Why is mandela a good leader

Today it is most famous as the place where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years in prison. One of the stops was at the limestone quarry where prisoners toiled in the hot sun. His tear ducts were damaged, preventing him from ever crying again. Visible in the background is a cave. This cave was used as a bathroom and the guards almost never approached it.

Our tour guide explained that the cave became a great place of learning and exchanging information. Some say it held the most important political meetings of the time. We later drove to the prison where we met our prison tour guide, Ntando Mbatha. Ntando was a prisoner for seven years at Robben Island. His story was moving. Hearing him explain the conditions of the prison first hand will be forever etched in my mind. I followed him to the cell of Nelson Mandela.

A thin mat lay in the corner. It was stark. There was an unmistakable feeling I cannot quite explain throughout the entire cellblock. KS: It reinforced an already strong sense of determination, discipline and duty with qualities of resilience, patience and pragmatism. It enhanced his negotiating skills, both with his captors and with his fellow political prisoners, not all of whom were from the ANC.

And combined with the legendary status that the campaign for his release endowed him with, it gave him the moral authority to adopt unpopular positions among his comrades and take difficult decisions in dealing with his opponents following his release.

He was spared mistakes and absolved of blame for the many failures of the ANC in exile. By the early s, Mandela was largely forgotten outside South Africa and only dimly remembered inside.

The ANC and the Communist Party deliberately projected him as a leader of the struggle, but not always as the leader. In the aftermath of the Soweto uprising of , Steve Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, was for many people the foremost symbol of resistance. Partly in reaction, the international Anti-Apartheid Movement, in consultation with the ANC, began to promote Mandela as the personification of the struggle.

This campaign turned him into a political celebrity for a world hungry for a redemptive hero. Only after did Mandela become internationally accepted as a potential leader-in-waiting. He was a figure with an almost impeccable background — apartheid was a rare, cut and dried moral cause, and being a key imprisoned leader made Mandela a natural focal point.

KS: In part it was because the domestic and global anti-apartheid movements had created in Mandela a figure with the stature to deliver on commitments that he made in the name of the ANC. When, eventually, more farsighted members of the government realised that the ANC could not be isolated forever, efforts were made to deal with Mandela and to split him from the ANC mainstream.

He also hoped to wrong-foot the ANC. MG: Mandela understood that hatred only fuels further hatred, resulting in violence and the possible disintegration of the country. Having witnessed the decolonisation process across Africa, Mandela appreciated the need to appease the white minority and keep them onboard to ensure a smooth transition to democracy.

A good deal of talking had gone on before he emerged from prison. The elections of strengthened the right wing. However, defeat in Angola, retreat from Namibia, increased violence within South Africa, international condemnation, and particularly US refusal to invest in South Africa are all significant.

The Christian influence among black and white South Africans should not be ignored. And was Mandela, aged 71, conscious of his iconic position in the world? The reconciler sounds so much better than the wrecker. SD: South Africa was in a virtual state of civil war when Mandela was released in Elements on the far right, including in the military, were stoking the situation and positioning to stage a coup.

But Mandela was not alone. The moral authority of Desmond Tutu was highly significant. MG: Mandela and De Klerk realised that compromises had to be reached to avert continued conflict.

This was a radical change of mindset for both sides, which prevented the full blown escalation of hostilities. His great success is surely as a reconciler. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.

The trigger was the assassination of Chris Hani, a popular black leader fighting for equal rights. Hani was shot in cold blood by a right-wing white extremist when stepping out of his car. The killer was identified by a white woman, who turned him in. The assasination ignited widespread fury and triggered huge demonstrations. Many blacks wanted revenge, and the atmosphere was ripe for looting, violence and mayhem.

Recently out of prison, Mandela rose to the occasion and appealed for calm. Here is part of what he said: "Tonight, I am reaching out to every single South African, black and white, from the very depths of my being. A white man, full of prejudice and hate, came to our country and committed a deed so foul that our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster.

A white woman, of Afrikaner origin, risked her life so that we may know and bring to justice, this assassin. The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani has sent shock waves throughout the country and the world….. Now is the time for all South Africans to stand together against those who, from any quarter, wish to destroy what Chris Hani gave his life for - the freedom of all of us.