After 27 years of political imprisonment under an apartheid regime which killed, tortured and humiliated every single day takes the floor three days after his release and begins with the words: „I am you humble servant“ and postulates reconciliation, this deeply impressed me and shaped my best vision of a better world.
I have been visiting South Africa myself some 8 years ago for almost 2 month and travelled from Capetown to Durban. The beauty of the country and its story, history and legacy as a divided country left their imprints in my memory. I have had many discussions with South Africans about the situation today and saw that the divide out of racial grounds has been replaced in many places through the divide on social grounds. I saw the devastating effects of suppression and rejection, separations, segregation and exclusion from education and society.
I have also learned that Mandela stood, and I believe will continue to stand for hope of one people in communion with each other, respect and acceptance. I so wish for South Africa that it realizes that all they achieved they achieved as people from their own strength, led by visionaries like Mandela but still from their own initiatives. South Africa grew and my South African friends tell me that they are proud of today’s South Africa.
Go, life and grow, Rainbow Nation. That is the message from Mandela.