Since the 1940s, it’s been common for political moderates to move to the fore in South Africa – then, intermittently, to the background. They are replaced by radicals or exclusivist nationalists.
Nelson Mandela was a lawyer, an activist, a political prisoner and a president. He was also a man who loved learning.
Reuters
Nelson Mandela called education “the most powerful weapon with which you can change the world”. How can universities bring his words to life?
Icon and reality: Nelson and Winnie Mandela as seen on screen.
Production Companies Videovision Entertainment Distant Horizon Origin Pictures (in association with) Pathé
The timing could not have been more poignant: as South African president Jacob Zuma announced to the world that Nelson Mandela, the father of his nation, had breathed his last, Mandela’s daughters, Zenani…
It’s there in black and white. Tinged, appropriately enough, with blue. On the inventory – handwritten in Afrikaans – of Mnr N Mandela’s personal Eiendom (property) on leaving Victor Verster prison outside…
Apartheid legacies of corruption and violence have held South Africa back, but there is still hope.
Julien Behal/PA
South Africa is not the most comfortable country to live in. Unemployment levels dwarf those in the troubled economies of Europe. The unemployed survive because families redistribute income internally…
The issue of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission has generated much public debate and some apprehension…what this issue raises is how we deal with a past that contained gross violations of human rights…
Surly: Zuma’s presidency has been marked by scandal and mismanagement.
WEF
South Africa is mourning the death of Nelson Mandela, a founding father like no other. His legacy includes a still-lauded constitution, four peaceful, free and fair democratic elections (five if 2014 follows…
Many fine words of tribute were uttered as some of the world’s most powerful people gather to pay tribute to former President Nelson Mandela. In spite of the rain, thousands gathered to hear the tributes…
‘We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again.’
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
South Africa – and the world – has said its formal goodbye to Nelson Mandela. It was a celebration of a life gloriously lived, an event that united us as a global family. Earlier this year, I reflected…
As the world prepares to farewell Nelson Mandela, attention turns to how to honour his legacy.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
A life magnificently lived in the service of humanity. This is why there is such a simultaneous outpouring of grief and celebration with the passing of Nelson Mandela, or Madiba. He has brought South Africa…
It is now for history to judge Nelson Mandela.
Paul SImpson
It is as the iconic figure of the struggle to end the repugnant system of apartheid that Nelson Mandela will be most simply, fondly and longest remembered. What type of society South Africa has become…
Mandela was a key force in South Africa against AIDS denialism.
SCHALK VAN ZUYDAM/AP
In the past few days since the passing of Nelson Mandela, the father of the South African nation, it has become apparent just how much Madiba meant not only to us, but to the rest of the world. He is a…
Sometimes sport really does make a difference in society. At least Nelson Mandela thought so. Though the movie Invictus plays with and stretches the reality of what happened in South Africa during the…
Commitment, duty, reconciliation: Nelson Mandela.
PA Wire
It is difficult to write about Nelson Mandela without sounding sycophantic or as if engaged in uncritical hero worship. Mandela’s stature and personality left little room for other sentiments other than…
We salute you: UN Security Council stands in tribute to Nelson Mandela.
The death last night of Nelson Mandela serves as a reminder of the enormous potential of African leaders to bring positive and lasting change to the continent. It is a reminder also of the obligations…
‘God bless Africa.
May her glory be lifted high’.
Chris Bacon/PA Wire
Nelson Mandela’s African name – Rolihlahla – means the one who shakes the tree, the one who unsettles the status quo. When I was a student living amid the political violence of Northern Ireland in the…
Mandela’s long walk to freedom - his release from prison in 1990.
Greg English/AP
How do you say goodbye to a global icon? The answer must be: with dignity and by being true to the values that he fought for. By these standards, we all have done Nelson Mandela a disservice. The international…
Making history: Mandela addressing the United Nations in 1990, shortly after being released from prison.
UN Photo/P Sudhakaran
As the figurehead of South Africa’s struggle for freedom, Nelson Mandela inspired generations of political activists around the world. He is, quite possibly, the most revered politician in world history…
Professor of Public Theology in the Department of Beliefs and Practices, Faculty of Theology, at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam