Only once have I been to South Africa. I visited Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, and it was in that period after Mandela retired as president.
I worked for an institution that found its’ struggles to respond appropriately to apartheid especially painful. I was its’ chief communication officer, and a faculty member. And so I listened and responded to both fellow administrators and faculty, as well as trustees, students, alumni and church officials. All had strong and varied opinions, to say the least. And by the time I made this trip, my views were clear. I was squarely among the Mandela admirers.
Mostly I talked with public television producers at a conference I was attending in Cape Town, and with academics in higher education. The producers came from many socio-economic levels, age groups and countries in Africa, as well as from over 50 other counties around the world. These incredible professionals spend their entire lives deeply engaged in investigating social issues and conflicts. The university people were mostly white South Afrikaners who strongly believed in a well-educated multi-racial future.
I asked a lot of troubling questions about what I was seeing, hearing and reading. Why were there still so many poverty-stricken “shanty towns” dotting the landscape? Just how many people still live in this awful poverty? What hope is there for the many gangs of very young children I passed on city streets? What business opportunities are realistic in this still heavy crime-ridden society? What about all the rumors of government scandals and corruption? How effective is the current system of education? Can it do what’s necessary to meet the needs of a new democratic nation?
My clear impression was that the government was corrupt, and not getting the job done. It was investing mostly in itself, and the bureaucrats in it. While education and business opportunities were topics reported in the news, those opportunities were obviously not accessible to enough people. And the streets remained very dangerous… not just for foreigners, but for everyone.
I was told only to take approved taxis from my hotel, and on my return to make sure that my host arranged the transportation. My academic colleagues were committed to helping build a bright future, but many privately admitted they send their children to school abroad. Everyone on campus was searched everyday entering and leaving, and they all assumed that their heavily insured cars would sooner or later be stolen.
But twenty-seven years in prison produced a man of clear ideas, firm values, and incredible vision. Upon release he made a life-changing and unbelievably startling decision: He totally forgave everyone who wronged him, from his prison guards to the former president of apartheid South Africa. And he reinforced that decision every time he appeared in public by whom he invited to appear with him. And later on, he refused a second term as president, which allowed him to rise above the turmoil of daily politics and become the keeper of a much larger and powerful narrative.
At peace with himself, and through the force of a constant presence, firm conviction and message consistency, this icon was able to establish an amazingly simple self-fulfilling narrative… not only for South Africa, but for the world. Mandela simply calls for a multi-ethnic, truly democratic, intelligently compromising, free society. He chose that role of keeper of this simple and compelling narrative for himself, and that decision enabled him to become one of the most inspirational leaders of modern times.
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Larry D. Lauer 