The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

of Mandela memory, one that was not averse to negotiating and deploying Mandela’s
image as a business asset, albeit for the benefit of social causes.
Over and above these tensions, all the Mandela memory contenders had their work cut
out for them. The cultivation of the biographical project of Thabo Mbeki had already
begun virtually to omit Mandela from its narrative, as Mbeki came to be narrated as the
inheritor of Oliver Tambo’s legacy. It was as if the presidency of Nelson Mandela had
been a mere interlude. Mbeki, it was suggested further, had in any case already become de
facto president during Mandela’s term of office. 283 In addition, the creation of the colossal,
all‐embracing, multidisciplinary legacy project of Freedom Park as the main heritage site
of the nation was poised to dislodge Nelson Mandela from his central position in national
memory. Freedom Park was being conceived and funded in a way that would supersede
Robben Island and the far‐flung Nelson Mandela Museum in the domain of national
heritage. Freedom Park’s quest was to accommodate “all of the emerging experiences and
symbols …to tell one coherent story of the struggle of humanity in South Africa”. 284 In
spite of all the museum and brand attention it received, the central place of Mandela’s
image in national heritage was not as assured as it once seemed. Imposing Mandela’s
image through grand public landmarks provided little guarantee of preserving his
memory. This required ongoing critical biographic work, not merely image management
and brand awareness.
It is very interesting to think of the work of the NMF in the light of the work of another
prominent foundation which guarded and projected the memory and legacy of a
resistance hero, that of the Steve Biko Foundation (SBF). The public work and
interventions of the SBF through a programme of memorial lectures have sought to
construct a public intellectual culture of debate and critical reflection in Steve Biko’s name.
This emphasis on critical debate occurred in the spirit of values promoted by Biko of “self‐
283 This was the biographic narrative put forward in a documentary about Mbeki screened on the day
of his presidential inauguration on Freedom Day, 27 April 2004. See Mahlambandlopfu: New Dawn
(Directed and Produced by Beverley Mitchell for Ancestral Vision; Executive Producer, Sylvia
Vollenhoven, 2004).
284 Freedom Park: Conceptual Framework (Pretoria: Freedom Park Trust, n.d.), p 3.
289