Nelson Mandela was originally named “Rolihlahla” by his father, a Thembu chief in the Xhosa nation. The name means “pulling the branch of a tree,” or more simply, “trouble-maker.” How apt. The former South African president, now 81, shook the world by helping overturn apartheid and by championing tolerance, equality and freedom for all South Africans. These days he’s taking part in peace missions for the African National Congress and recently spoke to a group from the U.S. National Conference of Editorial Writers.
Q: There is still a tremendous disparity in wealth and opportunity between blacks and whites in South Africa. Why do your people not want revenge?
A: First, people normally take their cue from the leadership. The leadership of the African National Congress, those who spent 30 years in exile, others who went underground in the country risking their own lives, and those who were in prison, have no time for revenge. They know that you pass through this world only but once, and I wanted to use the opportunity which they now have in order to solve the problems of the country.
It is because of that that we were able to avoid bloodshed in this country, where we confounded the prophets of doom, which had predicted that there would never be changes in this country without this country being engulfed in rivers of blood. We confounded them because we had the ability to reconcile our emotions, which said don’t talk with the apartheid government, and our brains, which said if you don’t talk to them this country will go up in flames. So let’s go to them and sit down and say: `We are South Africans. Why are we slaughtering one another when we could sit down and through dialogue and negotiation solve our problems?’
The country took that lead, and that is why there is no sense of revenge. And people see their government addressing their problems.
Q: Could a situation like the violent takeover of white farms by blacks in Zimbabwe happen in South Africa?
A: The best way to handle any issue like the one in Zimbabwe, if you really want a solution, is not to go public. It’s to use diplomatic channels which exist between the two countries to solve those problems, and I think the South African government is doing very well in avoiding going to the mountain tops, and shouting from them, which would harden the attitude of the government of Zimbabwe. The best way to do so is to use the diplomatic channel quietly, and to have this dialogue, in order to solve that problem.
Q: How do black and white South Africans feel about racial healing?
A: Well you must remember when you are assessing this matter that South Africa has been under white rule for more than three and a half centuries. In 1955, we [the ANC] issued our basic policy document, the Freedom Charter. It was a formidable attack on all forms of racial discrimination, and called for a united South Africa in which all its citizens, irrespective of their background, spoke with one voice.
When we issued that document, we were arrested and charged with treason for four and a half years. But when we were elected in 1994, the new government adopted those principles as they were. Now you cannot expect policies that have been there for more three centuries to be totally eliminated from the fabric of South African society within six years.
But since then, we have made solid progress, and we’re happy about the way in which we are eliminating all forms of racism, the way in which we are uniting our country and the way in which we are promoting reconciliation.
Q: Everyone we have talked to mentions you, what you suffered, and yet you are willing to forgive, and if you are, they are as well.
A: No. That is a mistake that has been made right round the country and the world, the thinking that what has happened is the achievement of one man. We are essentially a collective people, in which we discuss our problems as a collective and make decisions.
If, of course, you are the president of the ANC, the president of the country, you are the mouthpiece for those decisions, which are not necessarily yours. There were decisions sometimes when I had a point of view that was overruled by the leadership, because any good leader does not fear criticism from his own people.
The views that are expressed are not mine alone. They are the views of a collective. To give credit to just one man, who is no more than a spokesman for the organizations or for the government during the five years in which I was president, is to do a great deal of injustice to men and women who are the architects of what you see here today.
Q: Your presidency was the period of transition and reconciliation. Now, President Thabo Mbeki must deliver economic success. Do you think people will have patience as they did under your tenure?
A: In 1994, the ANC received the support of the overwhelming majority of voters in this country. In 1999, we increased that support, which means that people understand and appreciate what we’re doing. That is an endorsement. But the people are not, as the media sometimes says, impatient.
If they were impatient, we would not have increased our votes during the last five years. President Mbeki’s policy is the correct one, which I fully support.
Q: Should South Africa take a more active role in international affairs in terms of committing troops to the operation in the Congo or in your role as a peacemaker?
A: Oh, there is no doubt about that. South Africa and Nigeria have become the leading countries of Africa in ensuring that there is peace in every corner of the world. But of course South Africa and Nigeria are not pushing themselves. We are aware that there is a world body, the United Nations. We are also aware that the Organization of African Unity is attending to the affairs of the continent, and we act as agents of these two bodies. We don’t do anything unilaterally.
For example, on the Congo, South Africa consistently says, we are ready to participate if we are asked by the United Nations and by the OAU.
Q: And your individual role?
A: I am now a pensioner, I’m retired. And I do what I’m asked to do by my bosses, and I play a role if my strength allows me. I am asked to do certain things, and if I think that this is a worthy cause and I’ve got the strength to do so, I will do so.
Q: What is the most important thing the outside world can do to support South Africa?
A: Well, it depends on the particular project that we are launching. And you can’t say in the situation in which we are that the most important thing is so-and-so, because the demands are multifarious and they all deserve support and funding. But the transfer of technology and skills are equally important. The question of writing off the debts of poor countries. All of these are extremely important. You can’t say this is what is more important than the others.
We now have globalization, which we welcome. We cannot say, as some people do, that we don’t want globalization, that we don’t recognize it. It’s just as futile and shortsighted as saying, “I don’t want winter. I don’t recognize it. I’m not going to prepare for it.” But globalization, although we welcome it, there are certain aspects that must be attended to, because it is skewed in favor of the rich countries and sometimes to the prejudice of poorer developing countries. Those aspects must be addressed if globalization is going to work justly and equitably.
Q: On the AIDS question, what should the world be doing to help South Africa?
A: The process of education in communities, which have got a low level of academic accomplishment, is a difficult one. Because in our societies you don’t talk about sex. So a massive campaign of education is necessary to indicate to people that unless you are able to discuss sex openly, to teach your children that once a child reaches the age of 16, he will be interested in sex matters and take after the opposite sex. And you must be able to talk about those things.You must be able to tell your children that one of the safeguards against infection is one partner.
Secondly, you must have contraceptives, and these are things which our people initially did not want to hear about at all. But now they are realizing that, in fact, they must change their whole attitude toward sex.
Q: You paid a heavy personal price in terms of the years that you spent in prison to help your country. When you look back on the time you lost, are you bitter? Was it worth it?
A: Well it’s futile to be bitter. The best thing to do is to give to the community and in a small way to the world, rather than to brood on the opportunities that you have lost.
Although I don’t want to overemphasize it, it is tragic to spend the best years of your life in prison. But at the same time, prison has certain advantages, especially with people like myself, who were in single cells where you can sit down and stand away from yourself, see yourself at a distance and discover the mistakes that you have made in the past, and have the time to think. The opportunity to think about problems is one of the best ways of addressing problems.
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An edited transcript
