Nelson Mandela

The Nobel Peace Prize winner died at the age of 95 in December in his home in Johannesburg. He will be remembered for his great generosity of spirit, his tireless perseverance for justice and equality, and his powerful message of reconciliation.  In one of his many famous speeches, he said ‘to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others’.

Nelson Mandela’s speech before he was sentenced to prison, where he would spend 27 years, was reported around the world: ‘I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve’.

United States president Barak Obama said of Nelson Mandela ‘his journey from prisoner to president embodied the promise that human beings and countries can change for the better.

Nelson Mandela was a champion of human dignity and freedom, peace and reconciliation. No words can do justice to the debt of honour South Africa and the world owes him.