1918-2013NFJ SON MANDELA

He changed

With a mixture of grief and celebration, the world farewells one ofhistory's most inspirational leaders, the man they called Madiha

hough he had been in decline for manyW ' months and there was little doubt that his

days were numbered, when word came onDec. 5 that Nelson Mandela had died aged

95 at his home in Johannesburg,. surrounded by loved ones,l l those who revered the great 'TOt i

South African leader—which is

to say not only his countrymen liasIg but also millions of admirers

* around the globe—feltashockof i srecognition that the world was now a smaller place.Beyond his courage, his patience and his relentlessdetermination to create a just society, Mandela had ahumility and compassion that touched hearts of all politicalpersuasions. He was, eulogised his old friend ArchbishopDesmond Tutu, "a magician who had turned South Africa,a poisonous caterpillar, into a beautiful butterfly."

Tenacious, optimistic, peace-loving Mandela was incarceratedfor 27 years during his fight to end the apartheid system."If there

"Our nationlias lost its

greatest son"-Jacob Zuma

are dreams about a beautiful South Africa," he once said, "thereare also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads couldbe named goodness and forgiveness."

A member of the Xhosa-speaking Thembu, Mandela was oneof 13 children born to a sub-chief with four wives, who served

as counsellor to the Thembu royal family. AgedtH rtn on'i'9 w'len father died, Mandela became a

1 ward of the high chief, who let the boy watchhim conducttribal business. Thecouncil wasdemocratic, a key lesson for young Mandela.

SOll Ultimately that became his vision for hiscountry—"a new world,"as he said in his 1994

:ob Zuma inaugural speech, with "justice for all... peace forall... work, bread, water and salt for all."

That wasn't the way of life elsewhere in South Africa. As ayoung lawyer in Johannesburg, he had been exposed to thesystem of apartheid, or "apartness": blacks and "coloureds"(people of mixed race) were not allowed to vote, own property,marry whites or take jobs reserved for whites.

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a thousand indignities," he would write inhis 1994 memoir, Long Walk to Freedom,"produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness,

a desire to fight."Joining the fledgling African National

Congress (ANC), he organised demonstrationsand general strikes. When the governmentoutlawed the ANC in 1960, Mandela wentunderground to lead a militant armed operation.This Mandela, according to his close associateOliver Tambo, was "quicklystung to bitterness andretaliation." After incriminatingdocuments and bomb-makingequipment were found at anANC hideout in 1963, Mandelawas tried for sabotage. He toldthe court that his dream of a democratic andfree society "is an ideal which I hope to livefor and to achieve. But if needs be, it is anideal for which I am prepared to die."

He almost did. Sent at 45 to Robben Island,prisoner 466/64 lived in a bare cell measuring2.4m by 2.1m. "You have no idea," he said,

"of the cruelty of man against man until youhave been in a South African prison with blackprisoners and white wardens." Prohibited fromspeaking to other prisoners, Mandela trainedhis spirit to hew a new path: "Make the braindominate the blood."

"Only free mencan negotiate"

-Nelson Mandela,from prison

For 18 years, Mandela was incarcerated inRobben Island Prison, where he contractedtuberculosis due to the poor living conditions.In 1969, his firstborn son, Thembi, died in acar accident, but Mandela was not permitted toattend the funeral (he'd also been forbidden toattend his mother's funeral a year earlier). Hekept his mind busy, finishing a University ofLondon law degree, and he never gave up onhis dream of a unified South Africa. "One day

there will be a new world, whenall of us will live in happinessand peace," he wrote to his

daughter Makaziwe from prisonin 1969. "That world will becreated by you and me, by ourfriends and countrymen."

An iconic and powerful symbol of blackresistance, Mandela was offered release in1985 by then President P. W. Botha, if he"unconditionally rejected violence as a politicalweapon," but Mandela, who had beenincarcerated at Pollsmoor Prison since 1982,refused. "What freedom am I being offeredwhile the organisation of the people [ANC]remains banned?" he said in a statement atthe time. "Only free men can negotiate."

He languished behind bars for a further fiveyears—he was moved to Victor Verster Prison

in 1988—during which time Botha suffered a

fr^the

the globe.

- Mandela and his co-accused' raised their fists after being

sentenced to life imprisonmentfor treason in 1964.

"The only [other] thing myfather bestowed upon me at

birth was a name, Rolihlahla. InXhosa, Rolihlahla literally means

'pulling the branch of a tree,' but itscolloquial meaning more accurately

would be 'troublemaker,'"the acknowledged

peacemaker once said.

"Our march'to freeis irreversible/Mandela, sail

supporters withWinnie after his rel

from prison in 1

TO BE HEARD

stroke and politician Frederik Willem de Klerk,who believed apartheid was unsustainable, cameto power. In a historic period that had seen thefall of the Berlin Wall, Mandela was released inan event that was televised around the world.

As the world's most famous prisoner madehis way towards the gates of Victor VersterPrison near Paarl on the Western Cape ofSouth Africa on Feb. 11, 1990, Mandela waspuzzled by the scene before him. Having beenset free by President de Klerk, Mandela saw athrong of thousands, including photographers,journalists and well-wishers, by the prisongates. "I had truly not expected such a scene;I was astounded and a little bit alarmed," helater recalled. "At most, I had imagined thatthere would be several dozen people, mainlythe warders and their families."

But as he edged, hand in hand with hiswife, Winnie Mandela, closer to freedom, thegreater significance of the horde became clear:"When I was among the crowd I raised myright fist, and there was a roar. As I finallywalked through those gates ... I felt—even at theage of 71—that my life was beginning anew."

And so began the dawning of a new nation.Working with white President de Klerk, he urgedblacks and whites to seek reconciliation. Fouryears later, voting for the first time, SouthAfrica's 18 million black people made Mandela

whoi:

1994Whitney Houston,

a staunch supporterof the fight against

apartheid, met up withMandela during a South

African concert tour.

Mandela and QueenElizabeth II rode

in a carriage alongthe Mall, London, on

the first full-day of hisstate visit to Britain. 2011

Michelle Obamavisited Mandela's

home in Houghton,South Africa.

the country's first black president. His five-year tenure received mixed reviews. He

worked to repair his country's image, but theadministration faced charges of corruptionand he embraced dictators such as Fidel Castroand Saddam Hussein.

Throughout his life, the private affairs ofthe thrice-married father of six were alsobrushed by scandal and sorrow. His first wife,Evelyn Mase, a nurse he wed in 1944, told himhe would have to choose between her and the

ANC. "I could not give up mylife in the struggle," he wrote inhis memoir. They divorced in1958. Their daughter, Makaziwesurvives, but Mandela outlived

both their sons. Thembekile had died in thecar crash in 1969 and Makgatho died of anAIDS-related illness in 2005.

With his second marriage, to WinnieMadikizela in 1958, Mandela found a soulmate, but in 1991 she was convicted ofcomplicity in the kidnapping and assaultof a 14-year-old activist murdered by herbodyguards. Mandela ended their marriagein 1996. He found love again two years laterwith Graca Machel, now 67, widow of

Mozambique president Samora Machel.Both Graca and Winnie were by his

side in hospital as he took his last breath.Mandela was humble to the end. "I wasnot a messiah," he would say, "but an

ordinary man who became a leader becauseof extraordinary circumstances."

Those who loved Mandela knew better.When his 7-year-old goddaughter, HelenaInzerillo, was informed of his passing by herdad, Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of IMG Artists,her reaction was a flame in the dark. "Don't

be sad," the little girl responded. "We nowhave to follow his example."¦ By Jill Smolowe, Tom Gliattoand Michael Crooks

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