Mandela - The truths he never told

By Robin Hind

On 11 February 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and gave a speech, now well known, from the Town Hall in the City of Cape Town, which heralded much about subsequent events.

He subsequently received many accolades and tributes which deemed him to be a great statesman, wise, forgiving and an engineer of peace. He has been described as exemplifying compassion, courage, integrity and hope and was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace.

If he were to justify his praise-singers, if he were sincere in his compassion about the conditions of all peoples in Africa, if he were the messenger who could change the attitudes of entire societies and so better the lot of the misfortunate and unsuccessful, if he were to clearly distinguish and separate himself from the criminal political tyrants of Africa, his speech might have taken this form:



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Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans.

I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.

I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.

On this day of my release, I extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my release.

I have therefore been chosen to act as spokesperson for my people. I speak not only on their behalf, but I speak to them in the hope that they will recognise the value of the country of which they will inherit a mandate via the electoral process.

The adverse anti-white propaganda which has infested Africa and which eventually began to infect South Africa has had the great danger of causing discontent among many in the population. It has afflicted many, from academics to the least educated of the population, and with so many dangerous possibilities, it exists as the greatest threat to the future of South Africa.

At the outset I wish to apologise to the nation for my involvement in the brutality with which I had been compliant, directly or indirectly, in the past. But I wish to salute, and am grateful for, the fair and forgiving judicial system which characterised South Africa and for which I recognise, in retrospect, my personal indebtedness.

I am grateful for my education, and the capacity which it gave me to become a leader, given my humble of origins. I'm grateful to the culture provided to me by white civilisation and which allowed this education to reach me, as little removed as I was, by my accident of birth; from my origins which were so close to elemental man.

I wish to remind the black population of the benefits they received under white administration. South Africa has become, in not more than three generations, the leading Nation in the entire continent of Africa. It must be obvious to all that is solely the result of the capabilities of the white race, and we must remember forever the contribution of the whites to the well being of black South Africa. It is not by chance that millions of people in the impoverished regions of Africa have clamoured to enter South Africa, whilst it was under white rule, and to benefit from the presence of that unique quality of administration, leadership, orderliness and creativity which the white race brought into this small part of this continent.

We are grateful for what has been created in this wild continent within half a century and the economic success which we are inheriting.

We recognise an extraordinary infrastructure, ranging from transportation on land air and sea, through to the industrial giant which has led black South Africans to a wealth which could not possibly have achieved without the presence of the white race. We must recognise, with appreciation, the costs borne by the white race and that tiny group of taxpayers, at all times only a small fraction of the population -- who offered their support to the black population.

My great fear is that the white race will not forgive me, and my people, for what, as the black race, we have done to them in the way of wars and crimes, inflicted on this small and isolated minority, by a greatly outnumbering majority. We, as I stand here, are grateful for their magnanimity.

I wish to make it clear to the black population the magnitude and importance of the white creators, and request that is never be forgotten.

I also wish the black population to understand that the future success of South Africa is bound to the preservation of the white population, with their expertise, skills, and unique understanding of the land, its challengers, and demands.

I wish to thank the past government for their endeavour and great achievement in creating the Bantustans, with the economic development and incentives which the white race promoted. This availed the black race of an instructional pathway towards an understanding of a democratic and capitalist capability. Let us never forget that as a black race we had never been capable of creating this level of sophistication in the past.

I realise, naturally, that separated development was equally important to the white race. This was understandable given the hope that the white race had that the majority of people in South Africa could take their place with the world’s most productive, to the benefit of all. It has to be recognised, also, that the white race required some means of protecting of their complex civilisation and its material manifestations. The only practical way to do this was to ensure that black productivity and creativity caught up with that of the whites. This was the only pathway towards overcoming the destructive effects of that inequality which birth, heritage, chance and circumstances had inflicted upon the black races throughout the world.

We, in South Africa, are totally dependent on the white race to continue to lead us into the 21st century with that prospect of an increasing prosperity for the entire nation.

We are fortunate to be colonised by the white race and their capacity for patronage which was designed to lead the black race ahead towards incorporation as legitimate members into the first world. It was this which made the black races of South Africa uniquely different. In South Africa we are the most fortunate black groups in the whole of Africa, let alone the Caribbean and South-Central America, to have this patronage. Others have had the opportunity of white beneficiation in their counties before, only to mindlessly destroy their prospects by short term greed and long term foolhardiness.

Never make the mistake of regarding the white race as your enemy. They are you greatest allies in the context of the world as a whole, and allies in the commercial competition which South Africa will face in the future. To turn on the white race would be like a snake eating its tail, with the excuse that it is hungry. Remember, by the power of your numbers you are regarded as the jaws of the snake – so powerful and important if used correctly – so destructive if used mindlessly.

A goal which has always been acknowledged, and which has always been the ultimate aim of all South Africans, is that the black race was to evolve and prosper. But we need the guidance of a civilisation far, far older than that of the black races.

If you wish to preserve out superbly successful system of justice, law and social order: if you wish to preserve the academic triumphs of South African education: if you wish to ensure the future of the health, shelter and nutrition of our people, and to approach the standards of living parallel with that of the best in the world, you must ensure that nothing interferes with the desire of the white race to continue to live safely and productively in South Africa.

We must do everything possible to encourage the white race to stay. To that end the new government will enact legislation to prevent any jeopardy to the employment of members of the white race. We must recognise that the vast achievements of this extraordinary minority will not make them immune to the lure of greater and wealthier nations, which will be only too willing to recruit their many arms of expertises. We will encourage those white South Africans, currently abroad to return by assisting them with passages and offering special tax benefits. This should be looked at as an investment in the future of the black races, and an inexpensive investment at that.

I emphasise that there must never and absolutely never be discrimination against our white South African partners, if South Africa is to maintain its position on the very brink of the first world. Nothing must threaten the investments by the first world, and the unique bridge provided by white South Africans in linking the first world to South Africa by their associations, financial links and their language heritage with Europe.

There must never be a place for boasting about past military success or terrorising a population. There is no place for triumphalism: There is no place for gloating over battles in which thousands of young lives were lost.

There is no place for capitalising upon or parading the diversionary issues in the world, such as the communist capitalist divide, praising the causes of rigid and inflexible personalities, or praising those individuals who took a stubborn stances in promoting their cults obsessively and immutably.

Remember that equality begins with the individual. If respect and dignity are required every individual must demonstrate himself or herself as being equally capable to those whose respect is demanded. No one can expect dignity and respect if they remain inferior. The inferior will beget themselves tolerance, compassion and assistance, but it is unreasonable for the inferior to expect to be treated as equals. Each of you, as individuals, will need to generate the responses that you receive reflected back from societies, in the building your self-esteem. But you cannot demand: You get back what you give out. It is now up to you, Black South Africa, to demonstrate that you are up to it. Create your own esteem.

In conclusion I wish to quote my own words during my trial in 1964. They are true today as they were then:

'I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.’

There will never be a need for any of you to sacrifice yourselves, unless you are foolish enough to let haste, greed, arrogance, aggression, intolerance, lack of humility and avarice become your destructive masters.

Robin Hind