Living Well 60+ May-June 2014

1 4 MAY/JUNE 2 0 1 4
Late-Life Success: Nelson Mandela
South Africa’s first black president help create “Rainbow Nation”
by Angela S. Hoover, Staff Writer
“I have fought against white domination,
and I have fought against
black domination. I have cherished
the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together
in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I
hope to live for and to achieve. But
if needs be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die.”
Nelson Mandela spoke these words
in court on April 20, 1964, when
he was facing the death penalty.
Thirty years later at the age of 75,
Mandela became the first black
president of South Africa. At the
cost of 27 years of imprisonment,
Mandela lived to see the end of
apartheid.
Born in 1918, Mandela was a
leader of both peaceful protests
and armed resistance against the
white minority’s oppressive regime
in a racially divided South Africa
during the 1940s. By the time of his
death, he was known as the father
of the nation and the liberator and
savior of South Africa. Seen as a
secular saint, his presidency was
widely thought of as “a golden age
of hope and harmony,” according
to his biographer, Anthony
Sampson.
When Mandela became president,
South Africa had a huge disparity
in wealth and services between its
white and black communities. Of
the 40 million citizens, 23 million
had no electricity or adequate
sanitation; 12 million lacked clean
water; 2 million children were not
in school; one third of the population
was illiterate; nearly half the
population lived below the poverty
line; and the unemployment rate
was 33 percent. Despite this great
gulf in resources resulting from
apartheid policies, Mandela was
committed to a peaceful reconciliation
with the white minority during
the transition to a multicultural
democracy. He reassured South
Africa’s white population that they
were both protected and represented
in “the Rainbow Nation.”
Throughout Mandela’s five-year
presidency, welfare spending
increased and the government
created community grants for
children, the disabled and the elderly,
as well as other legislation to
protect equal rights in all aspects of
society. Water access was extended
to 3 million people; 2 million
people were connected to the electricity
grid; 3 million people were
connected with telephone lines;
more children were brought into
the education system; 500 clinics
were upgraded or constructed;
and 3 million people were housed
with the construction of 750,000
houses.
Mandela stepped down as president
in 1999. He later returned
to an active public life, meeting
with world leaders and celebrities
and starting the Nelson Mandela
Foundation, which focuses on rural
development, school construction
and combating HIV/AIDS.
In 2002, Mandela inaugurated the
Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture,
and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation
was created at Rhodes House,
University of Oxford to provide
postgraduate scholarships to
African students in 2003. He also
instituted the Nelson Mandela
Centre of Memory and the 46664
campaign against HIV/AIDS
(46664 was Mandela’s number
when he was imprisoned).
Mandela retreated from the world
stage at the age of 85 due to failing
health. He declined invitations to
appear at public events and most
interview requests. He remained
somewhat involved in international
affairs, founding the Nelson Mandela
Legacy Trust in 2005, visiting
the United States to give speeches
and meet with then-President
George W. Bush and senators Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama.
On his 89th birthday, Mandela
announced the formation of The
Elders, a group of world leaders
who contribute their wisdom and
independent leadership to some of
the world’s toughest problems.
Mandela received more than 250
honors during his lifetime, including
the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the
U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom
and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He
died on Dec. 5, 2013 at age 95.
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic
and free society in which all persons
live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities.”
– Nelson Mandela