This extraordinary man, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1962, who served 27 years in jail for his beliefs, walked free, without bitterness, to lead the rebuilding of South Africa as a multi-ethnic nation founded on human rights and the rule of law.

The cause for which Nelson Mandela fought throughout his life was based on the hopes and dreams of South Africans who were excluded from full rights of citizenship and repressed by the evil force of apartheid.

The freedom movement built a mass base not only at home, but also through global solidarity networks around the world.

Those networks extended to New Zealand.

South Africa was far away, and was probably best known to New Zealanders for the strength of its rugby teams.

Many New Zealanders loved the game, too. When the rugby ties with South Africa became the focus for New Zealand's anti-apartheid movement, many were reluctant to acknowledge that accepting engagement with racially segregated teams amounted to condoning the regime that mandated them. Continue reading.

Helen Clark is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and is the United Nations Development Programme Administrator.

Source: The Listener

Image: Mandela in 1994 looks through the bars of the Robben Island cell he was held in for 18 years Jurgen Schadeberg/Getty Images

For several years, even as your health faltered irreparably and rumours of your increasing fragility could no longer be denied, the world refused to release its hold.

We said prayers, sent love and held vigils until we had brought our Madiba — a man who had lived longer than most — back to life. Such was our belief in the immortality of our hero that we were incapable of relinquishing you.

But now, despite our efforts, you are gone.

I said my own private goodbye almost two years ago, when I visited Robben Island on a trip back to my homeland. As the ferry skated across Table Bay, a cold wind blew in through one of its hatches.

A young man made everyone laugh when he said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we will vote to have this door open or closed. This is a free and fair election — you will only be allowed to vote once!'

I had left the country a decade earlier, and was touched by the benign, self-deprecating tone so many black South Africans now adopted when referencing the past. The country's social undertone had transformed so radically I felt I could pluck a chunk of it from the atmosphere and take it home with me. Continue reading.

Catherine Marshall grew up in South Africa under apartheid. She is a journalist and travel writer.

Source: Eureka Street

Image: Stephen Davies