By Evelyn Harford

Nelson Mandela, a black South African anti-apartheid activist, was released from prison 25 years ago. Crowds gathered to watch Mandela’s walk to freedom from the Cape Town prison where he was held.

Mandela’s freedom marked a symbolic movement away from racism and inequality that was institutionalized in South Africa by the near 30 decades of apartheid.

Denzil Feinberg, a white Cape Town native remembers the day well. Feinberg watched Mandela walk through the streets of Cape Town as a free man.

“There was great elation,” he said.

Mandela addressed the world in a speech immediately after release. In it, Mandela preached the end of apartheid and looked ahead to a free, equal and democratic South Africa.

Feinberg listen closely to the message.

“I thought finally, we got a change,” he said. “And because he was so respected there wasn’t a fear of anything going wrong. We thought that South Africans would just make it work.”

Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for his resistance against the apartheid government of South Africa. His release marked a significant shift in hope for the black population of South Africa.

Kuhle Mthembu, a black South African was only eight-years-old at the time of his release.

“I knew that his release was a massive moment,” said Mthembu.

“It was all over the news, all over the papers, and there was an air about the country. One of hope and fear,” she said.

“Black people were hopeful that finally they could live like and be treated as humans in their own home, and white people were fearful that black folk would want to retaliate and possibly a civil war would break out. ”

Instead of violence, Mandela tried to rally the nation into peace, reconciliation and trust. A fair and free election was held four years after Mandela’s release in which, Mandela became the first black President of South Africa.

However, Mandela’s vision of peace, tolerance and reconciliation have been met with disappointment since his release in 1990.

“People invested in Mandela at a symbolic level and their expectations were over the moon,” explained Chris Brown, a professor of South African politics at Carleton University.

“There are these huge expectations, combined with a real lack of knowledge of what he believed and what he would do,” said Brown.

The high expectation of Mandela’s power and vision for reconciliation in South Africa caused part of the disappointment in South Africa.

Feinberg said that in South Africa today, “There is more violence and fear than ever before.”

Feinberg now, 71 lives in Canada; he is Treasurer of the South African Rainbow Nation Association in Ottawa. He says although he will visit his home country he would never live in South Africa again.

The increase in violence is largely equated with economic inequality. Mandela wanted to reduce the large gaps between the rich white population and the poor black population.

“You have not seen the transformation of economic inequality between the black elite and the poor. The white population remains well off for the most part and the black pop remains in the same place that they were,” said Brown.

“Economics is the biggest issue in this country,” agreed Mthembu. “Race is not number one. Simple economics. Race is no more an issue here than it is in most other countries.”

Mandela’s legacy of peace, equality and reconciliation will never be forgotten. However, Methembu warns however that South Africans need to have realistic expectations of his impact.

“He was not God,” said Mthembu. “Like all freedom fighters across the ages, he along with his fellow comrades, was a man, with a dream.”

Mthembu does recognize that as a public and political figure, Mandela did change fundamental rights for black South Africans–including the right to vote.

However, Mthembu worries South Africans lean too much on the symbolism that Mandela represents.

Mthembu admitted, “He had not been active for a long time. And South Africans have been hiding behind his dream for long enough.”

Blame on the past will not change the future said Mthembu.

“Until people stop thinking that over 400 years of colonialism can be rectified in two decades, we will keep having problems.”

Documentation:

Mandela’s Speech—Washington Post, Feb. 12, 1990.

1) This document provided the transcribed version of Mandela’s first speech that he made to a crowd in Cape Town, South Africa upon his release from prison.
2a) I obtained this document through the newspaper archive search on Proquest.
2b) This document gave me the background to understand how Mandela’s vision was outlined and indeed eluded to in the speech he addressed South Africa with. It allowed me to chart the expectations Mandela set out for South Africa and analyze how these expectations have been a source of disappointment in South African 25 years later.

Exiles Jubilant, Cautious About Mandela’s Release—Washington Post, Feb. 11, 1990.

1) This document appeared in the Washington Post on the day of Mandela’s release.
2a) I obtained this document through Proquest archive searches.
2b) This document gave the perspective of the South African Diaspora on Mandela’s release. The article brings home the idea that although most South Africans have never personally met Mandela they feel connected to his message and what his symbolized at the time of his release (resistance, freedom and change).