Word: mandelas
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...those astonishing ironies of history, many have invested their hopes in Nelson Mandela, the aged black revolutionary now endowed with almost mythic stature. Imprisoned for life for sedition, unseen and largely unheard from for more than 27 years, he is somehow expected to lead South Africa to salvation. But can any man perform that miracle? Is South Africa really ready to be led out of the wilderness of apartheid into the promised land of . . . of what? The black dream of a nonracial democratic society -- in short, black rule? Or something less, a revision of the old system in which white...
...current wave of hope has an epicenter, it is at the end of a dirt lane on the grounds of Victor Verster Prison Farm, 35 miles east of Cape Town, where Mandela remains confined. There, in a comfortable three-bedroom former warder's house overlooking the vineyards of the Franschhoek Valley, Mandela rises early each morning to begin another day of appointments. The government suggests that his freedom is imminent, but even while still behind a prison fence, Mandela is already playing his self-appointed role as "facilitator...
...choice of that word seems to indicate that he has accepted the job of wresting tangible results from this moment of opportunity. For three years Mandela has held periodic meetings with a team of government officials, and since November he has had sessions with Cabinet ministers as well as almost daily talks with anti-apartheid leaders to try to find a common meeting ground. The 71-year-old prisoner, still tall and distinguished looking, his smooth face barely lined, his black hair just flecked with gray, greets each visitor with a smiling embrace...
...Mandela's unconditional release is widely regarded as the key to implementing the government's promises of reform. It is believed that if anyone can bridge the vast divides between whites and blacks, and among the blacks themselves, Mandela can. The white government looks on him as a born- again moderate, a "man you can negotiate with," as De Klerk himself decided. For blacks, Mandela may be the one who, as the personification of their long suffering, can help them transcend the disagreements over strategy and allegiance that have splintered their strength, and bargain on equal terms with the whites...
When he is freed, Mandela will walk out into a world vastly different from the strict apartheid society he vowed to overthrow. Starting with then Prime Minister P.W. Botha's warning in 1979 that whites must "adapt or die," the idea of changing national institutions and the realization that power should be shared with the black majority have moved into the mainstream. That change of attitude has been given real impetus in the five months since De Klerk was elected to succeed Botha. With a speed that surprised almost everyone, the new and little-known President made a series...