Mandela: A statesman who built a nation on the platform of his character
| Nairobi, Kenya
With the passing of Nelson Mandela, the African continent has听lost its most important elder statesman, and someone whose moral stature and leadership were a powerful mover of history for more than five decades.听
Mr. Mandela's crowning achievement was his ability to steer听South Africa through a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy听after 27 years in prison. His ability to do the seemingly impossible听for his native country fueled high expectations that he could bring听the same transformations to other nations, especially in Africa.
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Mandela became a model president for other young nations on the听continent, and leaders from across Africa and beyond sought his advice听and endorsement long after his retirement. But it is further evidence听of his political acumen that he was selective and realistic about his听ability to crack longstanding African problems, while concentrating听on the stability and unity of his own country, still in its democratic听infancy.
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鈥淎s a moral and spiritual leader, Mandela is unparalleled,鈥� says听Kenyan author Billy Kahora, who lived in South Africa from 1997 to听2004. 鈥淗e showed that as a leader, you must be bigger than yourself.鈥�
Mandela cemented his position as a continent-wide figure in 1962, when he听addressed the Pan-African Freedom Movement, a conference of African听nationalist leaders. But his subsequent imprisonment meant that his听contribution to pan-Africanism and post-colonial transitions was more听intellectual and symbolic than that of other leaders, such as President Kwame听Nkrumah of Ghana and President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
However, as an icon of the struggle for African liberation, Mandela served as a vital and unifying role model across the听continent, where leaders vocally supported him during his imprisonment.
鈥淢andela was a huge symbol to those of us in the Zimbabwean struggle," says Jeremy Brickhill, a former liberation fighter in Zimbabwe. "We were comrades-in-arms, and the ANC [African National Congress] leaders were also our leaders.听Mandela in particular symbolized this interdependence and solidarity of the liberation movements.鈥�
Peaceful reconciliation
Despite his role in forming and leading the armed wing of the African听National Congress, Mandela proved influential abroad with his听commitment to peaceful reconciliation and forgiveness following his听release from prison and as South Africa鈥檚 first black president, elected in 1994.
鈥淗ow Mandela conducted himself when we finally had a chance to see him after his release had a great impact on everyone, including us liberation fighters who were so proud that this was the caliber of leadership which our struggles produced," adds Mr. Brickhill.听
Mandela鈥檚 Government of National Unity was quick to establish South Africa鈥檚 Truth and Reconciliation Commission 鈥� the first of its kind internationally 鈥� which was a body aimed at addressing the violence and human rights abuses perpetrated during the apartheid era and at advancing the cause of reconciliation.
After a decade of fears that major social change could bring violence, the commission intervened as an adjustment mechanism, nationally televised, in which perpetrators of political violence and abuse admitted their acts and often were granted amnesty in return. The body expressed transparency and forgiveness inside a legal framework, in the hopes of moving the nation out of acrimony.听
Truth and reconciliation commissions deployed elsewhere on the听continent have had mixed successes, but Piers Pigou, former听investigator for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South听Africa and now Southern Africa project director for the think tank听International Crisis Group, says that Mandela鈥檚 reconciliation concept and project remains powerful on the continent.
鈥淭he issue, however, is that听it is not automatically transferable, especially in the absence of听authoritative moral leadership,鈥� Mr. Pigou says.
High expectations
On becoming president, Mandela faced high expectations that he would听be able to solve many of Africa鈥檚 problems, with Western nations听seeking to push South Africa into the role of continental superpower听and peacemaker. As well as seeking to redress the destabilizing impact听of the apartheid state on neighboring countries, Mandela wrote of his听plans for an ambitious foreign policy agenda focused on human rights听and democracy. But analysts agree that South Africa鈥檚 foreign policy听under Mandela was often defined by caution and compromise.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 an activist foreign policy,鈥� says Ogaba Oche, acting director of research at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.听鈥淭he main concern on the part of both Mandela and the ANC was that of reconciliation. They wanted to build good, strong ties with other countries, especially those that had supported the ANC during the apartheid era. Otherwise, the focus was largely on domestic issues.鈥�
One of Mandela鈥檚 biggest foreign policy tests came when several听Nigerian activists, including the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, were sentenced听to death in a contested trial in听1995. After Mr. Saro-Wiwa鈥檚 execution,听Mandela quickly called for sanctions against Nigeria鈥檚 military听regime, but was unable to reach consensus with other African nations.听Relations between South Africa and Nigeria 鈥撎齬ivals as the continent鈥檚听powerhouse economies 鈥撎齞eteriorated significantly.
Mandela had some success as an African peacebroker, including in听supervising talks between Angola鈥檚 President Jos茅 Eduardo dos Santos听and leader of the UNITA rebel movement Jonas Savimbi in 1994. But听relations with Zimbabwe, and in particular its president and fellow听liberation fighter Robert Mugabe, cooled during Mandela鈥檚 presidency.听A notable sticking point was over the conflict in the Democratic听Republic of Congo in 1998, to which Mandela sought a diplomatic听solution while Mugabe pushed for regional military support to Kabila鈥檚听government.
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Despite criticisms, Mandela 鈥� under immense pressure at home and听internationally 鈥� did succeed in bringing a human rights dimension to听South Africa鈥檚 foreign policy in Africa following its highly damaging听apartheid-era incarnation. Mandela鈥檚 presidency 鈥� including his听leaving after only one term in office 鈥� also offered a moral example to听other leaders on the continent.
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鈥淜enya was going through dark times when Mandela was elected听president; suddenly he became the president that all African leaders听needed to be,鈥� says Mr. Kahora, the Kenyan author.
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And as Nigerian writer and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka once put it:听鈥淗ow many heads of state do we have that voluntarily withdraw from听office after one term only? So, on so many levels Mandela is one听property Africa has that it can boast about.鈥�
Elder statesman
After leaving office in 1999, and before his retirement from public听life in 2004, Mandela took on the role of South Africa鈥檚听highest-profile ambassador. He brought his moral weight to bear on the听bloody ethnic conflict in Burundi, where he oversaw peace talks, and听also called for greater focus on the issue of HIV/AIDS on the听continent at a time when members of South Africa鈥檚 ruling ANC were听flirting with fringe theories about the disease.
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With a number of other public figures including his wife, Gra莽a Machel, and former US President Jimmy Carter, Mandela formed The Elders in听2007, an independent group focused on the pursuit of peace and human听rights. While he withdrew as an active member of the group, The Elders听has sought to intervene in conflicts across the world, including in听African nations such as Cote d鈥橧voire and Zimbabwe.
Mandela鈥檚听engagement in Zimbabwe has also continued beyond his retirement.听According to a US diplomatic cable revealed by Wikileaks, he sent a听message advising Mugabe to step down as a means of preserving his听鈥渓iberation war legacy,鈥� but was ridiculed as a 鈥淲estern puppet.鈥�
Despite impossibly high expectations of his pan-African role, both as a moral leader and as president of South Africa, the late Nelson Mandela made contributions that were significant and diverse in nature.
As Professor Oche puts it: 鈥淯nder Mandela, we saw South Africa rising on the African continent, but also on the platform of his character. He exercised a lot of moral influence on the rest of Africa 鈥� he was an iconic figure.鈥�
