

Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC), in 1942, the organization that was aiming for the independence of the South African people from apartheid and bringing equal rights for all groups. Mandela was one of the important figures in this movement and played a major role. He has directed peaceful campaigns, challenging violence against the government of South Africa and its racial policies for over 20 years. Nelson Mandela presented several important strategies related to his struggle against apartheid through the ANC under pressure from the South African government at the time. He launched the M-Plan (Plan Mandela). He was also a member of the People’s Charter for Congress and Freedom. The Pan African Congress, PAC, was formed under Robert Sobukwe’s leadership in 1959. The ANC and PAC responded by setting up a military wing in 1961. Nelson Mandela was instrumental in creating the ANC group in what was a radical departure from the ANC policy.

On 30th July 1952, under the Law on the Eradication of Communism, Mandela was arrested and tried in Johannesburg as part of 21 defendants. Convicted of violating this law, their forced labour sentence of nine months was extended to two years. Mandela was banned for a period of six months in December from attending meetings or talking to more than one person. On July 11, 1963, he was arrested again with other leaders. In the trial, Nelson Mandela was charged with more than 200 charges of “sabotage, preparing for guerrilla warfare in SA, and preparing for SA’s armed invasion.” Mandela was one of five (out of 10 defendants) to be sentenced to a life sentence and was sent to Robben Island.

Strong protests against Mandela’s arrest were increasingly voiced to the government through the ANC’s continuing movements. The world also supported the liberation movement of Mandela, including the UN. The UN obviously set out to fight Apartheid on 1 January 1976. Resolution 554 (UN 2014) was also issued on 17 August 1984. At that time, various violent protests were directed at the government of South Africa. Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium was made on June 11, 1988. The concert, broadcast to 67 countries with over 600 million audiences, was one of the protests against Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment by the South African government.

Nelson Mandela was finally released from Victor Verster Prison on 11th February 1990. ANC and Nelson Mandela’s struggle was not in vain. South Africa finally succeeded in holding a democratic presidential election on October 3rd, 1994, without any racial differentiation of rights. Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as the first black President of the country on May 10th, 1994, at the age of 77, with Willem de Klerk being the first Deputy, was one of the ANC’s goals in carrying out resistance to Apartheid politics. Mandela worked to bring the transition from minority rule and most Black Apartheid rules, from 1994 to June 1999.

During the Mandela era, ANC’s strength was its ability to portray itself as a more racially inclusive alternative to South Africa’s racially segregated colonial and Apartheid ruling parties. Mandela did not respond to narrow African nationalism. His outlook for African nationalism was far more inclusive than those of many leaders in today’s Africa.

South African National Reconciliation

Let me say something about his national reconciliation project. As Sri Lankans we certainly can learn a lesson from his visionary thinking. On many occasions after being elected President, Mandela made more speeches about the beginning of the struggle to make improvements in various fields of life in South Africa based on democracy and respect for equal rights between Whites and Blacks, and other racial groups in South Africa. New challenges for South Africa can be described as “Crafting representative social institutions of deep-seated ethnic rivalries and economic inequalities.” Establishment of institutions representing various parties and obtaining public trust in societies divided by economic, ethnic and social rivalries that ran very deep was a very heavy homework for transitional government. It shows how complex the problems faced by the new South African regime. Mandela’s main concern after being elected President was to create a new pattern of relations that was more harmonious among various different races and ethnicities in South Africa. In the transition period 1990-1994, Mandela and de Klerk played an important role in preventing the occurrence of wider conflicts and violence. It was described that Mandela and de Klerk shared the same essential character of leadership, namely the willingness to change South African political legitimacy based on Proportional Representation, one thing that had never existed in previous South African political history. De Klerk and Mandela began the process of negotiation and power sharing which made the process of political transition in South Africa peaceful and a model that should be learned by other countries particularly by a country like ours.

Efforts to create a more harmonious and conducive relationship for the development of South Africa in the future began with reconciliation of various cases of State violence that occurred during South Africa still shackled in Apartheid politics. The term “reconciliation” itself became very popular in discussing conflict studies precisely because of what various parties and actors in South Africa had tried. The South African phenomenon seems to be a kind of textbook for the development of the concept of post conflict reconciliation because it is considered successful in developing methods to build more stable relationships between previously conflicting actors, more durable peace and strong legitimacy for post-conflict policies. But efforts to see the phenomenon of reconciliation in South Africa are not based solely on optimistic voices.

Concerns also emerged regarding efforts to eliminate Apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid as a systematic state policy based on the differentiation of treatment of the State based on race or skin colour may be easier to erase or replace, but as an ideology that has been practiced for years and based on patterns of racial relations that have been built for centuries, it was not an easy task. Apartheid is a complex problem. So those who tend to be pessimistic are not arguing about the problem of the possibility of the elimination of Apartheid but more of the continuous processes needed to carry out the overall elimination of the existence of Apartheid at the State level as a policy, or at the social level as values that shape individual behaviour in context of social interaction.

The initial stage of the South African reconciliation process began with the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This institution was formed after Mandela received and listened to proposals from various groups, especially civil society organizations in South Africa. Through the public selection process, commissioners were chosen to lead the institution. The commission was led by the South African archbishop, Rev. Desmond Tutu, a respected black Christian figure. TRC is based on several thoughts as follows:

A non-Racial Ideology of Reconciliation:

The view that South African reconciliation was based on efforts to abolish the racial identity created by Apartheid

An Inter-communal Ideology of Reconciliation:

Reconciliation is seen as an attempt to bridge community groups divided by Apartheid by creating a shared understanding of democratic values on both sides of the community or society.

A Religious and Human Rights Ideology of Reconciliation

: Reconciliation is a strengthening of religious and humanitarian values to apologize and use Apartheid’s past as an important lesson so that it does not happen again in the future.

These ideal rationale shows that the important orientation of the reconciliation effort to be carried out by TRC is emphasized on creating harmony for the lives of the people of South Africa to build in the future, not only focusing on the issue of disclosing violence and achieving justice for victims. The view of justice in the context of reconciliation will threaten the perpetrators of violence in the past in the present context. The view that they are guilty parties, solely, will actually hinder the participation of perpetrators of violence in the process of reconciliation, to those who are disadvantaged (Blacks) but also relates to those who benefit from the Apartheid system. This goal is far broader than just dealing with the problems of violence that occur, but also related to efforts to form new foundations for the people of South Africa.

Let me wind up my brief intervention here by saying something that relates to our country. Nelson Mandela is no more, but his legacy would hopefully inspire people, particularly the young, for some generations to come all over the world, including Sri Lanka. His book “A Long March to Freedom” must be a text book for every Sri Lankan. The story of his life, his determination to struggle for justice, his vision for a reconciled society or nation, and, most importantly, his exceptional human quality to see the others to be worthy of forgiveness are crucially important historical lessons for all communities in Sri Lanka in achieving a better future for their apprehension.

In a sense, South Africa’s conflict was much more complicated than Sri Lanka’s one. It was mainly a racial conflict between the indigenous ‘Blacks’ and the migrant ‘Whites,’ underpinned by vast economic and class differences. Racial prejudices are naturally much deeper and difficult to reconcile, although equally superficial. There are no racial differences between the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims. They all come, more or less, from the same ‘racial’ stock, if you want to claim so. The economic differences are much less, except in the case of the plantation Tamils.

This is not to undermine the feelings of discrimination by minorities in Sri Lanka often equated to ‘Apartheid,’ but to get a correct comparative picture of the two situations. Perhaps Sri Lanka is much more complicated at least in one major aspect with majority sanctions for discrimination, naturally difficult to unravel. Mandela said “people are undoubtedly at fault, but the systems are more at fault than the people. We all are victims of systems.” He appreciated Willem de Klerk’s goodwill, and if not for that goodwill or pragmatism he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he expected. Mandela realized that freedom in South Africa could have been long delayed perhaps even after his death. Mandela had a deep sense of justice not as ‘revenge’ but as ‘correcting the wrong’ and ‘empowering the victims’ through truth and appropriate compensation.

The South African transition or reconciliation was primarily an internal process and as a result it was healthy and sustainable. This is the primary lesson that Sri Lanka should learn. It was a learning process to the people to do away with prejudices, animosity and hatred. There are five summary lessons that perhaps Sri Lanka should try to emulate.

After a transition, and in this case, the end of the war in Sri Lanka, reconciliation should take priority. Economy is undoubtedly a supportive factor for reconciliation but not a primary mover.

Reconciliation is foremost a political matter for the leaders to resolve and for the people to support. It is best that the leaders of all sides should take the lead without waiting for another disaster of the kind. The primary responsibility, however, being on the part of the leaders of the majority community, as Nelson Mandela himself embodied.

Talk directly, as Nelson Mandela did with Willem de Klerk without neglecting all the stakeholders or their leaders. Justice is primary. Justice, however, does not mean revenge, but correcting the wrongs and empowering all the victims through truth and appropriate compensation.

Never resort to violence or intimidation, never again. This is the primary lesson of Mr. Nelson Mandela.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Nelson Mandela’s Legacy: Striving For A Liberated Society

MAIL&GUARDIAN

SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 15: Nelson Mandela at home in Soweto, South Africa on February 15, 1990. (Photo by Pool BOUVET/DE KEERLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

BY SUMAYA HENDRICKS

As we mark a decade since Madiba’s death, South Africa is riddled with what feels like intractable challenges.

This can be overwhelming and confusing, leading to uncertainty regarding the actions different societal actors should take – particularly civil society. Against this backdrop, the Nelson Mandela Foundation hosted a dialogue titled “What does this moment call for?” in recognition that, like many other people and organisations, we were asking ourselves this question.

The dialogue, which was held on 28 March, commenced with opening remarks by former president Kgalema Motlanthe.

The panel discussion that followed featured notable voices, including Wits University’s Professor Tshepo Madlingozi, Nontando Ngamlana, an experienced NGO leader, along with political commentator Aubrey Matshiqi and academic Sithembile Mbete.

When asked about the changes that panellists believed should be realised, Madlingozi called on us to interrogate our motivations. More specifically, why did we want to “save” democratic South Africa and for whom, when injustice prevails for the majority. Is the project of saving South Africa merely for the benefit of middle-class South Africans, to protect our privilege?

To take seriously the questions he posed requires personal reflection and here drawing on another language is useful. In Arabic, “adl” and “qist” are often translated as “justice” but these two words carry nuances absent in English.

The former can be used to describe justice in relation to the self, while the latter in relation to society. Through this lens, there is a differentiation between inward and outward justice. In short, outward manifestations of justice do not equate to a person being inwardly just, as their intention could arise from other imperatives, such as political expediency.

For instance, if we are truly just, we should be prepared to “share” even in the absence of a legal mandate to do so. Put differently, and in response to the challenge posed by Madlingozi, we must reflect on whether our change-making is an outward manifestation of our desire for societal justice or a tactic to preserve our privilege.

While we must address day-to-day issues, including potholes and electricity outages, this must not be to the expense of deep-rooted, systemic issues such as racism and economic inequality. Matshiqi’s characterisation of our society as “anti-black, anti-poor and anti-women” is insightful, as the antithesis of this would represent a liberated society and should be the primary focus of our endeavours.

A liberated society, as the ultimate objective, involves transcending emancipation as the final goal. While emancipation is about the formal process of removing legal constraints and the granting of rights to people who previously did not have them, liberation is something more. It is about freeing people from oppression and domination. It acknowledges the need for repairing and restoring through the mediums of redress and redistribution. This distinction can be articulated in different ways.

For instance, Thomas Piketty at the 2015 Nelson Mandela Annual lecture asserted that “equality in formal rights is not sufficient to reach real equality”. He gave the example of someone having the right to live anywhere but who lacked the financial means to realise this right. Motlanthe, in his opening remarks, also emphasised that despite possessing rights, many people are unable to access them under the current system. He portrayed democracy as a destination we must journey towards and that we needed to fight for the kind of democracy we desire.

This is not to dismiss the emancipation that was achieved in 1994 which was necessary, as highlighted by Ngamlana. However, we failed to enter that era with the understanding that a collective vision of transformation still needed to be developed and pursued. As she noted, we made numerous false assumptions and believed that someone with our best interests at heart would create and maintain that vision for us, which has not been the case.

If we are to understand the 1994 moment as being that which facilitated emancipation as opposed to liberation, this helps to set an agenda for change. Moreover, it means recognising that individual emancipation does not necessarily translate and aggregate into a liberated society.

This necessitates a different set of questions, which puts our collective condition at the heart of any change-making. This is because liberation is more about the collective in contrast to emancipation which is more individually focused. Regarding the collective, in line with Mbete’s remarks made during the panel discussion, the “pie” is only so big which therefore necessitates sharing. In apartheid, white people thrived at the expense of everyone else and, as such, if we want to all thrive now, this requires a greater degree of sharing.

Implementing an agenda for change demands orchestration. It often seems as if we expect the efforts of people and organisations in various spaces to organically culminate in the desired change, rather than intentionally orchestrating it. With that said, working together also does not guarantee effectiveness if the approach is wanting. Consequently, we must reflect on whether our existing organisational structures are sufficient to reach our intended destination. Repurposing existing organisations and creating new ones might be necessary.

Taking the question of “what this moment calls for” requires pushing ourselves to envision and work towards a liberated society where individual well-being is measured by collective prosperity. Madiba knew that his hopes and dreams might not be realised in his lifetime; this lament need not be ours. A liberated society is within our reach if we are prepared to engage in critical conversations and commit to the hard work of bringing it to fruition.

Mandela's Release 30 Years Ago Birthed A New South Africa

Wreaths are laid at a statue of former President Nelson Mandela at the entrance to the Victor Verster prison in Paarl, South Africa, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. Thirty years ago, Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years of imprisonment at Victor Verster prison by South Africa's apartheid regime and instantly galvanized the country, and the world, to dismantle the brutal system of racial oppression. (AP Photo/Nasief Manie)

BY ANDREW MELDRUM, NQOBILE NTSHANGASE

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (AP) — Thirty years ago, Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years of imprisonment by South Africa’s apartheid regime and instantly galvanized the country, and the world, to dismantle the brutal system of racial oppression.

Raising a clenched-fist salute and striding purposefully from the gates of Victor Verster prison, Mandela, then 71, made it clear he was committed to ending apartheid and establishing majority rule and rights for all in South Africa.

His release gave many South Africans their first view of Mandela because during his imprisonment the regime banned the publication of images of him and his speeches. And then, suddenly, he was on national television, urging massive changes.

“Comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all,” Mandela said hours after his release, speaking to throngs of supporters at Cape Town’s City Hall.

On Tuesday, current President Cyril Ramaphosa, who held the microphone during Mandela’s address, dramatically returned to the City Hall to address the nation, saying Mandela’s stirring address was a “speech that birthed a nation.”

Just over four years after his release, Mandela was elected president in the country’s first all-race elections, leading South Africa out of decades of violently imposed discrimination. Under his leadership, South Africa drafted and passed a constitution widely praised for upholding the rights of all, becoming one of the first to explicitly endorse gay rights.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission took South Africa on a compelling, painful path to air the injustices perpetrated during the more than 40 years of apartheid rule.

Mandela, and then South African President F.W. de Klerk, who freed him, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 “for their work to peacefully end apartheid and for laying the foundation for a new democratic South Africa.”

Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu, himself a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, marked the 30th anniversary of Mandela’s release.

“Nelson Mandela emerged from prison to dazzle South Africa and the world with his warmth and human values,” wrote Tutu and his wife, Leah, in a short statement. “Circumstances and priorities change over time, but good values don’t go out of fashion. We miss him. Love and blessings.”

Magnanimous, charismatic and inclusive during his one term as president which ended in 1999, Mandela led South Africa to a new era of democracy. In retirement he remained active in encouraging rights for all.

Today’s South Africa is dogged by serious problems of inequality, poverty and violence, largely a result of the stubborn legacy of apartheid. Some South Africans have criticized Mandela for making too many compromises, especially to the white minority, which continues to enjoy prosperity.

Standing beside a statue of Mandela at Cape Town City Hall Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the country still struggles with racial divisions and inequality and strives to live up to Mandela’s legacy.

“Millions of our people continue to live in poverty ... the divide between haves and have-nots continues to widen,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa said Mandela’s release “was a defining moment in our onward march toward democracy” in a statement to mark the anniversary.

But “inequality, especially as defined by race and gender, remains among the highest in the world. Unemployment is deepening and poverty is widespread. Violence, including the violence that men perpetrate against women, continues to ravage our communities,” Ramaphosa said.

He urged all South Africans to take inspiration from Mandela’s legacy to work together to help solve these problems.

Former president de Klerk also emphasized the challenges that South Africa faces, including “inadequate education, health and municipal services,” and “unacceptable levels of inequality, poverty and unemployment.”

The last president of apartheid said that “South Africa in 2020 is emphatically on the wrong road: it is headed not toward a ‘New Dawn’ but toward very dark and threatening storm clouds.” He urged South Africa to follow Mandela’s example and ”return to the road of freedom, toleration and non-racialism.”

___

Meldrum reported from Johannesburg.

AP Was There: Nelson Mandela Released From Jail 30 Years A

In this Feb. 11, 1990 file photo, Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, gesture as Mandela walks free from the Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, Cape Town, South Africa after serving 27 years in prison. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 marks the 30 year anniversary of the release of the former South African president. (AP Photo/Greg English, File)

BY GREG MYRE

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — EDITOR’S NOTE: To mark the 30th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, a key event in ending South Africa’s brutal apartheid system of racial oppression, AP is republishing its coverage of Feb. 11, 1990.

Nelson Mandela walked through a prison gate to freedom Sunday, setting set off joyous celebrations and violent clashes as blacks nationwide welcomed their leader back from 27 years in jail.

“Comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all,” Mandela told tens of thousands of cheering supporters who thronged outside City Hall at twilight, many getting their first look at the African National Congress leader.

In this Feb. 13, 1990 file photo, Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, gesture as they arrive at Soccer City Stadium in Soweto, South Africa two days after after being released after serving 27 years in prison. Mandela's release set off joyous celebrations and violent clashes as supporters welcomed Mandela back from years in jail. (AP Photo/Udo Weitz, File)

But he emphatically reaffirmed his commitment to the ANC’s guerrilla campaign and called for increased pressure to end white-minority domination - the same cause that resulted in his life sentence on charges of plotting against the government. He also reiterated that talks with the government cannot begin until it lifts the state of emergency.

“I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you the people,” said the white-haired Mandela, who looked much more an elder statesman in his suit and tie than a guerrilla leader.

“Today, the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our decisive mass action,” he said in a rousing half-hour speech frequently interrupted by roars of “Viva!”

“We have waited too long for our freedom.”

Violence broke out about the same time Mandela’s motorcade arrived in Cape Town from Victor Verster prison and delayed his speech. Police said a black looter was shot to death by officers, and first aid workers said more than 100 people were injured when riot police fired shotguns after groups of black youths smashed shop windows in the city center.

Some youths retaliated by hurling bottles at the officers. Hundreds of terrified people waiting to hear Mandela ran for cover as police fired blasts of shotgun pellets.

Clashes between police and celebrating blacks were reported in at least two other areas, including the tribal homeland of Ciskei, where hospital officials said police shot three people to death and wounded 20.

In Natal Province, where ANC supporters have been feuding with a more conservative black group, police said 12 blacks were killed in factional fighting Sunday. It was a harsh reminder of the bitter feuds involving black factions who disagree on the best way to fight for equality.

Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of blacks danced and jogged through the streets of big cities and impoverished townships, rejoicing at Mandela’s freedom.

“Very good news, very good news,” President Bush said after Mandela’s release. Bush said he telephoned Mandela, told him all Americans “were rejoicing at his release” and invited him to the White House.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking at a church service outside Cape Town shortly before Mandela was released, commended the South African government for making a “courageous step” but said “the pillars of apartheid remain in place.”

A thunderous cheer went up as the man who was the world’s most famous prisoner walked hand-in-hand with his wife, Winnie, through the gate of Victor Verster prison in Paarl, 35 miles from Cape Town.

Under a brilliant blue sky, the Mandelas gave clenched-fist salutes to the hundreds of supporters who had waited for hours outside, many of them waving green, gold and black ANC flags and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a youthful image of Mandela.

Mandela appeared solemn and dignified as he and Winnie walked to a white BMW sedan and climbed in. He broke into a broad smile as the car set off slowly in a police-escorted motorcade.

The decision to free Mandela, after a prolonged international campaign on his behalf, was announced Saturday by President F.W. de Klerk. Eight days earlier, de Klerk stunned the nation by lifting a 30-year ban on the ANC and announcing other reforms aimed at clearing the way for black-white negotiations.

De Klerk, who spoke at length Saturday on Mandela’s release, stayed out of the public eye Sunday. Anton Pretorius, a de Klerk spokesman, said the president planned to comment on Mandela’s release later in the week.

Government television, however, broadcast live Mandela’s exit from prison and later showed most of the ANC leader’s speech.

His elderly appearance probably shocked many South Africans, the majority of whom were born after Mandela was last seen publicly in 1964.

Mandela has clearly lost weight since the 1960s; both his face and his body are leaner than when he was a sturdily built boxer decades ago. At 71, his face is creased with two thick lines that frame his strong, confident smile.

Mandela in his speech called de Klerk “a man of integrity” who had gone further than any previous National Party leader in accommodating black political aspirations.

But he said further steps - including the lifting of the state of emergency and release of all political prisoners - must be taken before talks can begin. The ANC shares these demands.

Mandela was the last well-known political prisoner in South Africa. Six of his ANC colleagues who had been imprisoned for more than 25 years, including Walter Sisulu, were released in October.

In the mid-1980s, Mandela rejected offers to go free in exchange for a renunciation of violence. De Klerk abandoned this condition, although he said after meeting Mandela on Friday night that he believed the black leader was “committed to peaceful solutions.”

Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, one of the South African government’s harshest critics, urged the ANC to suspend guerrilla actions in the wake of Mandela’s release.

But Mandela told the Cape Town crowd the ANC resorted to violence in 1961 as a “defensive action against the violence of apartheid,” and added, “The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today.”

“We have no options but to continue,” he said.

He urged whites to “join us in the safety of a new South Africa. The freedom movement is a political home for you, too.”

Mandela, whose imprisonment included years of hard labor on windswept Robben Island in Cape Town’s harbor, told his family: “Your pain and suffering was far greater than my own.”

This story from 1990 was written by Greg Myre, who at that time was an AP correspondent in South Africa.

Mandela: A life of Soaring Symbolism, Now Harnessed By UN

In this July 22, 2007, file photo, Nelson Mandela gestures during the 5th annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at the Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg, South Africa. The United Nations is seeking to harness the soaring symbolism of Mandela, whose South African journey from anti-apartheid leader to prisoner to president to global statesman is one of the 20th century’s great stories of struggle, sacrifice and reconciliation. The unveiling of a statue of Mandela, born 100 years ago, with arms outstretched at the U.N. building in New York on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, opens a peace summit at the General Assembly. (AP Photo, File)

In this July 22, 2007 file photo, Nelson Mandela and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan arrive together at the 5th annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at the Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg, South Africa. The United Nations is seeking to harness the soaring symbolism of Mandela, whose South African journey from anti-apartheid leader to prisoner to president to global statesman is one of the 20th century’s great stories of struggle, sacrifice and reconciliation. The unveiling of a statue of Mandela, born 100 years ago, with arms outstretched at the U.N. building in New York on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, opens a peace summit at the General Assembly. (AP Photo, File)



BY CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela’s South African journey from anti-apartheid leader to prisoner to president to global statesman — the “Long Walk to Freedom” of his autobiography title — is one of the 20th century’s great stories of struggle, sacrifice and reconciliation. Now the United Nations is seeking to harness its soaring symbolism.

The unveiling of a statue of Mandela, born 100 years ago, with arms outstretched at the U.N. building in New York on Monday opens a peace summit at the General Assembly, where world leaders will once again address the planet’s pressing problems: war, poverty, disease, migration and climate change. They’ll do so amid a massive security operation in a city where Mandela was welcomed by exultant crowds in 1990, a few months after he walked out of a South African jail, ending 27 years of imprisonment under the country’s white minority government.

“South Africa will be free,” Mandela said during that visit, and indeed, he became the country’s first black president in its first multi-racial elections four years later. His death in 2013 at age 95 brought a global outpouring of grief and tributes.

But there is something of a distinction between the main global perception of Mandela — the moral colossus whose resolve and generosity of spirit, tactical as well as genuine, inspired people in Colombia, Northern Ireland and other places struggling with seemingly intractable conflicts — and a growing body of opinion at home that he and his party were too quick to accommodate South Africa’s white minority, which lost political control but still dominates industry in one of the world’s most economically unequal societies.

Despite South Africa’s sense of unfinished business, it is a country enormously proud of the tall, charismatic orator with a broad smile and ironclad principles whose image and words were banned by his former captors, rendering him virtually invisible to the outside for decades. Mandela’s universality means that he also belongs to the world, which has wrestled with a fresh set of economic and political ruptures of late.

In July, former U.S. president Barack Obama traveled to Johannesburg and spoke about how Mandela, by offering the possibility of “moral transformation,” means as much to the globe as he does to South Africa.

“At the outset, his struggle was particular to this place, to his homeland — a fight to end apartheid, a fight to ensure lasting political and social and economic equality for its disenfranchised non-white citizens,” Obama said. “But through his sacrifice and unwavering leadership and, perhaps most of all, through his moral example, Mandela and the movement he led would come to signify something larger.”

The United Nations is declaring 2019-2028 as the “Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace,” and a declaration being adopted at Monday’s peace summit identifies the personal qualities that made him a transcendent humanitarian — “humility, forgiveness and compassion” — and connects them with U.N. goals, including disarmament, human rights and poverty alleviation.

It also warns of “challenges to the primacy of multilateralism,” a catch-all term that could refer to trade disputes between the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and other countries, or the European Union’s Brexit challenge, or other pressures testing the idea of shared values on which the U.N. was founded after World War II.

The declaration’s signatories recognize “that the world has changed significantly since the founding of the United Nations, and acknowledge that global peace eludes us to this day,” it says. But the tone is hopeful — “we must make the impossible possible” — and the document singles out South Africa for praise, remembering the country’s dismantling of its nuclear weapons program toward the end of apartheid and Mandela’s appeal for the “total elimination of nuclear weapons.”

Mandela’s plea is no closer to reality, and other elements of his legacy are under threat. In 2016, South Africa said it was withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, though a South African court later ruled against the move to pull out of the Hague-based tribunal, which was launched in 2002 and pursues perpetrators of the world’s atrocities. Mandela had been a strong advocate for the court’s creation.

The shine has come off the “rainbow nation” that was internationally admired in its early post-apartheid years during Mandela’s presidency. South Africa struggles with fallout from allegedly massive corruption under former president Jacob Zuma, and a contentious debate about land reform reflects the frustrations of many in the black majority who think their country has let them down since they got the right to vote.

Still, it has one of the biggest economies in Africa, as well as a relatively robust judicial system and civil society.

“For all our shortcomings and simmering tensions, our country was truly inspirational, and it still is. In recent years it had become harder to sell the South African miracle, as our detractors would point to rampant corruption, cronyism, and the masses who are yet to share in the dividends of peace,” Shannon Ebrahim, foreign editor for the Independent Media Group in South Africa, wrote in a column.

The U.N.’s honoring of Mandela, Ebrahim said, again gives South Africans a chance to inspire the world.

Monday is also a public holiday in South Africa, Heritage Day, introduced when Mandela was president to celebrate the country’s cultural diversity.

According to accounts, Mandela wanted to be seen as a normal human being with both flaws and virtues, and not as an icon or legend. In 2007, he spoke at the dedication of a statue in his likeness opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, and his talk about the symbolism, not the man, seems equally apt for the new statue at the United Nations.

“We trust that the statue will be a reminder of heroes and heroines past,” Mandela said, “as well as an inspiration for continuing struggles against injustice.”

Christopher Torchia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/torchiachris

South Africa Celebrates Mandela, 20 Years Of Democracy

South African President Jacob Zuma, second left, talks with Mandla Mandela, left, after they and other dignitaries unveiled a bust of former South African President Nelson Mandela, right, at the South African Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, April 28, 2014. South African President Jacob Zuma and members of the South African Parliament unveiled the bust of Mandela at Parliament, forming part of celebrations for 20-years anniversary of a democratic Parliament in South Africa after the end of white rule.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (AP) — South Africa's president urged voters to head to the polls next week in the spirit of "democracy and freedom" as he unveiled a large bronze bust of the country's most famous anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in front of Parliament on Monday.

"May the spirit of Madiba also inspire all South Africans as they vote yet again on the 7th of May," President Jacob Zuma said in Cape Town, referring to Mandela by his clan name and revealing a bronze sculpture on a granite plinth standing more than 2 meters (yards) high.

South Africans are celebrating 20 years of democracy. Mandela's election in 1994 ended decades of white-racist rule and his example of forgiveness after 27 years in prison inspired millions around the world. Mandela died in December at the age of 95.

"The unveiling of this bust confirms that our Parliament, which was once a symbol of white domination, has now been transformed into a progressive institution that upholds the values of unity, equality, freedom and the dignity of all South Africans," Zuma said.

Zuma's comments came as a parliamentary committee investigating allegations of misspending by the president suspended its work so it can be tackled by the next parliament. The May 7 election is likely to see the ruling African National Congress return to power with a smaller majority than in past elections, reflecting discontent with the movement that led the fight against apartheid.

South Africa boasts a widely admired constitution and an active civil society and the government has delivered housing, water and electricity to millions since 1994, but a wide gap between rich and poor overshadows the many achievements of the "rainbow nation."

South Africa struggles with high unemployment, one of the world's highest rates of violent crime and labor unrest. Zuma has also been criticized because more than $20 million in state funds were spent to upgrade his private rural home.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela presented a 450-page report in March that concluded the president had inappropriately benefited from state funding and should pay back some money. A special committee set up to consider the president's response to the report on Monday voted to suspend its activities citing a lack of time to complete the work, the ANC said. The move means the new parliament will decide whether or not to reconstitute the committee.

The opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has called the suspension an attempt to protect the president. The African National Congress tried to reassure the public that a new parliament wouldn't drop the matter.

"The ANC takes seriously the magnitude of the matter before the ad hoc committee and the necessity for this institution to do a decent job on it. It is for this reason that we will ensure that the next Parliament attends to this matter," it said in a statement Monday.

Simmering unrest about wages in South Africa's mining region saw a home, community hall and municipal center set alight Sunday, before an estimated 4,000 people looted an entire shopping center nearby.

The looted complex was next to Impala Platinum's Number 9 shaft in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, said police spokesman Brig. Thulani Ngubane. He said it was unclear who was responsible for the looting, but it comes as members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union are in a third month of strikes over pay.

Ngubane said a male was arrested in connection with the arson.

Document: Israeli Mossad Trained Mandela

This May 20, 1964 document posted on the website of the Israel State Archives on Monday, Dec. 23, 2013 urges South Africa to release Nelson Mandela and other co-defendants. It is signed by Martin Buber, a prominent Jewish philosopher, and Haim Hazaz, an Israeli author. The letter is among a series of documents published in the wake of Mandela’s death that appear to be aimed at blunting criticism of Israel's close alliance with South Africa's apartheid rulers.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL(ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Israel's state archives has published a 50-year-old letter from the Mossad spy agency claiming it unknowingly offered paramilitary training to a young Nelson Mandela, along with documents illustrating the Jewish state's sympathy for the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1960s.

The release of the documents on the archives' website in the wake of Mandela's death appear to be aimed at blunting criticism of the close alliance Israel later developed with South Africa's apartheid rulers.

Israeli relations with post-apartheid South Africa remain cool. The South African government is a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, and the Palestinians frequently compare their campaign for independence to the black struggle that ended apartheid.

Early this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was conspicuously absent from the dozens of world leaders, including President Barack Obama, who attended Mandela's funeral. In a decision that was widely criticized, the globe-trotting Netanyahu cited the high cost of chartering a plane and bringing a large security detail.

The newly published Israeli documents from the 1960s, released days after Mandela's death on Dec. 5, highlight Israeli officials' voices against apartheid and their attempts to rally international pressure on the South African government to stop the 1964 Rivonia Trial, in which Mandela would be sentenced to life in prison.

But perhaps most startling is the memo, first revealed by the Haaretz daily over the weekend, claiming Mandela received paramilitary training from Israeli handlers in Ethiopia in mid-1962 — without them realizing who he was.

In the 1960s, Israel actively courted Africa's post-colonial leaders in a search for allies. It sent scientists and other experts across the continent — and the memo suggests that it was running a military training program for fighters, though it is unclear the scope of the program. After the 1973 Mideast war, when under Arab pressure dozens of African countries broke diplomatic ties with Israel, the Jewish state formed close military ties with South Africa's apartheid government.

The Oct. 11, 1962 memo, labeled "Top Secret," suggests the Israeli trainers thought the man they later discovered was Mandela was from Rhodesia — now Zimbabwe — where African nationalists at the time were struggling against colonial rule.

According to the memo, a man named "David Mobsari who came from Rhodesia" met with officials several months earlier at the Israeli Embassy in Ethiopia, expressing interest in the tactics of the Hagana, the pre-Israel Jewish resistance movement against British rulers.

"He greeted our men with 'Shalom,' was familiar with the problems of Jewry and of Israel and gave the impression of being an intellectual," the letter says. He received training in judo, sabotage and light weapons, it said, adding that the "Ethiopians" — an apparent code name for Mossad agents there — "tried to make him into a Zionist."

Only after Mandela was arrested and his picture published did the Israelis determine his true identity, the letter says, referring to him as the "Black Pimpernel," a widely used moniker at the time. "It now is clear, through photographs published in the media on the arrest in South Africa of the 'Black Pimpernel' that the trainee from Rhodesia introduced himself with an alias and that the two are the same," the letter says. In handwritten notes scribbled on the letter 13 days later, it says his real name is "Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela."

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, an official organization dedicated to promoting his legacy, has questioned the account. While confirming that Mandela toured African countries that year, and even received military training in Ethiopia, it said there was no evidence that he had any contact with Israelis.

"In 2009, the Nelson Mandela Foundation's senior researcher traveled to Ethiopia and interviewed the surviving men who assisted in Mandela's training — no evidence emerged of an Israeli connection," it said.

The national archives posted the letter Sunday following the report in Haaretz, which said it obtained the document from a former graduate student. The ex-student, David Fachler, said he found the letter while conducting research a decade ago and showed it to the newspaper after Mandela's death.
According to other documents released by the archives, Israel maintained a strong interest in Mandela's well-being after his arrest and throughout the Rivonia Trial, where he was convicted of sabotage in 1964 and sentenced to life in prison.

According to the archives, Israel also had an interest in the case because about one third of the defendants were Jewish, and Israel feared the case could spread anti-Semitism in South Africa. One letter, dated April 21, 1964 and written by Azriel Harel, an Israeli diplomat in South Africa at the time, called for rallying international opinion to prevent the Rivonia defendants from receiving death sentences. He also suggested that an economic boycott of South Africa be considered.

"Perhaps the economic value of the boycott is little, but its psychological or publicity value is high, one that strongly affects public opinion, and that is the way that maybe should be continued, in addition to all the rest of the means to force South Africa to retreat from its racist policy," he wrote.
A Foreign Ministry document dated May 18, 1964, discusses efforts to recruit Jewish philosopher Martin Buber and Israeli author Haim Hazaz to sign a declaration in support of the Rivonia defendants. The letter, published in English two days later, calls on South Africa to release them, saying, "Shed not the blood of men and women who seek only to hold up their heads in dignity."
Another document includes comments in the Israeli parliament by then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir voicing her objections to apartheid. Another letter written by Harel in March 1965 laments the plight of Mandela's wife, Winnie, after her husband is imprisoned and she is placed under heavy restrictions.

"Her family's source of income has been deprived," Harel wrote. "It is advisable to spread this information and provide means of income for her and her children." Alon Liel, who served as Israel's ambassador to South Africa in the early 1990s after Mandela's release from prison, said Israel's courtship of African leaders in the 1960s is well known. He said the young Jewish state was in search of allies. "Also, there was a policy that Israel will be a light onto the nations," he said.

Yaacov Lozowick, Israel's state archivist, said there was no political agenda behind the publication of the documents. He said the archives often publicize documents that may be "interesting" in connection to current events, such as Mandela's death.

But he said it was possible that staffers were aware of Israel's strained relations with South Africa and searched for something more positive. "I didn't ask them. They didn't ask me. But it's very likely. Yes. That's human nature. But was it damage control from the prime minister's office? Definitely not."

Nelson Mandela: Peace At Last

Gwynne Dyer, Hurryet Daily News
Monday, Decembe4r 23, 2013

The Catholic Church consecrates saints with less pomp and sentimentality than was lavished on Nelson Mandela during the week-long media orgy that we have been through.

The problem was that everybody in the media knew well in advance that Mandela was dying, and had time to invest millions in preparing to “cover” the event. Hotel rooms and telecom facilities were booked, crews and anchors were deployed, and the expense had to be justified by round-the-clock, wall-to-wall coverage of funeral orations, vox pop interviews, and talking heads.

And of course all the world’s politicians showed up for the greatest photo op of the decade, including many who had condemned Mandela as a terrorist before he pulled off a peaceful transition from apartheid to majority rule in South Africa. But now that the babble of rhetoric has died down and just before the myth takes over completely, let us talk honestly about who he was and what he accomplished.

Mandela understood that South Africans needed an icon, not a mere mortal man, as the founding hero of their new democracy, but he had a strong sense of irony. It would have got plenty of exercise as he watched the local politicos and the foreign dignitaries strew metaphorical flowers on his grave.

The man whom they buried at Qunu was arrested by the white minority regime in 1963, probably on a tip from the US Central Intelligence Agency. He was the head of the African National Congress’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), at the time, and continued to back its campaign of sabotage, bombing and attacks on military and police targets throughout his 27 years in prison.

If the South African Communist Party is to be believed, he was a member of its central committee at the time of his arrest. It was a different time, when US President Ronald Reagan could declare that the apartheid regime was “essential to the Free World,” and the ANC’s main international supporters were the Soviet Union and Cuba. Mandela might have ended up as a man of violence if he had not gone to prison.

Instead, in prison, he had the time to develop his ideas about reconciliation and persuade the other ANC leaders who were also confined to Robben Island of their value. By the time he came out of prison in 1990, he had become the man that everybody knew they could trust – including the whites.

During the next four years, when he and F.W. De Klerk, the last white president, negotiated the transfer of power from the white minority to the black majority, he really was the indispensable man. His commitment to reconciliation was so visible and genuine that whites were willing to do what had once seemed inconceivable: to hand over power before they absolutely had to.

If you want to know what South Africa would have looked like if the whites had clung to power down to the last ditch, look at Syria today. But it was not only Mandela who saved the country from that fate: they gave the Nobel Peace Prize to both Mandela and De Klerk, because the miracle could not have happened if De Klerk had not had the will and the skill to lead his own Afrikaner tribe out of power.

Then, after the first free election in 1994, Mandela became the president, and frankly he wasn’t very good at it. He had no executive experience, nor much aptitude for it.

But he did his country one last big favour: he retired at the end of his first term rather than clinging to power. He was already 81 years old at that time, but lesser men (Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, for instance) have not let that stop them. And he even had a few good years left to enjoy his family before age began to drag him down.

Mandela Foundation Denies Mossad Trained Apartheid Fighter

 Saint Louis Jewish Light

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL(JTA) — The Nelson Mandela Foundation denied an Israeli newspaper report that Mandela received training from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency in the 1960s.

“Media have picked up on a story alleging that in 1962 Nelson Mandela interacted with an Israeli operative in Ethiopia,” the foundation said in a statement. “The Nelson Mandela Foundation can confirm that it has not located any evidence in Nelson Mandela’s private archive  … that he interacted with an Israeli operative during his tour of African countries in that year.”

In 1962, Mandela received military training in Morocco and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, according to the statement.

“In 2009 the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s senior researcher travelled to Ethiopia and interviewed the surviving men who assisted in Mandela’s training — no evidence emerged of an Israeli connection,” the statement said.

According to a report Dec. 19 in Haaretz, Mandela was trained by Mossad agents in weaponry and sabotage in 1962. The report was based on a document in the Israel State Archives labeled “Top Secret.”

The document, a letter sent from the Mossad to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, said Mossad operatives also attempted to encourage Zionist sympathies in Mandela, Haaretz reported.

Mandela led the struggle against apartheid in his country from the 1950s. He was arrested, tried and released a number of times before going underground in the early 1960s. In January 1962, he left South Africa and visited various African countries, including Ethiopia, Algeria, Egypt and Ghana, before being imprisoned in 1964 for nearly three decades.

According to the Haaretz report, Mandela met with the Israelis in Ethiopia, where he arrived under the alias David Mobsari.

The letter was discovered several years ago by David Fachler, 43, a resident of Alon Shvut who was researching documents about South Africa for a master’s thesis.

Tata Madiba's Journey Back Home

Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel, right, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nelson Mandela's former wife, wipe their tears as the former president's casket arrives at Mthatha Airport in Mthatha, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. The funeral service for Nelson Mandela will be held in his home town of Qunu on Sunday. Image: AP

 An aircraft carrying the casket of former South African President Nelson Mandela is escorted by fighter jets after taking off from Waterkloof Air Base on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. On a final journey to his home village where he had wanted to spend his final days, the remains of Nelson Mandela were honored amid pomp and ceremony Saturday at an air base in South Africa's capital before being loaded onto a plane. Image: AP

Makaziwe Mandela, right, Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter and Ndileka, Mandela's granddaughter, wait for the arrival of the former South African president's casket at the Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, December 14, 2013.

Motorcycles escort a hearse carrying the casket of former South African President Nelson Mandela en route to Waterkloof Air Base on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. The body of the iconic leader will be flown to Mthatha Saturday and buried in his hometown Qunu Sunday.

The casket of former South African President Nelson Mandela is carried to a military aircraft following a farewell ceremony by the African National Congress at Waterkloof Air Base on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. The remains of Nelson Mandela were being transferred amid pomp and ceremony to his home village for burial the next day

Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, right, watches as local chiefs drape the casket of former South African President Nelson Mandela with a lion skin as it arrives at the Mandela residence in Qunu, South Africa, December 14, 2013. Mandela will be put to rest after funeral services on Sunday.

The casket of former South African President Nelson Mandela on display during a farewell ceremony by the African National Congress at Waterkloof Air Base on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013

People hold hands as the hearse carrying the remains of former South African President Nelson Mandela proceeds to Mandela's hometown and burial site in Qunu, South Africa, Saturday Dec. 14, 2013. The iconic leader will be buried on Sunday close to his house.

A child draped in the South African national flag gestures while taking a photo of the procession as the body of former president, Nelson Mandela arrives at the Waterkloof Air force base in Pretoria Saturday Dec. 14, 2013 from where it will be transported to Qunu for a state funeral on Sunday

People wave goodbye as the funeral procession carrying the remains of former South African President Nelson Mandela proceeds to Mandela's hometown and burial site in Qunu, South Africa, Saturday Dec. 14, 2013


CREDITS/IMAGES: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Farewell To Nelson Mandela

Military officers carry the coffin of former South African president Nelson Mandela Wednesday, December 11, 2013 to a covered structure outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa where he will lie in state for three days for public viewing. Image: AP

Tata Madiba The Great

Model Naomi Campbell embraces her hero Nelson Mandela. Date: February 1998.