Commonway Visioning

Below please find an unusual book review.  This is a review of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography (his second, the privilege of living a long life!), written by a man who knows him well: F. W. de Klerk, the last President of “Apartheid” South Africa.

This is no syrupy sweet reminiscence; in several places, de Klerk talks about tensions that existed between the two men during the negotiations for a free South Africa — and its clear that the tensions are still there.

The fact that he would go through the trouble of writing a review, and such an authentically generous one, prompted me to repeat it here.  Thanks to my friend Dave Steward, Executive Director of the F. W. de Klerk Foundation, for bringing this to my attention.

Peace,

Sharif

(PS: I kept the Afrikaans version, just in case someone can read it!)

F W DE KLERK’S VIEWS ON ‘CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF’ BY NELSON MANDELA

All autobiographies are contrived by their authors to present themselves as they would like to seen by subsequent generations.  Collections of contemporary writings and notes are often more revealing because they were not written with the intention of creating this or that historic impression.   For this reason I found Nelson Mandela’s recently published ‘Conversations with Myself’ more revealing of the man than his autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” – and in many respects more moving as well.

The book is a relatively unstructured collection of extracts from Mandela’s correspondence,  unpublished writings, interviews and items jotted down in his old Satour Calendars.   The collection includes numerous reproductions from notebooks and correspondence in Mandela’s bold, rounded and confident handwriting – which changes little over the decades of resistance, imprisonment and, finally,  vindication.

Early extracts point to the foundation of Nelson Mandela’s political persona in Xhosa traditional institutions:
“Western civilisation has not entirely rubbed off my African background and I have not forgotten the days of my childhood when we used to gather round community elders to listen to their wealth of wisdom and experience.  That was the custom of our forefathers and the traditional school in which we were brought up.”

They also point to his subsequent political development – including his attitude to communism.  In response to a question whether his attendance of communist party meetings did not make him sympathetic to communism, he replied
“No,  no,  no , no, no, no.  … No it was interesting.  I wouldn’t say it was liberating. And that is why I attacked the Communists, you see, when I became involved politically.  And I didn’t think it was liberating.  I thought Marxism was something that actually was subjecting us to a foreign ideology.”

The extracts clearly reveal that Mandela was one of the leading proponents for armed struggle – against the objections and traditions of the ANC leadership of the time:
The Chief Albert Luthuli, Yengwa and others opposed this (the armed struggle) very strongly.  So we knew of course that we were going to get a position from the Chief, because he believed in non-violence as a principle, whereas we believed in it as a tactic…”

Although there can be no doubt regarding the frustrations experienced by young militant ANC members at that time, I believe that Mandela’s decision to opt for armed struggle was wrong both in principle and tactically.   The armed struggle  had limited military significance – but it did escalate the conflict to another level and inevitably resulted in greater bitterness, recrimination and loss of life on all sides.

Mandela’s decision also led inexorably to his own arrest and trial in which he and his co-defendants expected that they would be sentenced to death.

Mandela lived – but faced with equanimity and courage the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison.   His writings nevertheless reveal the anguish that he experienced in being separated from his family:
“I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others.  Can there be anything more important than looking after your mother approaching the age of 60, building her a dream house, giving her good food, nice clothing and all one’s love?”

Mandela eloquently expressed his thoughts when his son was killed in a car accident in 1969:
“The blow had been equally grievous to me.  In addition to the fact that I had not seen him for at least sixty months, I was neither privileged to give him a wedding ceremony nor to lay him to rest when the fatal hour had struck….All these expectations have now been completely shattered for he was taken away at the early age of 24 and we will never see him again.”

In a letter to his wife Winnie in June, 1969, Mandela expresses his views on the indomitable spirit of the true revolutionary:
“Honour belongs to those who never forsake the truth even when things seem dark and grim, who try over and over again, who are never discouraged by insults, humiliation and even defeat.”

This was more than lip service.  In December, 1984, he firmly rejected the prospect of early release when his close relative Kaiser Matanzima offered him refuge in the Transkei.  Instead, he resigned himself to the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison:
“The ideals which we cherish, our fondest dreams and fervent hopes may not be realised in our lifetime. But that is besides the point.  The knowledge that in your day you did your duty, and lived up to the expectations of your fellow men is in itself a rewarding experience and magnificent achievement.”

As we all know, Mandela’s courage and faith were eventually fully recognised  in 1990 when he was released from prison to play a leading role in the negotiations for a non-racial constitutional democracy.  During the negotiations, our relations were frequently placed under enormous strain by continuing faceless violence.  Mandela did not hesitate to charge me with complicity in the violence – and I always wondered whether this was a reflection of his actual views – or whether he was simply playing to the political gallery.  The extracts from his book indicate that he really thought that the government was, at the very least, doing nothing to stop the violence:
“My experience and that of my comrades in the ANC is that the De Klerk government shows no will at all, of wanting to adequately deal with this crucial problem.”

Mandela launched a vitriolic attack on me after the Boipatong massacre in which he claimed that the ‘unprovoked slaughter of innocent people’ was part of a government plan.  The TRC’s Amnesty Committee subsequently found that IFP hostel dwellers had acted alone and that there had been no government involvement.  Naturally, I never received an apology.

I find Mandela’s views on violence somewhat disingenuous.  He must have known of the ANC’s own deep involvement in the mini civil war against the IFP which accounted for the greatest proportion of the deaths.  He must also have understood the enormous risks that the ANC took in June 1992 when it decided to abandon the CODESA negotiations and sought instead to bring about the collapse of the government through rolling mass action – in what became known as the Leipzig Option.  To his credit, it was Mandela who led his comrades back to the negotiating table after the Bisho massacre

Notwithstanding any criticism one might have, the man who emerges from  ‘Conversations with Myself’ is, by any measure, a towering figure, not only in South African history but in the history of the twentieth century.  He went on as President to play an exemplary role in uniting and reconciling South Africa’s deeply divided people.

F W DE KLERK SE OPMERKINGS OOR ‘CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF’ DEUR NELSON MANDELA

Die meeste outobiografieë beeld gewoonlik die outobiograaf uit soos wat hy of sy deur die nageslag onthou wil word.  Versamelings van eietydse geskrifte en notas is dikwels meer onthullend omdat dit nie geskryf is met die oog daarop om een of ander historiese indruk te skep nie.  Om hierdie rede voel ek dat Nelson Mandela se onlangs gepubliseerde ‘Conversations with Myself’ meer van homself onthul as sy outobiografie “Long Walk to Freedom” – en dat in baie opsigte ook meer roerend is.

Die boek bestaan uit `n relatief ongestruktureerde versameling uittreksels van Mandela se korrespondensie, ongepubliseerde geskrifte, onderhoude en aantekeninge wat hy op sy ou Satoer kalenders gemaak het.  Die versameling sluit verskeie reproduksies in van notaboekies en korrespondensie in Mandela se sterk, volronde en selfversekerde handskrif – wat min verander het oor die dekades van weerstand, gevangenskap en, uiteindelik, vrylating.

Vroeë uittreksels wys op die grondslag van Nelson Mandela se politieke persona in Xhosa tradisionele instellings:

“Western civilisation has not entirely rubbed off my African background and I have not forgotten the days of my childhood when we used to gather round community elders to listen to their wealth of wisdom and experience.  That was the custom of our forefathers and the traditional school in which we were brought up.”

Dit wys ook op sy daaropvolgende politieke ontwikkeling – insluitend sy houding teenoor kommunisme.  In antwoord op `n vraag oor of sy bywoning van kommunistiese party-vergaderings hom nie simpatiek teenoor kommunisme gemaak het nie, het hy gesê:

“No,  no,  no , no, no, no.  … No it was interesting.  I wouldn’t say it was liberating. And that is why I attacked the Communists, you see, when I became involved politically.  And I didn’t think it was liberating.  I thought Marxism was something that actually was subjecting us to a foreign ideology.”

Die uittreksels onthul duidelik dat Mandela een van die leidende voorstanders was vir gewapende stryd – teen die besware en tradisies van die ANC-leierskap in daardie tyd:

The Chief Albert Luthuli, Yengwa and others opposed this (the armed struggle) very strongly.  So we knew of course that we were going to get a position from the Chief, because he believed in non-violence as a principle, whereas we believed in it as a tactic…”

Alhoewel daar geen twyfel kan wees oor die frustrasies wat jong militante ANC-lede in daardie tyd ervaar het nie, glo ek dat Mandela se besluit om gewapende stryd voor te staan, takties en in beginsel, verkeerd was.  Die gewapende stryd het `n beperkte militêre betekenis gehad – maar dit het die konflik tot `n nuwe vlak laat toeneem en het onvermydelik gelei tot groter bitterheid, wedersydse verwyte en lewensverlies aan alle kante.

Mandela se besluit het ook noodwendig gelei tot sy eie inhegtenisname en verhoor, waarin hy en sy medebeskuldigdes verwag het dat hulle ter dood veroordeel sou word.

Dit het anders verloop en daaroor is almal dankbaar.  Met kalmte en dapperheid het hy die vooruitsig dat hy die res van sy lewe in die tronk sou deurbring, in die gesig gestaar.  Sy skrywes onthul nogtans die diepe smart wat hy ervaar het om van sy familie geskei te wees:

“I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others.  Can there be anything more important than looking after your mother approaching the age of 60, building her a dream house, giving her good food, nice clothing and all one’s love?”

Mandela het op roerende wyse sy gedagtes uitgedruk toe sy seun gesterf het in `n motorongeluk in 1969:

“The blow had been equally grievous to me.  In addition to the fact that I had not seen him for at least sixty months, I was neither privileged to give him a wedding ceremony nor to lay him to rest when the fatal hour had struck….All these expectations have now been completely shattered for he was taken away at the early age of 24 and we will never see him again.”

In `n brief aan sy vrou Winnie in Junie, 1969, het Mandela sy opvattings oor die ontembare gees van die ware revolusionêr neergepen:

“Honour belongs to those who never forsake the truth even when things seem dark and grim, who try over and over again, who are never discouraged by insults, humiliation and even defeat.”

Dít was meer as bloot lippediens.  In Desember, 1984, het hy die moontlikheid van vroeë vrylating ferm geweier, toe sy nabye familielid Kaiser Matanzima hom toevlug gebied het in die Transkei.  In stede daarvan het hy hom berus by die vooruitsig dat hy die res van sy lewe in die tronk sou deurbring:

“The ideals which we cherish, our fondest dreams and fervent hopes may not be realised in our lifetime. But that is besides the point.  The knowledge that in your day you did your duty, and lived up to the expectations of your fellow men is in itself a rewarding experience and magnificent achievement.”

Soos ons almal weet is Mandela se dapperheid en geloof uiteindelik in 1990 ten volle erken toe hy vrygelaat is.  Dit het hom in staat gestel om `n leidende rol te speel in die onderhandelings vir `n nie-rassige grondwetlike demokrasie.  In daardie tydperk is ons verhouding dikwels onder groot druk geplaas deur voortdurende gesiglose geweld.  Mandela het nie gehuiwer om my te beskuldig van medepligtigheid aan die geweld nie – en ek het altyd gewonder of dit `n weerspieëling van sy werklike opinie was, en of dit bloot toneelspel vir die politieke galery was.  Die uittreksels uit sy boek dui aan dat hy werklik – ondanks al die stappe wat ek en die regering gedoen het – gedink het dat die regering, op die heel minste, niks gedoen het om die geweld te stop nie:

“My experience and that of my comrades in the ANC is that the De Klerk government shows no will at all, of wanting to adequately deal with this crucial problem.”

Mandela het `n venynige aanval op my geloods ná die Boipatong-slagting, waarin hy beweer het dat die ‘onuitgelokte slagting van onskuldige mense’ deel was van `n regeringsplan.  Die WVK se amnestiekomitee het daaropvolgens bevind dat IVP-hostel inwoners alleen opgetree het en dat daar geen betrokkenheid van die regering was nie.  Natuurlik is ek nooit `n verskoning aangebied nie.

Ek vind Mandela se opvattings oor geweld ietwat onopreg.  Hy moes geweet het van die ANC se eie noue betrokkenheid in die mini-burgeroorlog teen die IVP waaraan die meeste van die sterftes toegeskryf kan word.  Hy moes ook begrip gehad het vir die enorme risiko’s toe die ANC in Junie 1992 besluit het om te onttrek aan die KODESA-onderhandelings en toe hulle die regering tot `n val wou bring deur rollende massa-aksie – ‘n proses wat later bekend sou staan as die Leipzig-opsie.  Tot sy krediet was dit Mandela wat sy kamerade terug gelei het na die onderhandelingstafel, ná die Bisho-slagting.

Ten spyte van enige kritiek wat `n mens mag hê, is die man wat na vore tree in ‘Conversations with Myself’ `n indrukwekkende figuur, nie net in die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis nie maar ook in die geskiedenis van die twintigste eeu.  Hy het voortgegaan om as President `n uitnemende rol te speel in die proses om Suid-Afrika se erg verdeelde mense te verenig en versoen.