Mandela

by Anthony Sampson

  Mandela emerged from prison on February 11, 1990, hand in hand with Winnie, bewildered by the crowd. He soon showed a more subtle and sensitive face. (Illustrations credit ill.28)

  The first meeting between the ANC and the government in May 1990 was surprisingly amicable, with old enemies exchanging jokes. Among those in the front row are (left to right) Pik Botha, Joe Slovo (in glasses), Alfred Nzo and F. W. de Klerk. (Illustrations credit ill.29)

  The relationship between Mandela and de Klerk was never as warm as it first appeared. The tension was evident at the national peace conference in Johannesburg in September 1991, where smiling turned into glowering. And both had problems with the Zulu Chief Buthelezi, who refused to shake either’s hand at the end of the conference. (Illustrations credit ill.30)

  After Mandela became President in May 1994 he very publicly forgave the people who had persecuted him. He visited the ninety-four-year-old widow of Hendrik Verwoerd (left), and saw the statue erected to Verwoerd (below). He visited Percy Yutar (opposite, top), who, as prosecutor, had helped to send him to jail for twenty-seven years … (Illustrations credit ill.31)

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  … and he visited ex-President P. W. Botha (below), who had kept him in jail and had denounced him as a communist terrorist. Botha still practiced his hectoring style, but Mandela was amused, and preferred Botha’s straightforward aggression to de Klerk’s more devious approach. (Illustrations credit ill.33)

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  Mandela achieved a new peak of popularity with white South Africans after the Springbok rugby team defeated New Zealand in the World Cup final in June 1995. He appeared on the field in a Springbok jersey to present the delighted captain, Francois Pienaar, with the trophy. (Illustrations credit ill.35)

  BELOW: Publicly, Mandela remained loyal to his wife, Winnie, in spite of his private doubts. He stood by her after she was convicted of kidnapping the boy Stompie Seipei in 1991 (in this photograph they are flanked by her lawyers Ismail Ayob and George Bizos). But the marriage was doomed. (Illustrations credit ill.36)

  Mandela established very personal one-on-one relationships with other heads of state, who were glad of the support of his moral authority. He saw President Clinton as a real friend of blacks and of Africa, and took him to see his old cell on Robben Island. In Britain he added a popular appeal to the antique ritual of a state visit, and forged a special relationship with the Queen. (Illustrations credit ill.37)

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  Mandela loved receiving celebrities whom he had read about in jail, apparently unaware that he was as famous as they were. (Illustrations credit ill.39)

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  Mandela gradually revealed to the public his growing friendship with Graça Machel, the widow of the former President of Mozambique. It was at President Mugabe’s wedding in Zimbabwe that they were first seen kissing. (Illustrations credit ill.41)

  He often seemed more at ease with his grandchildren than with his children. They came in and out of his house in Houghton, Johannesburg. (Illustrations credit ill.42)

  Thabo Mbeki succeeded Mandela as President of the ANC in December 1997, at the party’s fiftieth conference in Mafikeng. (Illustrations credit ill.43)

  Mandela’s eightieth birthday banquet near Johannesburg in July 1998 also became the celebration of his marriage to Graça Machel the day before. Two thousand guests watched them cut the cake. His grandson Mandla (right) gave a speech, while African and international singers and stars provided a showbiz festival. (Illustrations credit ill.44)