Nelson Mandela left this world as he entered it, and exactly as the Bible says we all will:

    For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it (1     Timothy 6:7).

My life has been the richer for admiring this man from afar. 

Here are my top five Mandela stories.

Sparring with the president

Shortly after Baby Jake Matlala returned home to Johannesburg as the first South African boxer to win a title fight on American soil he received a knock at his door. The visitor informed him that there was a man outside his gate who thought his victory in America was a fluke and that he was a better boxer. If Jake would like to step outside onto the footpath, the matter could be settled then and there. 

Baby Jake was furious and stormed past the man at his door, to front the impostor outside. 

He was confronted with the sight of his newly elected president, Nelson Mandela, replete in a pair of red boxing gloves and a grin from ear to ear. Matlala collapsed in his president’s arms. After he recovered, Mandela said he had come to congratulate him on the pride he brought to all South Africans with his American triumph and if he cared to invite his president in for a cup of tea, he would be honoured to accept.

Standing for the president

A South African friend, Ross, was enjoying a day’s cricket at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town when he was distracted by some conversation at the end of his row. He looked around to see Nelson Mandela, flanked by bodyguards, speaking to an Afrikaans lady. She was quite elderly and when she realised it was her president speaking to her she tried to get to her feet out of respect. But she was completely overwhelmed and flustered by the occasion and Mandela insisted that she remain seated.

The lady protested, “But I must stand. I must stand for my president.”

To which Mandela responded, “Well, Madam, if I am your president, then you must do as I tell you, and I want you to remain seated.”

Speaking for the president

Friends from Johannesburg were at a global medical conference in Bangkok many years after Nelson Mandela’s retirement. Liesel, a GP specialising in Aids and TB research, was an invited delegate, while Dave, her husband, went along for the ride.

Towards the end of the conference, Mandela made a guest appearance. He answered questions for about 30 minutes until his PA, noticing the elderly statesman began to show signs of tiring, strode to the microphone and gently informed the audience that Mandela had answered his last question and would retire from the platform.

A cacophony of groans erupted from around the auditorium, especially as there were still queues of questioners waiting patiently behind ‘house’ microphones. As Mandela began to walk from the podium, arm in arm with his Afrikaans PA, he paused, leaned into the microphone and said, “The Boss has spoken.”

Then, with no further resistance, he shuffled off the stage to thunderous applause.

Dressing up the president

Desmund Tutu was constantly criticising his president for dressing too casually at occasions the archbishop thought required more formal wear. Mandela preferred the colourful print shirts with a loose collar that hung over the trousers, which became known as the Madiba Shirt. Tutu wanted him in Western business suits on many of these occasions when he was meeting other heads of state.

After one of Tutu’s annoying chides, Mandela shot back, “Why should I take any advice about clothing from a man who wears a dress?”

Dealt kindly by the president

Another Johannesburg friend, Rory Steyn, had the privilege of being Mandela’s chief bodyguard and head of his security detail from 1994 to 1999, whenever the president was in Johannesburg and for Mandela’s visits to other parts of Africa and to Europe.

But for Mandela’s extraordinary kindness, Rory would have never had this privilege. In the very first weeks of this responsibility Rory was wrongly implicated in the bombing of the Johannesburg headquarters of the South African Council of Churches building which took place years earlier. One of Mandela’s advisors insisted that Steyn be sacked. Rory only asked that if he was to be sacked, that he had the opportunity to explain and defend his innocence.

Rory sat anxiously in the waiting room while the discussion about his future raged inside the president’s office. Rory had no assurance that he would even get to defend himself. Suddenly the doors burst open and Mandela strode out with a big smile on his face and greeted Rory with, “Ah Rory it’s good to see you. We have a big day ahead. We best get moving.” Rory breathed easy and sprang to his president’s side.

Rory later learnt that Mandela had responded to the accusations behind closed doors by saying, “I won’t dismiss him. He is such a young man with his whole career ahead of him.”

*        *        *

Mandela led like a servant. His command to that Afrikaans lady to remain seated was issued out of his love for her. He obeyed the command of his PA to finish his Q&A because he knew she cared about his welfare. He gave Rory a second chance.

One infinitely greater than the world’s finest president has issued his words of loving authority to people who don’t know what is best for them.

It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who knows knows our frame, our frailty, our failures and our need for forgiveness and what a long walk to freedom really looks like:

    If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

    So if the Son sets you free you will indeed be free (John 8:36).

And second chances are his specialty.
 

Feature photo: Government ZA