Nelson Mandela was prepared to die to free South Africa from the evil of Apartheid.

Rory Steyn, Mandela’s chief bodyguard, was prepared to die for his president. 

God’s Son, Christ our King, came and died to reconcile his people to their Creator.

This is the message that Rory Steyn is passionate about and returns to Sydney, at Anglican Aid’s invitation, to share across the Sydney Diocese and as far north as Port Macquarie and Nambucca Heads, and south to Kiama.

Mandela changed Rory from deep suspicion and cynicism to a steadfast belief in the integrity of his president’s words when Mandela said that South Africa was for all of its people, both black and white.

Jesus changed Rory from an independent and arrogant rebel against God to a trusting follower of the One who died to free Rory from the penalty of sin and reconcile him to his Creator for all eternity.

Rory, an officer in the South African Police Force, was responsible for VIP protection in the greater Johannesburg region when Mandela was inaugurated as the first president of a democratic Republic of South Africa in 1994.

He recalls sitting in a communications room in a hotel in Sandton, a swanky suburb of Johannesburg. He was surrounded by TV monitors taking live feeds from hotels all over the city. Rory had just overseen the accommodation of 184 Heads of State in and out of their plush hotels and into fleets of police-escorted cars for the 60 km motorcade up the M1 to the inauguration in Pretoria. Trying to satisfy the demands of seniority of African dictators who expected to to leave and arrive last and have the most prestigious seats was, in itself, a logistical nightmare within the whole massive operation.

Rory had hardly slept for 48 hours but now he was putting his feet up with a steaming hot cup of coffee to watch the inauguration in a rare moment of relaxation and solitude. 

But his hands-on responsibilities were far from over. He was the man responsible for VIP protection in Johannesburg. Someone had come up with the great idea of filling Ellis Park  Stadium with 60,000 soccer fans for an international friendly between South Africa and Zambia. This would ease the congestion on the M1 and the lawns of Pretoria’s impressive Union Buildings, scene of Mandela’s oath of office and inauguration as President. But Mandela had decided that between inauguration and the luncheon banquet he would fly by chopper to Ellis Park to greet the players.

His protection team had VIP cars waiting at the heli-pad next door to the stadium. Mandela arrived on cue. The cars drove only a few metres into the reception area behind the President’s Suite, up several ramps where the newly sworn-in president alighted from the vehicle with Rory and his team, entered the VIP suite, descended in the lift and Mandela walked onto the pitch to the thunderous applause of the hysterical crowd.

Mandela shook hands and chatted with the two teams. The scores were 0-0 at half time but by the time Mandela was back in the President’s Suite taking leave of his hosts, South Africa had scored two second half goals. Rory often speaks of the ‘Madiba Magic‘ and it would return a year later to haunt the All Blacks in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final played at the same ground.

As the cars were about to depart the stadium to take Mandela back to the chopper, Rory says that something happened that convinced him that Mandela was the real deal and not full of empty political rhetoric. Mandela asked that his car be stopped. Without explaining his actions, Mandela alighted from the car and approached an old Afrikaans police colonel standing, sentry like, in full regalia at the exit to the vehicle ramp.

Rory and his team followed closely behind, bewildered at Mandela’s impromptu behaviour. After all, 184 heads of state were waiting for him to host them to lunch!

Without any media to record the incident the black president spoke to the white colonel and, with only Rory and colleagues overhearing the one-on-one conversation, Mandela greeted, thanked and assured the old colonel that it was no longer ‘you and us’. “From today, you are our police,” the president assured the colonel.

The colonel had tears rolling down his cheeks and dropping softly on the parquetry floor. The president placed his hand on the colonel’s shoulder and said, ‘It’s okay Colonel, I just wanted you to know that,’ and returned to the car and back to Pretoria by chopper for the lunch.

At that moment, Rory knew that Mandela was the genuine article, and he would be more than honoured to serve his president as Team Leader of his personal bodyguard.

You can hear Rory Steyn at several meetings being held across Sydney and the Illawarra from this Thursday to Sunday.