On 5th December 2013, Rolihlahla Mandela walked into the sunset to rest with his forefathers who had gone on before him. The whole world practically descended on Johannesburg & later Qunu to pay tribute to an enigma. As for me, I spent time on the internet beaming all stations & reading anything to provide me a glimpse as to the reason for the fascination with this one soul. So, it made sense that I should buy Mandela's autobiography as part of my Christmas reading. I needed to hear from the horse's mouth. For some strange reason I had never felt that need to do so until Mandela's passing.
I cannot do justice to this autobiography though I must say at the outset that it is an excellent autobiography to read. 751 pages is long and the reader needs patience & stamina to go through the narrative without tiring.
I must digress by recalling my second visit to South Africa in 1999. I made friends with a white student in my class of German & Boer descent. As we chatted about the New South Africa, some of his first remarks to me were about just how little he knew about the plight of black people during his youth. What he had read of Mandela & the struggle in the white press at the time was not so objective. He mentioned that the only black person he was acquainted with was the lady who cleaned his parent's home. TS took me to various suburbs in the Cape including to a church in the black suburb of Kayelitsha. I had an inkling that he was somewhat atoning for the sins of his people because he bent over backward to ensure that I had a wonderful time. A coloured classmate later explained to me the policy on different suburbs for different races and how his own family were relocated. As for me, I had - in my school days - listened to freedom songs, watched the play 'Sizwe Bansi Is Dead", read 'Mine Boy', 'The Power of One' & other books, Watched the movies 'Cry Freedom' & 'Sarafina' but never quite comprehended the extent of the South African struggle. How can one understand it unless they really live it?
What can I say really? Let me start at the beginning. My best chapter remains "A Country Childhood". I am not a country bum but reading this chapter reminded me of my parents' native villages. A number of the Xhosa customs were so similar to those of my people & so it was with nostalgic fever that I went through Mandela's description of life in the Eastern Cape. To add icing to the cake, I was reading this book from the serenity of my parents country home ( after a 10 year hiatus) listening to the mowing of cows waiting to be milked , sound of crickets, crowing cocks, clucking hens...I felt nostalgic for the beauty of a virgin life unaffected by the hustle & bustle of modernisation.
I cannot imagine being incarcerated for 27 years in the prime of my life. It is a very high price to pay...even for freedom. As I write this, I know that there are many other unsung heroes paid the ultimate price with their lives.
How God must weep that the Dutch Reformed Church propagated the policy of "Apartheid" - Apartness in his name. I wonder what verses were used to sanitise a system so brutal and so contrary to the Bible's fundamental teaching. I wonder whether there will be mercy or pardon for those who committed atrocities in the name of God.
The movie "Sarafina" appealed to my emotions. I have watched it many times and I still shed tears each time. It is not possible to watch the snitch Kitaa and not weep for him. It is not possible not to watch "The funeral song", "Siwelele mama", "Safa Saphel Isizwe" and not be moved even though not comprehending the lyrics. It is impossible not to understand the plight of Crocodile, Sarafina & their fellow students who had grown tired of the hopelessness of an education system that was taking them nowhere. But Politics is complex. It is amazing that many countries turned a blind eye to the suffering of the black Nation. There are those nations who put their interests ahead of those of the suffering populace for after all South Africa was a rich country. There are others who were more afraid of the communist threat than they were passionate about the plight of a people so down trodden.
'Long Walk to Freedom' appealed to my intellect and helped me understand the 'why'. I felt - probably due to space constraints - that there were too many gaps...too many unexplained things. I would need to read many other autobiographies to understand the whole story.
This is a book that every leader must read & grasp. The understanding that 'a nation's grievances cannot be suppressed, that people will find a way to give voice to those grievances' is one that many leaders ignore in their pursuit for power.
I have learnt a lot of lessons for myself. I did not get all the answers to the questions in my mind. But, one key lesson for me was the finale. " I can rest only for a moment. ...I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended".
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