Nelson Mandela, born in the year which saw the end of first world war, was a champion of mankind in every sense. He celebrates his 90th birthday, so are the millions of people inspired by his life. Madiba, Mandela’s afrikan elder name, is a strong follower of Gandhi – the naked phakir, even though the former diverted from Gandhian ways in his struggle against white supremacy. Mandela is not a living legend, but he is to be revered, for the very important reason that world need icons, more like him.
I never had any oppurtunity to know Mandela through books about him. I would be looking forward to read “Long walk to freedom” and books by Anthony Sampson and James Gregory.
a brilliant documentary/play on robin island and Mandela’s experiences there put on the air while he was still in jail but just as the talks were going on
i was amazed – SABC [state radio] producer took a big risk
i called the producer and waxed lyrical – he very kindly sent me a audio tape of the piece
i remember the narrator saying that the only place the prisoners could see table mountain was if they stood their toes on one end of one particular bench – they could see a tiny slither of the mountain and that the hardest thing about being in jail was the absence of hearing children let alone seeing them