People in South Africa celebrate Freedom Day on April 27 to commemorate the first democratic post-apartheid non-racial elections that were held on the day in 1994 and saw Nelson Mandela elected. On 10 May this anti-apartheid activist, lawyer, and former political prisoner was inaugurated as President of South Africa.
Photo: Matthew Willman
My friend Matthew Willman, a renowned South African photographer, is known for his amazing photos of President Mandela. One day, while visiting his friend Madiba, he was inspired to ask if he could take his red office chair out into an open field. In the photo he took out in the field you can see children run by the chair into the distance, to symbolize the impact Mandela would have on future generations of South Africans. What might these children, now adults, most remember about the great Mandela? This well-known story, shared many times on social media and elsewhere, illustrates what made this exceptional man so great.
“After I became president, I asked one day some members of my close protection to stroll with me in the city, have lunch at one of its restaurants. We sat in one of the downtown restaurants and all of us asked for some sort of food… After a while, the waiter brought us our requests, I noticed that there is someone sitting in front of my table waiting for food. I told them one of the soldiers: Go and ask that person to join us with his food and eat with us. The soldier went and asked the man, so the man brought up his food and sat by my side as I asked and began to eat. His hands were trembling constantly until everyone had finished their food and the man went.
“Go and ask that person to join us with his food and eat with us”
The soldier said to me: the man was apparently quite sick. His hands trembled as he ate!! “No, not at all,” said Mandela. “This man was the guard of the prison where I was jailed. Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I used to scream and ask for a little water. The very same man used to come every time and urinated on my head instead.”
Credit: South Africa Archives Online
So, I found him scared, trembling, expecting me to reciprocate now, at least in the same way, either by torturing him or imprisoning him as I am now the President of the State of South Africa…
But this is not my character nor part of my ethics.” (SoulAlchemy Facebook)
Every year on 18 July, we mark Nelson Mandela International Day not only to commemorate this great man but to emulate his amazing accomplishments by making a difference in our own communities. Perhaps we are not as magnanimous as Mandela as depicted in the story above, but we all have the ability and responsibility to change the world for the better, especially during this pandemic.
-Sister Magdalena Vogt, cps