It is a moment etched into history: as Nelson and Winnie Mandela walked out of the front gate of the Victor Verster Prison in suburban Cape Town in February 1990, fists raised in triumph, the world stood still. It was a remarkable moment in a remarkable life.

Vanley Burke, known as ‘the Godfather of Black British Photography’, remembers the build-up vividly. ‘I had been told by a friend that Nelson Mandela was going to be released, but no-one believed it at the time. Still, I went to the South African Embassy in London to try to get a photographer’s visa for South Africa. I spent the whole afternoon in an interview, only to be told at the end that I should write a letter of request based on our conversation.

In his speech at Mandela’s memorial service in 2013, President Barack Obama reflected on ‘a life unlike any other. We remember the gestures, large and small – introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration; taking the pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/ AIDS – that revealed the depth of his empathy and understanding.’

And he recalls Mandela;s own reluctance to see himself as an icon. ‘Madiba himself strongly resisted such a lifeless portrait. Instead, he insisted on sharing with us his doubts and fears; his miscalculations along with his victories. “I’m not a saint,” he said, “unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”’

But if it was his sense of fallibility that drew so many to Nelson Mandela, it was also his statesmanship and his very Africanness. As Okri writes: ‘I recognise in him many qualities I admire in certain African elders; personal dignity, calmness in the midst of crisis, a superhuman capacity for listening, a wisdom distilled from centuries of hardship and overcoming. I recognise that sublime patience based on the knowledge that time undoes the things that time does.’

‘Thus shall we live, because we will have created a society which recognises that all people are born equal, with each entitled in equal measure to life, liberty, prosperity, human rights and good governance. Such a society should never allow again that there should be prisoners of conscience nor that any person’s human right should be violated. Neither should it ever happen that once more the avenues to peaceful change are blocked by usurpers who seek to take power away from the people, in pursuit of their own, ignoble purposes.’

‘At a time when Africa is suffering from such a poor perception in the world, it is worth remembering that the roots of his greatness were nourished in the African spirit. It is important to recognise the richness of the African civilisations out of which he emerged.

‘Through him we can begin to see Africa differently. He was the original “yes, we can” leader. Most of our leaders become compromised with age, but Mandela became more magical. His life taught us that character is the most essential quality of leadership. He reminds us that fire and force can do only so much, and that vision is fourth dimensional in its effect.’

As President Obama said two decades later: ‘Over 30 years ago, while still a student, I learned of Mandela and the struggles in this land. It stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities – to others, and to myself. We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. But let me say to the young people of Africa, and young people around the world – you can make his life’s work your own.’

Article from the Folio Magazine, Summer 2021