Sign up

JOHANNESBURG — At a time when the world seems sorely lacking in global statesmen — larger than life figures who manage to shape world events, transcend national borders and become universally admired — I always hark back to Nelson Mandela.

The South African anti-apartheid stalwart emerged from 27 years in prison eschewing bitterness and counseling a policy of reconciliation and racial unity. He used his moral suasion to build a “rainbow nation” in a country then teetering on the brink of an all-out civil war. He was elected South Africa’s first Black president in 1994 and served just one term — a rare example of humility on a continent where “Big Man” leaders are often loath to relinquish power.

But more than a decade after Mandela’s death in 2013, his legacy is undergoing something of a reassessment in his country. Less than the canonized figure he remains in the West, Mandela to many young South Africans is linked to today’s problems — searing poverty, widespread unemployment and a yawning racial economic gap. The ruling party he led, the African National Congress has lately become more identified with corruption and incompetent management than the liberation struggle.

Tourists still line up for selfies at the base of the 20-foot bronze statue of “Madiba” (his familiar clan name) overlooking Nelson Mandela Square, a plaza of high-end restaurants adjoining Sandton City, South Africa’s ritziest shopping mall.

Three miles and half a world away, in the teeming township........

© Washington Post