Personal: On the Death of Nelson Mandela

When I was born, Nelson Mandela had already been in prison for eleven years and South Africa was a country in which 80% of the population were excluded from political representation. As I was growing up, that country was increasingly synonymous with inequality and lawlessness, boycotts and embargoes. When I was thirteen, the satirical TV show ‘Spitting Image’ released the record ‘I’ve Never Met A Nice South African’, a song vitriolic in its condemnation of South Africa’s political system. I read Tom Sharpe’s novel ‘Riotous Assembly’ and was shocked at the racism, incompetence and casual violence attributed to the South African police. When I was fifteen years old, I watched the world’s biggest musical stars celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday, while the man himself continued to endure incarceration. It seemed extraordinary to me that South Africa’s politicians could persist with their discriminatory policies in the face of such widespread international outrage. The situation seemed hopeless. 

But then things began to change. As I started my A Levels, de Klerk was elected President, announcing his ambition to end apartheid. Before I sat my final school exams, Nelson Mandela had been released from prison. By the time I graduated from university, South Africa had held its first multiracial democratic elections and Mandela had become President of his country. 

I feel privileged to have been alive to witness his extraordinary journey from prisoner to President. His story shows us that there is always hope, that we should never give up and that if people stand together they can make a difference. Nelson Mandela was the figurehead, but his triumph was built on the civil disobedience of the people of South Africa and strong political pressure from the governments of other countries.

Let us commemorate Nelson Mandela by continuing to put pressure on our governments and politicians to stand strongly against discrimination and the abuse of human rights, whether it happens in our own neighbourhoods or on the other side of the world. Let us show support and encouragement to those people standing up against oppression and discrimination. In remembering Nelson Mandela, let us remember that however hopeless a situation might seem, if we all stand together anything is possible.