Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
I was called a terrorist yesterday…Today I am admired by the very people who said I was one.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist. Mandela, or Madiba as he is affectionately known, served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Truthfully, Mandela needs no introduction; you cannot tell the history of Africa in the 20th century without mentioning Nelson Mandela. He is celebrated as a paragon of liberal virtues; the example to follow on how to liberate your country from minority rule without succumbing to dictatorial impulses or resorting to ill fated socialist measures. Mandela negotiated a peaceful end to Apartheid, and as the first president of a democratic South Africa, preached and practiced, reconciliation. South Africa remains a multi-party democracy with free press and a vibrant economy, well-integrated into the global market. On the other hand, the beatification of Madiba has expunged some of the more radical features that characterized his life.
As a young man, Mandela assimilated Marxist ideologies, grew increasingly militant and had close relations with leaders like Sani Abacha and Muammar Gaddafi, who have appalling human rights violations.
For political reasons Mandela distanced himself from the South African Communist Party (SACP). After his death it was confirmed by both the SACP and the African National Congress (ANC) that Mandela had joined the SACP in the mid 1950s and for a period even served on its Central Committee. The ANC hid his involvement with the SACP since it would have hurt his support from Western countries.
As a young freedom fighter Mandela wanted to nationalize banks, gold mines and land to ensure a more equal distribution of wealth. Despite his earlier goals, he followed more neoliberal policies during his presidency that have had catastrophic effects for black South Africans. Even after his presidency, the difficult life of the poor black majority broadly remains the same as under Apartheid. The rise of political and civil rights was counterbalanced by increased insecurity, violence and crime. The main change is that the old, white ruling class was joined by a new black elite. The second half of the revolution he sought for South Africa — freedom from poverty, establishment of genuine equality of opportunity and a fair share of national wealth — has yet to be achieved. Many historians argue that the plight of black South Africans would be much better had Mandela not been so terrified of white flight and followed more socialist policies to redistribute wealth.
The key dilemma Mandela was faced with was; does he dare to touch the capitalist mechanisms. History had repeatedly shown the punishment that socialist leaders are subjected to. It’s easy to criticize Mandela for abandoning his socialist perspective, but did he really have a choice?
After the Sharpeville massacre, the ANC felt that it could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest. Thus, it launched a para-military wing called uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), meaning spear of the nation, that was chaired by Nelson Mandela. MK was formed to protect black Africans and launch attacks against government installations. Mandela gained ideas from literature on guerilla warfare by Marxist militants Mao and Che Guevara as well as from the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz. MK’s most famous attack was the Church Street Bombing of 1983, were a bomb was detonated near the South African Air Force Headquarters, killing 19 people. MK was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned. The US government, which supported the Apartheid government, officially considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist until as recently as 2008. After South Africa’s independence, however, Mandela preached peaceful means to bring about political and social change.
In the 1990s, two of the ANC’s biggest donors were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and President Suharto of Indonesia, who donated about $70 million to the ANC. Mandela was motivated by Fidel Castro and maintained a close relationship with the Cuban leader until his death. As president, he awarded one of South Africa’s highest awards for a foreigner to Gaddafi and Suharto. Mandela also supported Nigerian coup leader Sani Abacha; refusing to say a word publicly to stop the 1995 hanging of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Of his support of some of these controversial figures, Mandela said:
One of the mistakes which some political analysts make is to think that their enemies should be our enemies. That, we can’t, and we will never do. We have our own struggle which we are conducting. We are grateful to the world for supporting our struggle, but never the less we are an independent organization, with its own policy. And our attitude towards any country is determined by the attitude of that country to our struggle. Yasser Arafat, Colonel Gaddafi, Fidel Castro, support our struggle to the hilt… Our attitude is based solely on the fact that they fully support the anti-Apartheid struggle.
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. A lot of these ideological shifts happened while he was in prison. What does an unjustly imprisoned liberation leader think about for 27 years while he watches his country fight for freedom from the sidelines? Was it then that he decided that too much change might plunge his country into a war that it might never recover from? Maybe he thought to himself; South Africa has hurt enough. Or maybe he felt that these were necessary accommodations to find peace.
For the architects of history, Mandela is almost Christ-like. He forgave white people for the sin of racism and sought a peaceful future. One might argue that his universal glory is a sign that he did not disturb South Africa’s orders of power. His position raises some byzantine questions. How does a leader achieve a fair share of wealth without becoming Mugabe? In the direction of Nkrumah without raising debt; Or in the direction of Lumumba without getting executed; perhaps in the direction of Nyerere without paternalism. It was, and remains, a complicated position for African politicians.
The Apartheid regime was a crime against humanity. If anything, Mandela’s characteristics, both good and bad, show the colossal nature of the injustice of the system he fought against. As far as peace, reconciliation and democracy are concerned, Mandela was an inspiration. However, he left a South Africa that still has a complicated future ahead of it. South Africa has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world along with a multi-billion dollar private security industry. The ANC is increasingly fractioned; having recently forced Jacob Zuma to resign from presidency. Much of South Africa’s wealth still lies in the hands of its white minority. If South Africa wants to remain faithful to Madiba’s legacy she should continue to fight for the unfulfilled promises of his leadership.
