No future in hate: what Mandela taught us all

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Jun 18, 2013

(Rappler) – Mandela chose forgiveness as a tool to liberate himself from the shackles of resentment and in so doing, inspired his fellow South Africans to do the same. He helped the African National Congress, the ruling party, to transition from a liberation struggle party to one that governs and accepts a government in which ex-revolutionaries sit alongside ex-enemies.

You have probably read the news by now.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s iconic liberation hero and father figure, is once again in hospital fighting a persistent lung infection. With this being his fourth hospitalization in six months, the prognosis for our 94-year-old former president is not good.

Our nation is now facing the psychological battle of acknowledging and accepting the inevitably imminent passing of our beloved ‘Madiba.’ In the face of political and economic uncertainty, South Africans are holding on to our ailing hero as the remaining thread of consistency in our miracle ‘rainbow nation’ story.

Although President Mandela left the political stage in 1999 after one term as Head of State, one would be hard-pressed to find a South African today, fourteen years later, who has not been profoundly influenced by the world’s most famous political prisoner. His 27 years spent behind bars fighting the apartheid regime followed by his reconciliatory efforts after the historic national peace and constitutional negotiations of the early 1990s, has earned him respect and admiration the world over.

For the average South African like myself, he has become the symbol of our better nature—the personification of humanity, forgiveness and non-racialism.

As a resident of Johannesburg, I often have the privilege of taking my international friends around the city when they visit. The sight I am often most excited to show off is Vilakazi Street in Orlando West, Soweto.

Why? My family’s first home was in the area and I was born into a resilient but deeply traumatized community.

Vilakazi Street also housed a powerful symbol of liberation in the form of Mandela’s first home—a very modest four room house that was often petrol-bombed and raided by members of the police force under the apartheid regime. Vilakazi Street also was and continues to be Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s residence, thus making it the only street in the world that has housed two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

HOME. On Vilakazi street, one can find Mandela’s first home which has now been turned into a museum. Photo by Zanele Hlatshwayo

This street is steeped in history and every time I visit I am reminded of both the injustices of apartheid but also of the overwhelming ability of human beings to endure, to overcome and most importantly, to forgive. A bloodless and democratic post-apartheid South Africa has been nothing short of a miracle. We have Madiba to thank for this.

His insistence on replacing anger and resentment with forgiveness and tolerance following his release from prison elevated him to iconic status. In response to a question in 1993 regarding South Africa’s post-apartheid future, Mandela famously responded ‘I see a country for everyone, a rainbow nation, a country at peace with itself and with the world. I see no future in hate’.

This remarkable human being was able to see the humanity in the faces of the prison warders who tortured him, of the police officers who ruthlessly killed his friends and comrades and, of the indignant westerners who turned their backs on non-white South Africans at a time when they needed them most.

Mandela chose forgiveness as a tool to liberate himself from the shackles of resentment and in so doing, inspired his fellow South Africans to do the same. He helped the African National Congress, the ruling party, to transition from a liberation struggle party to one that governs and accepts a government in which ex-revolutionaries sit alongside ex-enemies.

Simply put: Mandela helped birth a unique leadership and magnanimity which astonished and impressed the international community in equal measure.

As a proud South African who grew up with Madiba as a second father, it is tempting to paint him and his role in the liberation struggle in rainbow colors. However, in the interest of remaining objective, it is important to highlight the fact that Mandela, as revered as he is, is human and thus fallible. As a disciplined and astute politician, he made decisions and compromises that were not always seen to be ideologically aligned. However, much like other global icons – like Mahatma Ghandi and Aung San Suu Kyi—Mandela believed in practical politics but still applied his values consistently.