Feb 12
Mandela changed South Africa forever, but not everyone is free
Sunday 11 February 1990 was a day I will never forget. Not only was it the day that changed South Africa forever, but the image of the great liberation leader walking free after 27 years in prison had a profound impact on me. I was 12 at the time. Growing up in the 1980s, the pictures, films and stories of apartheid South Africa had already begun to awaken my consciousness of a system that was unjust, but watching the TV on that Sunday afternoon twenty years ago stirred something in me that began to shape the course of my life. Since then, I have had the privilege to travel and live for a period of time in South Africa over the last 14 years. If you've read previous blog entries, you will know through my work and personal friendships and relationships, South Africa is a country I feel deeply connected to which continues to inspire, challenge and change me every time I visit.Twenty years after Nelson Mandela was freed from prison, South Africa, against all the odds, is a vibrant democracy. Mandela was to be a remarkable leader and statesman and his history as a freedom fighter and political prisoner proved merely a warm-up act as he became a symbol or moral authority, reconciliation and an apostle of peace. However, Desmond Tutu's coinage for post-aparthied South Africa as a 'rainbow nation' has yet to be realised by many. Almost sixteen years after the end of white rule, the two worlds, black and white, are for most people very separate. Two decades on from Mandela's release, many South Africans still live in grinding poverty, official unemployment is just less than 25% but analysts say actual joblessness is much higher. The taste of freedom has not been as sweet for everyone and millions still hoping for decent housing, education and health are now looking for leadership that can tackle South Africa's economic problems. I remember reading an article by John Pilger in South Africa's Mail and Guardian who described the social and economic catastrophe as a liberation betrayal. He wrote of the 'beatification of Nelson Mandela at the death of apartheid', but argued that one should one not diminish the power of personalities, but their importance can often become a distraction from the historical forces they serve and manage a country in its quest for democracy and stability. I think Pilger is right, and as history has shown transition from apartheid to a black governed liberal democracy was only possible if the free market was embraced as a substitute to social justice for the poor.
None of this is to diminish what Mandela has achieved. Without the great man the story of South Africa's transition from white rule might have been a far bleaker ending. In 1953 in an address to the ANC Congress Mandela stated, "You can see there is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires." Twenty years on South Africa is a remarkable story. True liberation may still be a long way off, but there is hope for the millions who are yet to taste the real fruits of freedom.
