Nelson Mandela: the man and his legacy
- By Tim Collard
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 9, 2013
And so in 1961, he was the main figure in founding Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC. MK, as it was known, was never very effective as a military force; its main value was as a focus for attracting oppressed black Africans not to accept the regime's domination, but to fight it. MK's activities did not themselves free South Africa; but they led to Mandela's 27-year imprisonment, which allowed him to build up his stature as the world's most famous imprisoned victim of oppression. Violence continued, most of it committed by the government; resistance came not primarily from organised forces like MK but from the grossly disadvantaged inhabitants of the crowded and impoverished African townships. But the ultimate victory was won not through internal struggle but through international pressure, the focus of which was the dignified and unbending figure of Mandela.
He came as near as anyone could to uniting the world in his cause. During the time of his imprisonment the Cold War was raging; both sides supported corrupt and violent dictatorships in Africa, purely for their own benefit. But both sides were largely united on the question of South Africa, even if there were differences in approach. Mandela made it clear, both before and after his release from prison, that he was prepared to talk to anyone in the search for progress; and he showed a remarkable lack of bitterness towards political opponents, even those directly responsible for his imprisonment. It is arguable that the sanctions strategy helped to bring the South African Government to the negotiating table; but once Mandela was released, it was the engagement strategy, as practised particularly by the British government (with the fierce opposition of its Commonwealth partners) which fitted better with Mandela's intention of establishing a national conversation involving all South Africans.
Not only that, but he also pointed the way to reconciliation between the developing world and its former colonial masters. Britain was to play a crucial role in facilitating this conversation, and Mandela and other leaders were in constant contact with us: it was on one of his unofficial "diplomatic" visits to London that I had the honor to meet him in 1993. Despite his opposition to British colonialism, he was strongly influenced by British history and culture, reading Shakespeare constantly in his prison cell, and by the restrained, fair-minded, mutually respectful "British" way of conducting relations. He avoided the temptation simply to blame everything on the white man and pointed his people towards taking responsibility for their own situation.
Now Mandela is gone: he won his main struggle, but there are many struggles ahead for Africa, and sadly no more Mandelas.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
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