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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Feature

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Nelson Mandela: No ordinary politician

world leaders who, once given a whiff of power, cling to it until it destroys them or they destroy the nation they are leading. These are some of the anti-apartheid icons better known qualities. But for journalists lucky enough to track his remarkable career there was more, much more. This was no ordinary politician. On the campaign trail, Mandela never failed in the morning to ask journalists how they had slept and whether they had managed to get some breakfast. He came to know many reporters and photographers by name, stopping often to speak to them and adding without fail: How very nice to see you again. One of the many defining moments of his relentless efforts to reconcile deeply divided communities came when he visited Betsie Verwoerd, widow of the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, who had effectively putMandelain jail. The tea with Betsie meeting took place at her home in a whites-only enclave known as Orania in Northern Cape in August 1995. Mrs. Verwoerd, then 94 and very frail, afterwards said little apart from the fact she was happy the president had visited her. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, was less welcoming, reportedly stating that she wished rather that he had been president of a neighbouring country. Mandela was gracious and generous, saying the way he had been received in Orania was as if I was in Soweto, the sprawling black township outside Johannesburg where he is regarded as a hero. Months earlier, on April 27, 1994, journalists gathered at a school outside Durban where Mandela was to cast his ballot in the countrys first all-race election. We all thought: Is this really happening? Is Mandela really voting? Is apartheid really ending? Yes it was. Mandela made a brief speech stressing the dawning of a new South Africa where all South Africans are equal. Then he dropped his ballot into the box and, literally glowing in the early morning sunlight, smiled long and happily. It was the kind of smile that you know is not put on for the cameras. The kind that wells up from the very depths of the soul. In Mandelas case, a very rare soul indeed. l

Madibas walk to freedom

1918

Born in the Eastern Cape

AFP, Bryan Pearson n

So what, exactly, is it that makes NelsonMandelaso special? Apart from the fact that he emerged from 27 years in apartheid prisons bearing so little malice. And that he insisted on reconciliation being central to a truth commission in order to heal

wounds caused by years of bitter racial hatred. And that he donned a Springbok jersey and took to the field during the 1995 rugby World Cup final in a bold bid to unite the nation behind the mainlywhite South African team. And that he stepped down after just one term as president, unlike too many

While he passes from this physical Tribune Desk world, his vision, his strength and courage, Mandela visited Dhaka in March 1997 his perseverance and to celebrate Bangladeshs 25th year of integrity, his humility independence. At the time, he was the president of South Africa. Also present and magnanimity are were Palestines president Yasser Araa shining example to fat and Turkeys president Suleyman all those who strive Demirel. to create a better They visited Sriti Shoudho, laid lauand more just world, rels for the fallen martyrs of the war, and will remain so for and planted trees around the premises. generations to come. Following the festivities the three lead ers visited Suhrawardy Udyan, where -Muhammad Nelson Mandela delivered his only Yunus

Mandelas visit to Bangladesh

n
I have come to Bangladesh to pay homage to a nation that has fought for its sovereignty. Celebrating this blood-

1962

Standing in this great country today, I also want to be a friend of Bangladesh. While Bangladesh celebrated its independence, our democracy was in its infancy
soaked independence, I am here to say today that escaping the clutches of oppression and autocratic rule is never easy.

speech in Bangladesh. cerpts from that speech:

Here

are

ex-

I have deep respect for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Standing in this great country today, I also want to be a friend of Bangladesh. While Bangladesh celebrated its independence, our democracy was in its infancy. We were just crawling from the darkness of racism towards the light of freedom. Despite being so far away, the people of Bangladesh were not callous to what South Africa was facing. You all know that freedom is not complete till everyone is free. Standing here as a friend of Bangladesh, I want to say that we will fight hunger, poverty and any other problem facing us. l

Arrested, convicted of incitement and leaving country without a passport, sentenced to five years in prison

A leader locked up: Mandelas life in captivity

Tribune Desk n
In his autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom, he wrote: Prison is itself In 1961 Nelson Mandela and became a tremendous education in the need the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the for patience and perseverance. It is, armed wing of the African National above all, a test of ones commitment. Upon arrival at the Robben Island Congress. In 1962 he was captured, and sentenced to five years in prison for airstrip, Mandela, with others, was leaving the country illegally and incit- handcuffed, loaded into a vehicle and ing a strike. In 1963 he was sentenced taken into an old building, where he was issued with prison clothes, shorts to life for sabotage. On June 12, 1964, Mandela and his pants, no socks and sandals - not shoes. As the apartheid logic of racial segco-accused were flown by a military regation extended to the prison sysplane to Robben Island Prison. tem, African prisoners received different food rations and clothes in contrast to their Indian and Coloured inmates. Like everything else in prison, diet is discriminatory, Mandela wrote in his autobiography. Food was the source of many of our protests, but in those early days, the warders would say: Ag, you kaffirs are eating better in prison than you ever ate at home! For supper, Coloured and Indian prisoners received a quarter loaf of bread and a slab of margarine. Africans, it was presumed, did not care for bread as it was a European type of food. Mandela remembers the guard who brought his food saying: Here is your brown sugar for the porridge. You know - the white sugar is reserved for us white people. A letter Madiba wrote in the most beautiful Mandelas former prison cell, was about four square metres in size. A Afrikaans in 1975 to Tafelberg Uitgewers deep and a shallow plate, a spoon, a small wardrobe, a two-centimetrethick sleeping mat and a blanket were all that lay inside. It was Mandelas home for 18 years. Here his name was simply 46664. Every hour seemed like a year, Mandela wrote of his time in captivity. I found myself on the verge of initiating conversations with a cockroach. Another inmate, Mac Maharaj, who ple you would normally count as family and loved ones to be cushioned by. You had to rely on a sense of comradeship - that was the only thing that held you together. During his time at the quarry at Robben Island, Mandela was exposed to the glare of the sunlight reflecting off the bright lime, resulting in eye damage. This was in spite of a three year fight against prison authorities to obtain dark glasses for protection. In later years, prisoners used to enjoy certain privileges, such as gardening and playing tennis. We opened up tennis balls and put in secret messages. We casually threw the balls over the wall into the other section - so we could communicate with each other, said Itumeleng Makwela, an ANC member and fellow inmate of Mandelas. Mandela and his co-prisoners were not allowed any newspapers and did not have a radio. Mandela and his comrades were also forbidden from keeping watches or clocks. He initially made a calendar on the wall of his cell. Later he was allowed to order a desk calendar a year from South African Tourism, with scenic photographs and the words Land of Golden Sunshine, an Irony indeed considering the misery of Robben Island. In 1986, Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison outside Cape Town. For the next six years he was kept in almost total solitary confinement. He was released in 1990. l

Freed from prison

1990

Mandelas former prison cell, was about four square metres big. A deep and a shallow plate, a spoon, a small wardrobe, a two-centimetrethick sleeping mat and a blanket were all that lay inside
went on to serve as transport minister under Mandelas presidency, remembers the close bonds the inmates formed in prison. All around the world, prison has got its black humour, and we did laugh a lot and rib each other in those times. With extreme suffering and physical and psychological pain it is part of your defence mechanism; to be able to laugh at yourself. Sometimes you miss it, and theres something to miss because we were forced to live so closely with each other - you had no material trappings to surround yourself with, none of the peo-

Wins Nobel Peace Prize

1993

Elected first black president of South Africa

1994

A funeral fit for the father of a nation

Tribune Desk n
South Africa is readying itself for the arrival of a flood of world leaders for the funeral of Nelson Mandela. Thousands of mourners continued to flock to sites around the country Saturday to pay homage to icon of the struggle for freedom. The gathering of world leaders wil be the largest in South Africa since Mandela was inaugurated as its first black president in 1994. South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday announced a 10-day period of mourning following the death of Nelson Mandela. Dec 6: Mandela passed away at 8:50 pm on Thursday (local time), surrounded by his family. During his final hours, Mandela would have also been surrounded by Thembu elders. Dec 8: Declared as a national day of prayer and reflection. We call upon all our people to gather in halls, churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and in their homes to pray and meditate, reflecting on the life of Madiba and his contribution to our country and the world, President Zuma said. Dec 9: Both houses of parliament will be recalled from recess for a special joint sitting in honour of Mandelas legacy. Dec 10: A memorial service will be held at a 90,000plus capacity stadium in at Johannesburgs Soccer City, which hosted the 2010 World Cup final, where Mandela made his last major public appearance. Dec 11-13: Mandelas remains will lie in state at the seat of government, the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he served as the first president of this young democracy Dec 15: The official state funeral, after which he will be flown to Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, for a private burial. Qunu is the hilly rural area where Mandela was born and grew up. Mandela will be buried next to the remains of his family, including his three deceased children. l

Dies after prolonged illness

2013