In April 2012, I was fortunate enough to travel to Cape Town, South Africa, to attend the Public Relations Global Network’s semi-annual meeting. We marked PRGN’s 20th anniversary by building a house for an impoverished family.
I found South Africa to be a vibrant and exhilarating country, full of hope and possibility. Curious to understand how the country made sense of its troubled past, I soon discovered one universal truth in South Africa: Everywhere I traveled, people of all colors, ages and backgrounds spoke reverentially of Nelson Mandela.
Today, I asked two friends whose lives have been directly touched by Nelson Mandela to reflect on what he meant to them.
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A little over a decade ago, my cousin, Christopher, married a beautiful young woman from South Africa named Rita Wiid. Today, Chris and Rita live in Dallas and are the parents of two.
Rita, who grew up in Johannesburg, told me her parents taught her to respect all of God’s children and that apartheid was wrong. Because of that, she grew up expecting and working toward change.
When it finally arrived, the transformation was dramatic.
“I am a white Afrikaans woman who was born and grew up in apartheid South Africa,” Rita recalls. “In 1990, at 18 years of age, change came – Nelson Mandela was released. The transformation of South Africa from an apartheid regime to a rainbow nation was felt instantaneously, and millions of South Africans finally had rights in a land that had always belonged to them.
“Nelson Mandela gave his life to free his people. He showed all of us what it meant to embrace our enemies and forgive. Madiba walked the path of this forgiveness and reconciliation.”
Rita said because of Mandela, she never felt her skin color was held against her.
“Never did I feel blamed for the sins of my ancestors; I was just another child of this nation of color.
“The biggest lesson I learned in those early days of a new democracy was to embrace a new future. Leave the past and all of its hurt behind. Enemies can become friends – reach out to those who hate.
“Madiba cared for all, not because of your race or class or category. A man who was imprisoned for 27 years embraced all of us. That is truly peace and love of country. RIP Tata Madiba. You are etched into history.”
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One of the most memorable themes of my visit to South Africa was the infectious hope I encountered among young people, of all races, living and working in that country. They spoke of a future where skin color was as ordinary a trait as eye color. One of my favorite encounters was with a young Zimbabwean woman named Lynne-Faith Chie Muchenje. She was working in Hospitality at a safari lodge where we stayed. Ramonna Robinson and I met her on her day off, when we shared a row in a lion-spotting Jeep.
Today, she is pursuing a degree in Hospitality Management, studying and training in Switzerland.
She, too, remembers Mandela with great affection.
“Nelson Mandela was a great and humble man. He led the nation to great peace and freedom, but above all, to love. He was a world changer and a history maker and shall be remembered for his simple acts of greatness and love that changed the world and made a huge impact on individual lives.
“What he did was give people hope that even though it may be raining today, the sun will shine in the morning.”
Like my cousin, Rita, Lynne used the same term to describe South Africa – “a rainbow nation.” Because of Mandela, Lynne says, she has been able to study and support her family by working in South Africa, as well as to make friends with different people from different races and cultures.
In closing, Lynne returned to the theme she introduced in her opening reflections about Nelson Mandela.
“The beautiful South Africa that is a rainbow nation was not all made beautiful in one day. It took a man who took a stand and changed the perception of people, not to fight one another but to be at peace, to be humble to love.”
I also have fond memories of Lynne and the stories she shared about the merging of African nationalities, tribes and cultures.
One other thing that Madiba did that often people don’t cite: he was among the first to recognize the rights of same sex couples and legitimize gay marriage in South Africa. When constructing the new Constitution, he said, “If we are going to do this right, we have to include everyone.” An amazing humanitarian and leader of civil rights – not just for himself, but for everyone.
Beautiful. Thanks, Anne.