Madiba From A to Z:
The Many Faces of Nelson Mandela
Danny Schechter (Jacana Media, (South Africa), Seven Stories
Books (United States), 2013)
Conceptually, Madiba A
to Z appears to be a simplistic format, but thankfully, the book is both
thoughtful and inclusive. Written by
Danny Schechter, it is connected to the recent release of the movie, Long Walk to Freedom, and Schechter’s
forthcoming documentary film, Inside
Mandela: The Making and Meaning of Nelson Mandela’s Story. Topical sections are broad and eclectic, but
it is Schechter’s willingness, using interviews with Mandela comrades,
journalists, scholars, and actors in the film, to tell Madiba’s story(s), the
complexities of Mandela as revolutionary, politician, and much, much more. As an oral historian who has worked with and collaborated
with people to tell the stories of South Africans who fought the apartheid
regime, I am very impressed by Danny Schechter’s ability to include the
recollections and reflections of people he spoke with while researching his
book.
It is also important not to underestimate Schechter’s own
credentials, both within the South African struggle and as a political
journalist. The former is addressed
briefly in the book, but the story of Schechter going into South Africa in the
mid-sixties as part of the African National Congress’s propaganda campaign is
told in more depth through his chapter in the book, London Recruits. In
addition, Schechter’s work as a journalist in South Africa, the United States,
and throughout the world is unassailable.
Madiba A to Z addresses Nelson
Mandela’s emotional and political lives.
The book honors Madiba, but it also speaks to the personal and political
complexities as well as the great man’s flaws.
While I will not speak to everything from A to Z in the book, there are
various issues that I will touch in this review.
According to Schechter his goal was to help people “join the
conversation at a deep level.” One of
the first themes that stands out in the book is that Nelson Mandela viewed
himself as a comrade – the work of the struggle, negotiations, and governing
was collective. There are stories of
camaraderie throughout the book – within the struggle, from prison, and also
during negotiations with the apartheid regime.
Schechter relates a story from Mandela’s university days when he would
spend evenings in conversation at Ismail Meer’s flat, the political hub at the
time. Various people might be in attendance
including Ruth First and Joe Slovo, whom Schechter writes of at various times
in the book. There was intense political
discussion and organizing, but Mandela spoke holistically of being with
comrades. “There we studied and even
danced until the early hours of the morning, and it became a kind of
headquarters for young freedom fighters.”
Ronnie Kasrils, who has recently questioned aspects of both
the negotiations and the early economic decisions of the post-1994 government,
presented a comprehensive portrait of the comrade Mandela within the struggle
against apartheid.
He was a man of defiance. He led the masses in militant struggle, and
he led us in armed struggle. This is
conveniently forgotten under the olive branch of Mandela the Saint. If one has to understand him in total, you’ve
got to look back to the man who with his colleagues, with his contemporaries,
created this ANC, led our people through chapters of struggle, and then at a
crucial point when nonviolent struggle became an impossible way to change the
system, putting his head together with others, including with young people and
the rank and file, was saying, “We’ve got to find another way and now we need
to rise up with weapons.”
On being a comrade, Schechter also spoke with Verne Harris,
who directs research at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.
It’s a tension that has played out
inside of him too because there’s part of him that enjoys the adulation,
there’s vanity. He enjoys the crowds and
the elevation. But there’s another part
that precisely feels uncomfortable with that.
“I’m part of a collective, I’ve always relied on others, I’ve had
mentors, I’m part of a movement.” It’s complex.
Finally on the same topic, the book quotes Mandela.
A cardinal point that we must keep
constantly in mind, the lodestar which keeps us in course, as we negotiate the
uncharted twists and turns of the struggle for liberation is that the
breakthrough is never the result of individual effort. It is always a collective effort and triumph.
There are more examples and they all lead to questions for
today – what does comrade now mean and what are the ANC connections with people
on the ground?
Besides comprehensive themes there are snippets-so-to-speak
– insights on Madiba throughout Schechter’s book. The first chapter is titled “Athlete” and
among other things it addresses the competitiveness through a prison visit
story related to Schechter by Mandela’s long-time lawyer and friend George
Bizos.
So they brought a wonderful tray of
sandwiches and I noticed that I was having more sandwiches than Nelson was
having. And I said, “Why aren’t you
having more?” He then said that someone
– I don’t remember who – had beaten him at tennis a couple of days earlier, and
he had decided to become fitter in order to take his revenge.
On one occasion during negotiations competitiveness
corresponded to both morality and the struggle.
The event occurred at a public meeting where speeches were given and
President de Klerk positioned himself to talk last. Madiba had already spoken and de Klerk used
his time to attack the African National Congress. Nelson Mandela was furious and strode
directly to the microphone when de Klerk finished. Sahm Venter, who works at The Nelson Mandela
Centre of Memory, remembered the moment.
“He just got back up on the stage and let him have it, you know, cutting
him off at the knees. He could do that. I think he stands with a great deal of moral
authority.”
Madiba From A to Z
includes an exemplary oral history of Mandela’s release from prison by
combining Pippa Green’s journalism with the voices of Trevor Manual, Archbishop
Tutu, Dullah Omar, Thabo Mbeki, and Jay Naidoo.
The release story is also the perfect bridge from prison to negotiations
with the apartheid regime. When Richard
Stengel, the ghostwriter of Long Walk to
Freedom, asked Mandela about the greatest affect of prison, he responded,
“I came out mature.” Archbishop Tutu spoke
with Schechter.
He grew in his magnanimity. He became able to put himself in the shoes of
the other…. When he came out, only someone like him could have said to –
especially these young angry types – that no, we’ve got to go for negotiations. Very many of them had expected that they were
going to march into Pretoria at the ends of the barrels of their guns.
The book is arguably most thoughtful when discussing
Madiba’s role in negotiations with the apartheid regime. Schechter writes about early talks that
Mandela took part in while still in prison, and is careful to remind his
readers that there was contact, through his lawyer, George Bizos, and also eventually
by phone from prison, with Oliver Tambo and I would add sometimes Joe
Slovo. Schechter also addresses come of
the criticisms of the formal negotiations, specifically from Ronnie Kasrils,
but also provides the counterpoint through journalists Shaun Johnson and
Allister Sparks. Johnson argues that
without the compromises that Madiba initiated, again with comrades, the country
would have descended into civil war.
Sparks has written most prolifically on the negotiations – his book is
entitled, The Mind of South Africa: The
Rise and Fall of Apartheid. Sparks strongly
asserts, “The idea that Mandela sold out is absolutely rubbish.”
The chapter called “Negotiator” captures Nelson Mandela’s
economic twists and turns – both in negotiations and as the President. Opposing lead negotiators Cyril Ramaphosa and
Rolf Meyer are introduced and one of the critics of the new South Africa’s free
market economic plans, Patrick Bond, is quoted at length. We are reminded of Madiba’s early assertions
of nationalizing the mines and the banks, and also of Sampie Terrenblanche’s story
of Mandela’s weekly lunches with Harry Oppenheimer, the CEO of Anglo
American. In addition, we are reminded
of the agreements with the IMF as well as American businessmen and others at
the Davos World Economic Forum, having a great effect on Mandela changing as a
“free marketer.” The chapter ends with
critiques of the position from Kasrils and Jay Nadoo.
There is so much to learn about Nelson Mandela in this book
– things that were yet to be written.
While internationally there has been both disappointment and criticisms
of President Mandela’s addressing HIV-AIDS, we learn in this book of his
apologies to the AIDS activists upon leaving office as well as his attempts to
influence President Mbeki on the issue.
We learn of powerful non-public actions that Mandela took –
honoring, helping, and celebrating individuals whose names we don’t know. Yet, while Danny Schechter’s book honors
Madiba, the author does not shy away from the critiques.
There is some irony, of course, in the fact that Madiba A to Z was released just before
Nelson Mandela died. In a chapter
entitled “Onward,” Schechter opines on how the memorialization would play
out. We now know the breadth of eulogies
and articles – mostly of course honoring and some making Madiba a saint not a
man. Danny Schechter does treat Nelson
Mandela as a man – a great man, but a man.
This is a book with new insights on Madiba, quite incredible because the
list of prior books and articles is vast.
The book is special because the format, laying out Madiba A to Z, clearly facilitates the portrayal of the
complexities of Nelson Mandela.
