Nomad_Africa_Edition12

Nelson Mandela in his cell.
Photograph: juergen Schadeberg
ANC and various political groups – a watershed
moment in the struggle for equality,
justice and democracy for all races in South
Africa.
On the dawn of a new South Africa, Nelson
Mandela was one of the pivotal figures in
securing true freedom for people in a
country that was dominated by a white minority
for decades dating back 400 years
when the Dutch seafarer Jan van Riebeek
landed his ships in the Cape.
With the first democratic election set for 27
April 1994, the ANC campaigned on a Reconstruction
and Development Programme
(RDP), promising 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", and Nelson Mandela devoted
much time to fundraising for the ANC, touring
North America, Europe and Asia to
meet wealthy donors, including former
supporters of the apartheid regime.
The African majority voted overwhelmingly
in favour of the ANC in a sweeping victory,
and the newly elected National Assembly’s
first act was to elect a new president – Nelson
Mandela himself.
The inauguration of South Africa’s first black
president and democratic South Africa in itself
was a global event with leaders from
all over world from the opposite ends of
political spectrum attending.
But Mandela had no easy task ahead of him
– the new democratic administration inherited
a country with a huge disparity in
wealth and services between white and
black communities.
Such was the greatness of the man who
would leave a legacy for generations to
come that Mandela had the vision and
foresight to preside over the transition from
apartheid minority rule to a multicultural
democracy. He made national reconciliation
a primary task of his presidency, having
seen other post-colonial African
economies damaged by the departure of
white elites, and he sought to calm the
fears of whites within the country by reassuring
South Africa's white population that
they were protected and represented in
"the Rainbow Nation", even incorporating
opposition members into a coalition government.
“Courageous people do not fear forgiving
for the sake of peace” – became a very relevant
saying by Mandela when he personally
met with senior figures of the apartheid
regime, emphasising personal forgiveness
and reconciliation.
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 a celebrated final over
New Zealand, Mandela presented the tro-
78 | www.nomadafricamag.com | ...Celebrating the world’s richest continent | Issue 12