Nelson
Mandela won his war on apartheid because he never compromised on principles. He
refused liberty and power and remained in prison. He did not practice real
politics. He did not look at his cell and say, my chances of winning are low,
and that is why I should take the offer of the apartheid authorities. On 31
January 1985, Botha, speaking in parliament, offered Mandela his freedom on
condition that he ‘unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon’.
This was the sixth such offer, earlier ones stipulating that he accept exile in
the Transkei. His daughter Zinzi read Mandela refusal to a mass meeting in
Jabulani Stadium, Soweto, on 10 February, 1985:
I am a
member of the African National Congress. I have always been a member of the
African National Congress and I will remain a member of the African National
Congress until the day I die....
I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more
for your freedom. Too many have died since I went to prison. Too many have
suffered for the love of freedom. I owe it to their widows, to their orphans,
to their mothers and to their fathers who have grieved and wept for them. Not
only I have suffered during these long, lonely, wasted years. I am not less
life-loving than you are. But I cannot sell my birthright, nor am I prepared to
sell the birthright of the people to be free.
Mandela was
a freedom fighter who never compromised on principles. Ronald Reagan the
president of the US and Margaret Thatcher the Prime Minister of the U.K. called
him "a terrorist" but he stood firm, his reply
I am
not a violent man. My colleagues and I wrote in 1952 to [Daniel François] Malan
asking for a round table conference to find a solution to the problems of our
country, but that was ignored. When [Johannes Gerhardus] Strijdom was in power,
we made the same offer. Again it was ignored. When Hendrik Verwoerd was in
power we asked for a national convention for all the people in South Africa to
decide on their future. This, too, was in vain.
It was only then, when all other forms of resistance
were no longer open to us, that we turned to armed struggle.
Mandela was
always ready to negotiate and reconcile, yet he could reconcile and negotiate
because he did not compromise
What freedom am I being offered while the organisation
of the people remains banned? (….) Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners
cannot enter into contracts. Herman Toivo ja Toivo, when freed, never gave any
undertaking, nor was he called upon to do so. I cannot and will not give any
undertaking at a time when I and you, the people, are not free. Your freedom
and mine cannot be separated. I will return.
At the end
Mandela prevailed and when F. W. de Klerk signed off on Mandela’s release in
1990, he was careful to make certain that Mandela’s freedom would be
unconditional. From there on Mandela moved from steadfastness and uncompromised
to reconciliation
"Great
anger and violence can never build a nation. We are striving to proceed in a
manner and towards a result, which will ensure that all our people, both black
and white, emerge as victors.” (Speech to European Parliament, 1990)
"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you
have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." (From Long
Walk to Freedom, 1995)
Leaders and politicians in the Middle East could learn a lot
from Mandela and the heads of powerful nations could benefit from the Mandela
experience; never compromise on principles, do not act according to populism or
polls, have the courage of your beliefs, reconcile with your opponents, and
preserve the pride of you enemy. And mostly, do no cling to power.