Former South African president Nelson Mandela waving to the media as he arrived outside 10 Downing Street, in central London, for a meeting with the British Prime Minister, on Aug. 28, 2007. |
Almost
two decades have passed since the end of legalized racial segregation
in South Africa, yet the abolition of apartheid remains the biggest
legacy of Nelson Mandela.
Anyone
aged 18 or under will not have witnessed the public separation of
whites and blacks enshrined in law, yet that was the daily reality in a
country where races had been kept apart since colonial times.
South
Africa continued to enforce racial division, denying blacks the right
to vote, until Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 allowed him to
begin negotiations with then-president Frederik Willem de Klerk.
Apartheid ended with the arrival of multi-racial elections in 1994.
This
transformation was achieved almost entirely peacefully despite the
country’s long history of racial violence and a brutal police force.
On
his release from captivity in 1990, Mandela’s African National Congress
continued its historic commitment to an armed struggle against
apartheid.
The
1993 assassination of ANC figurehead Chris Hani by right-wing white
extremists heightened fears that the country was destined for a racial
bloodbath, but Mandela issued an appeal: “Now is the time for all South
Africans to stand together against those who, from any quarter, wish to
destroy what Chris Hani gave his life for – the freedom of all of us.”
The renunciation of violence was one of the defining moments of the political process, and earned Mandela and de Klerk the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
The
transition formally turned South Africa into a democracy, bringing in
one of the world's most progressive constitutions and allowing blacks
not only into polling booths, but also into the corridors of power.
In
doing so, South Africa also lost its global pariah status. Apartheid
had been punished by sanctions including a trade embargo and a ban on
direct flights to dozens of countries, like the United States.
In
his inauguration speech in 1994, Mandela heralded the country’s
re-entry onto the world stage, saying it should become “a rainbow
nation” that would never again be seen as “the skunk of the world.”
He
said: “We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which
all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall,
without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to
human dignity - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.”
Mandela’s
biggest influence on the new South Africa was his personal
determination that anger over the crimes of the past, including his 27
years as a political prisoner, should not motivate future laws and
actions. Key to this was his 1995 establishment of a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission that investigated historic human rights
violations and gave vent to grievances.
That
same year, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup – the first event of
its kind to be held there since the end of the apartheid-era sporting
boycott. Along with cricket, rugby was a game played and enjoyed almost
exclusively by whites, making the event tough for Mandela’s fledgling
democratic government to "sell" to a wider population.
Despite
resistance on both sides, Mandela swung the rainbow nation behind both
the team – the Springboks – and the tournament, which South Africa won.
That achievement, documented in the 2009 film “Invictus” starring
Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, illustrated the extent of South Africa’s
rehabilitation and also set the country back on the path of sporting
success.
Mandela’s other key legacy is his extensive charitable work, including the creation of theNelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and 46664 – the HIV-AIDS initiative named after his prison number.
In
2009, the United Nations declared that July 18, Mandela’s birthday,
would be a worldwide day of community service known as Nelson Mandela
International Day.
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