The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

In 1999, Anthony Sampson, who had been commissioned a few years before, published
the ‘authorised biography’ of Mandela. As Drum editor in the early 1950s, Sampson had
known Mandela and his colleagues, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, and in 1952 had
commissioned Mandela’s first ever written article. Sampson’s book on the Treason Trial
had been one of the first biographical studies of ANC leaders. With Mandela’s blessing,
Sampson was able to write “the most comprehensive account” of Mandela’s life, having
conducted hundreds of interviews with family, friends, political colleagues as well as
former Robben Island warders and former National Party cabinet ministers. What
emerged was “a masterly, authoritative biography” whose “human story” was seen as “a
fitting complement” to Long Walk to Freedom. The significance of Sampson’s study was its
argument that it was during his imprisonment on Robben Island that Nelson Mandela
emerged as a person with leadership qualities. It was prison that transformed Mandela
“from ‘raw revolutionary’ into a consummate statesman dedicated to reconciliation”. 200
In the 1990s, the image of Nelson Mandela as survivor and victor, leader and conciliator,
and as the nation’s father was being pursued at full steam. New biographies, in almost
every medium, made their appearance. An illustrated children’s book styled Mandela as
“the Rainbow Man” whose story would inspire future leaders. 201 A CD‐ROM, Nelson
Mandela: The Symbol of a Nation comprising slides, archival film footage, text, music and
voiceover was produced as a biographical tribute and for the benefit of the Nelson
Mandela Children’s Fund. 202 A biographic papyrus wall calendar was made as part of the
official apparel sold during the official national Mandela 80 th birthday celebrations in
200 Anthony Sampson, Mandela: The Authorised Biography (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 1999),
dustcover. Sampson himself had previously described Mary Benson’s biography as the “authoritative”
work. It was also he who had encouraged Benson to write the history of the ANC that was published
as The African Patriots: The Story of the African National Congress of South Africa, (London: Faber, 1963)
and revised and republished as South Africa: The Struggle for a Birthright (London: Penguin Books,
1966). In the early 1960s, Sampson, the ex‐editor of Drum in South Africa, was a journalist with The
Observer in London that carried a number of articles on apartheid and resistance in South Africa. By
the 1990s, Sampson was the distinguished author of more than twenty books including a biography of
Macmillan.
201 Lionel J Maxim, Madiba: The Rainbow Man (Cape Town: Asjen, 1997). This booklet was partly
sponsored by Vodacom and other companies. It was produced with the support of and partly for the
benefit of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
202 Nelson Mandela: The symbol of a nation (CD‐Rom), created and produced by Q Data Consulting, n.d.
(c.1997), box cover, inside cover flap.
262