MADIBA: HOW HE BECAME IMMORTAL

The Boston Sunday Globe said of his Long Walk to Freedom, ‘’should be read by every person alive.’’ Were he a Catholic, million faithfuls the world over would have scrambled without prompting to initiate a cause for his canonization as a saint as they did for Mother Theresa. More heads of state and governments will attend his funeral than attended the UNs special General Assembly to vote on the next line of action after Syria crossed Obama’s red line. He has been out of government since 1998, yet anywhere he visited he was received as royalty.

Typically in my leadership seminars, I would project the iconic portraits of Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Lee Kuan Yew and others on the screen and ask the participants to say what one attribute they thought makes one a great leader. One word always rises to the top of the pile: selflessness. In effect, selfless service is the one true tester for great leadership. No matter how adroit journalists tried to force on him the toga of achievement, he always gently corrected them: it was not me, but us: me and my comrades. 

Madiba was never extreme on any matter, except on the one thing that mattered, the struggle.  The struggle defined him. As he said, ‘’the struggle is my life’’, and when once the goal of that struggle was achieved, he was no more than an ordinary South African, concerned with taking good care of his family. He dedicated his Long Walk to Freedom to his six children (mentioning each by name), twenty one grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren who according to him, ‘’give me great pleasure’’. He never forgot his bigger constituency. He dedicated his autobiography also to all his comrades, friends, and fellow South Africans whom according to him, ‘’I serve and whose courage, determination, and patriotism remain my source of inspiration.’’

Madiba had largeness of heart. In short, he was forgiving.  Though he never once spoke it out that way, to him, vengeance was of the Lord’s.  What was paramount for him was not taking away from those who had, but making the playing field equal for all South Africans: Blacks, Indians and Whites. For forgiving his enemies without an iota of bitterness, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, shared with the representative of his former tormentors, ex-president F. W. de Clerk. According to the co-honoree, de Clerk, Madiba deserves the image as ‘’one of the greatest men on earth.’’

He was not rapacious. Despite the extreme poverty he was born into (he regularly went without food; trekked for miles to conserve the little money he had; wore patched suites) he never set out to acquire as much as he could when he eventually had the opportunity. He didn’t seize the ANC (African National Congress) apparatus and install his cronies and comrades as movers and shakers. To him, the party was supreme. He didn’t elevate his children to ministerial positions, or insisted the party did so to compensate for the 27 years he was incarcerated. He indeed didn’t seek special privileges for anyone; all he sought was equality for all. He was patriotic through and through.

Madiba’s 95 years of extraordinary life can be distilled to three defining traits: faith, fire, and focus. Faith, which stands for the believe that good will always triumph over evil. Fire, which stands for the passion to pursue one’s goal with messianic zeal ready to pay the supreme price if need be. And finally focus, which stands for the prescience of mind to discern the bigger picture no matter how much you are buffeted by innumerable other forces. All truly great leaders exhibit these three traits but Madiba possessed them in far greater abundance than any other person in living memory. 

Darkness did not fall on the face of the earth when Madiba gave up the ghost. He neither instituted any sagely teachings nor issued any manifestos. No green or red book espouses his philosophy. He lived what he believed in, because it is easy to lie with words, but far more difficult to lie with our actions. Tributes upon tributes eulogize and will continue to eulogize him, reaching a crescendo on the day he will be laid to a final rest in Qunu, his ancestral home, from whence he came to demonstrate to the world a model in selfless leadership. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela has slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God as he becomes immortal.  Madiba adieu!