01x03 - The Whole World Is Watching

[bunniefuu]

ARCHIVE: Nelson Mandela has been
in the Volkshospitaal for two weeks,

recovering from
a prostate operation,

confined to a heavily guarded ward.

VOICE OF WINNIE MANDELA:
His illness has caused grave concern,

not only to us as a family
but to the entire world.

JOHN BATTERSBY:
I remember that very clearly.

Suddenly, I realised Mandela
was no longer sitting in jail,

he was in hospital
where I'd had my tonsils out.


had become ungovernable.

g*nf*re, SHOUTING

Bloodshed on the streets all over.

And that's the time Mandela ended up
in hospital with a prostate gland.

The government was worried.

If this cancer spread
and Mandela died in prison,

there won't be an uprising in
South Africa, there will be a w*r.

So the Minister of Justice,
Kobie Coetsee, visit Mandela.

Mandela was completely astonished.

The Minister of Justice
of the apartheid regime

walks into his ward and greets him
and wants to have a chat.

But Mandela, being able
to control his emotions

and not have immediate reactions,
then welcomes Kobie Coetsee

as though he was a long lost friend.

You are now really moving towards
the goal posts of the story.

How many leaders
have that magnetism?

The Africans, they want
political independence.

Only Mandela.

We are fighting for a South Africa

which can only be led by him.

All over the world...

couldn't rest,
we had to get him out!

CROWD CHANTING

They've got no education.

They've only just come down
from the trees.

The alternative is bloodshed.

The alternative is m*rder.

I will have nothing to do

with any organisation
that practises violence.

You know that this can never,
has never...

and will never be right.

♪ Free ♪

♪ Nelson Mandela ♪

It was a global struggle against
blatant racism and oppression.

Social movements
can change the world

and music can have
that political power.

We are here to celebrate
Nelson Mandela's birthday!

CHEERING

You must free him.

And in freeing him,
you free the people of South Africa.

♪ Free ♪

♪ Nelson Mandela. ♪

What turned me on to South Africa
was a song.

♪ September '77... ♪
STEVEN VAN ZANDT, MUSICIAN

Biko by Peter Gabriel.

It was so good
that I decided to look into it.

♪ Biko, Biko ♪

♪ Because Biko... ♪

It just went right to my soul.

I need to know exactly
what's going on, you know?

And so I went down there
and I was really shocked.

They were teaching it
as a part of their religion

that black people were not human,

that they were animals.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: They've got
no education,

and it'll take them
a couple of hundred years.

They've only just come down
from the trees.

And then you have 23 million
can't vote because they're black?

This is deep, man.

This is deeper than
the kind of racism I was used to.

And I'm down there, and part of
the journey was to go to Sun City

and... have some fun along the way.
You know?

ARCHIVE: Sun City, it's
a lavish resort where you can relax

and enjoy some of the world's
headline entertainers.

It's the showplace
of Bophuthatswana,

one of the so-called
"independent homelands".

CECELIE COUNTS: The South
African government had tried to create

an artificial sort of Las Vegas
that they called Sun City,

and they were trying
to get celebrities

to come perform in "Sun City".

"It's an enclave.

It's not South Africa,
it's an independent territory."

Come on!

So you weren't supporting
this terrible regime in South Africa

by playing Sun City because
it was a different country.

And so I realised,
"Wow, that's the hustle," you know.

Now I got it. You know?

I'm going to use that.

Let's... Let's get together
and fight for what's right.

_

CHRISTO BRAND: When Mandela
started talking to government officials,

then I realised,
"Things is busy changing now."

First time we take him
to the minister's house,

Mandela made a statement
to the minister and said,

"Sir, while I'm a prisoner,
I can't negotiate with government.

I can only negotiate with
government when I'm a free man."

Then the minister said
to Mr Mandela,

"Please sit down and relax.

This is not negotiations.
We just have some talks."

That's where Mandela started
talking to government.

Mandela had to negotiate with
his immediate colleagues in prison,

and then he had to negotiate
with the ANC in exile.

He needed the tacit support
of his colleagues.

VOICE OF NELSON MANDELA: The
essence of reaching a political solution

means you sit down with your enemy.

You press your demands,
he presses his,

and then you have
to meet each other.

If you're not prepared for that,
don't enter into negotiations.

BARBARA MASEKELA:
He was a very pragmatic person,

because you can't get your demands
met if you are hostile.

His whole thing was about winning.

Whereas with Oliver Tambo, he was
this forward-looking strategist.

ALBIE SACHS, ANC LAWYER:
There were three groupings, basically:

external leadership,
led by Oliver Tambo,

the Mass Democratic Movement
in South Africa

and then the Robben
Island prisoners.

The important thing
was to co-ordinate all three.

So we had a constitutional committee
of the ANC set up by Oliver Tambo.

We were working on preparing for
a new constitution for South Africa,

so when the moment of negotiations
came, we'd be ready.

South Africa will be free!
The people will be free!

You know, I think that Oliver Tambo
worked very hard for it,

to engage everybody in the world
and let them fight this,

because it's not something
we can win alone.

When you have a righteous cause,
I mean, you're...

You know, you become dangerous.

The endgame was going to be the
anti-apartheid economic legislation,

but we knew
Reagan was going to veto.

If post-apartheid South Africa
is to remain

the economic locomotive
of southern Africa,

its strong and developed economy
must not be crippled.

So, passing the legislation,
how do we get there?

Well, just by raising awareness.

ARCHIVE: We don't
want to hear any music.

I wrote the whole Sun City story
very, very directly.

♪ Bophuthatswana is far away ♪

♪ But we know it's in South Africa
No matter what they say... ♪

We wanted to make very clear that
that was a lie,

and therefore, "I ain't gonna play
Sun City," you know?

♪ I ain't gonna play Sun City... ♪

♪ Meanwhile, people are dying
and giving up hope... ♪

BONO: You know, the thing that people
criticise about social movements

is when it's too vague.

What was so great about that song
is its specificity.

♪ We're stabbing our brothers
and sisters in the back... ♪

It had one thing in mind.

♪ Ain't gonna play Sun City... ♪

I just loved that, cos people
didn't even know what Sun City was.

♪ I, I, I, I... ♪

This is apolitical.

It doesn't matter what side
you're on, it's common sense.

♪ We're rockers And rappers ♪

♪ United and strong ♪

♪ We're here to talk
about South Africa ♪

♪ We don't like what's going on... ♪

The song and the video
had to reflect

what I considered to be
an embarrassment.

♪ I, I, I, I, I, I ♪

♪ Ain't gonna play Sun City... ♪

DR MARY FRANCES BERRY:
Music was so important.

It made people who weren't
paying attention pay attention.

♪ Na, na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na, yeah... ♪

We got to be better storytellers
than the other side.

Great pop songs are propaganda.

♪ I, I, I, I, I, I ♪

♪ Ain't gonna play Sun City... ♪

We shut down the resort overnight.

I mean, they got completely
shut down.

It was amazing how
effective it was, actually.

It became a mainstream issue,

the United States
should not be supporting apartheid.

Chase Manhattan Bank,
for example, said,

"We're not going to roll over
any more loans to South Africa."

That was a death knell.

The government knew that
change was in the wind

and they couldn't stop it.

ARCHIVE: President Reagan has fought
long and hard to prevent Congress

from imposing new economic sanctions
against South Africa.

Today, he lost.

The Senate joined the House
in overriding Mr Reagan's veto.

That was a huge victory, man,

and now it was only a matter of time
before the dominoes would fall.

PW BOTHA: It's a bad, miserable attitude
on the part of the United States

to apply sanctions
against a developing country,

one of the best developing countries
in Africa.

DU PLESSIS: When we were cut off
from international financing,

and I was Minister of Finance then,

the thinking
in the national party was,

"If they start taking away
our armaments,

then we'll make it ourselves."

When our oil was being boycotted,
we made our own oil.

But one thing we could not make...

and that was dollars.

We couldn't print out
our own dollars.

ARCHIVE: Stock prices in
South Africa began to drop sharply,

and the value of the South African
currency, the rand, took a nosedive.

By the middle of last week,
the government's racial crisis

had become a financial crisis
as well.

We had to suffer that humiliation.

So that was adding

more dimension to
an already very difficult situation.

The level of protest,
resistance and violence...

South Africa was like
a pressure cooker.

ARCHIVE: The latest victim
of the necklace died this weekend,

after the bodies of unrest victims
were found in unmarked coffins.

The undertaker's home
was burnt down.

A petrol-soaked tyre was put around
her neck and set alight;

Death by the necklace, reserved
for so-called collaborators.

In a series of speeches in black
townships around Johannesburg,

including Soweto, she again
ignored an order

which bans her from
speaking in public.

When Winnie Mandela
came back to Soweto

from this period of banishment,

she was the face of resistance
to apartheid.

I am back with you, where I belong.

This is now the right time
to take your country.

CHEERING

Dealing with it was a major headache

for the ANC and for Mandela
in particular,

because she did her own thing.

She was not always a loyal
and obedient comrade of the ANC.

She was very radical
in her resistance.

With our necklaces,
we shall liberate this country!

SHE SHOUTS

CHEERING

OLIVER TAMBO,
We do not approve of the necklace.

LEADER OF THE ANC IN EXILE:
It gives satisfaction to some people.

It doesn't to the ANC,
it doesn't to us.

You know, in Pollsmoor Prison,

Mandela was finding out more
about Winnie Mandela.

He was struggling to control her.

She was not always listening
to Mandela

because her personality
was too strong.

She wanted to do her own ways.

Sometimes during the visit,

they start with arguing on things,
you know?

Yes, Winnie had become more militant
than my grandfather...

NDILEKA MANDELA:
justifiably so.

My grandfather was insulated
by prison.

We were facing b*ll*ts.

We were facing children
that were being slaughtered.

So she was at the brunt,
at the eye of the storm.

My grandfather wasn't.

ALBIE SACHS: Being a
revolutionary... was magnificent.

It was putting yourself totally
on the line for a beautiful world.

Free Nelson Mandela
was much more than just

"Free Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
from Robben Island."

It was "Free everybody in the world,
free all the oppressed people."

It's the 7th of April,
a public holiday in Mozambique.

And I'm going to spend the morning
on the beach,

meetings in the afternoon,
and I go down to my car and...

- expl*si*n
- MIMICS THE SOUND

I don't know what's happening.
Something terrible's happening.

I'm in total, total,
total darkness.

Unconscious, not coming back.

And I'm in total darkness,

disappearing, reappearing
in consciousness.

And I hear a voice saying, "Albie,
your arm is in lamentable condition.

"You must face the future
with courage."

That moment you're waiting for
as a freedom fighter...

"Will they come for me?
Will I be brave? Will I get through?

Will it be tonight or will it be tomorrow?"

They'd come for me and they tried
to k*ll me and I'd survived.

I'm being flown to London,

because South African security
used to follow people into hospital

and give them poison
whom they hadn't managed to k*ll.

The attack on me, it was like
almost the last attempts

of the ultra-ferocious elements in
the security to show their power...

seeing that negotiations
might emerge.

As I'm wheeled out,

I see a soldier with a g*n,
and I say, "No more g*ns."

"No more g*ns.
We've got to find other ways."

BRAND: I was totally
surprised in some way

that government at least reach out
to Mandela,

talk to him
and have discussions with him.

That is what Mandela fight for
before he get to prison in the '60s.

But nobody wanted to sit down,

only him who was talking
at that stage on behalf of the ANC.

There were suspicions that
Mandela had been kind of co-opted

and was not deliberately
selling out the movement,

but he'd lost touch with
the realities of today.

I don't believe
he would be in a position

to discuss any kind of truce.

How on earth can men
who have been out of the picture

for 25 years be expected
to discuss the political situation

of our country behind bars?

He has no mandate to discuss.

Oliver Tambo was the person
that Mandela had to keep on board

at all costs, and there was a real
relationship of trust between them,

but Tambo was beginning
to get very concerned

and wrote Mandela a letter
in which he made it very clear

that Mandela was
not to cross the line.

There were rocky moments

as to whether Mandela's strategy
was going to work.

In the late '80s, the anti-apartheid
movement had local groups

all over the country and
thousands and thousands of members.

But the intransigence of the British
government and the US was huge.

HUGH MASEKELA, Bring Him Back Home
♪ Bring back Nelson Mandela ♪

♪ bring him back home to Soweto ♪

♪ I want to see him walking down
the streets of South Africa... ♪

There were a number
of different things that happened,

like people calling on
local authorities

to name buildings
after Nelson Mandela.

SURESH KAMATH: The headquarters
of the anti-apartheid movement

moved to Selous Street in Camden

and Camden Council changed the name
of that street to Mandela Street.

Wasn't that wonderful?

But, you know,
the British anti-apartheid movement,

we were quite ambitious.

We wanted a big event around
Mandela's 70th birthday.

In 1985, I worked with
and put on Miriam Makeba

at the Royal Festival Hall.

ARCHIVE: Now, my next guest
is the best known singer

ever to come out of South Africa.

She's also an uncompromising and
public opponent of the regime there.

Please welcome Miriam Makeba!

APPLAUSE

TONY HOLLINGSWORTH: She challenged
me on that occasion,

quite explicitly,
to do something

against the
apartheid regime in South Africa.

Mrs Thatcher has a view that

sanctions will not work against
South Africa.

I wish she felt that way about Libya
and all these other countries,

but when it comes to South Africa,
then sanctions won't work.

The songs, the concerts,

they were all individual activities

that weren't reaching very,
very large audiences all at once.

And what our objective was
was to get the world's broadcasters.

But it was... It was tricky.
Under their licence conditions,

they weren't allowed to support
a political cause.

They could report on them,
but they couldn't support them.

However justified
you may feel your cause is,

however unjust apartheid is,

you still run an organisation
that is, at least in part,

a t*rror1st organisation
that kills innocent people.

- Is that not so?
- No, I reject that most vehemently.

And so I thought of the idea
of creating something called

The Nelson Mandela


and making it a musical tribute
to the man,

because music, under the licence
conditions of broadcasters,

is not politics.

JERRY DAMMERS:
When the Wembley concert happened,

we approached really big
stadium acts,

in particular, Simple Minds.

- This is Simple Minds.
- CHEERING

JIM KERR: The Clapham Common concert
was already a big deal,

but everyone, after seeing
what Geldof had done with Live Aid,

they thought,
"We need it on a larger scale."

As the BBC announced that
they were a broadcaster of this,

the Conservative Party tried
to take them to court

for breaking
their licence conditions.

They weren't allowed to take
a political line.

I remember hearing
that it was going to be called

the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday
Concert and thinking,

"That's really clever."

Certainly their mandate wasn't to be
broadcasting political concerts,

but you have to sometimes find out
how you get through the water

without getting wet.

JIM KERR: If you're a fan of
rock music, pop music at all,

the idea behind it is that,
the day after the concert,

you go out and check it out
for yourself.

There were elements
in the Young Conservatives

who were virulently r*cist,

and some of them even had badges
and T-shirts

with "Hang Mandela".

Yesterday, the South Africans
criticised the BBC's plans

to televise a concert this Saturday

which marks the 70th birthday
of Nelson Mandela,

the imprisoned leader of the ANC.

At Westminster, 24 Conservative MPs
have added their voice.

They've put down a motion expressing
their distaste at the plan.

JOHN CARLISLE: There are
people wanting reform in South Africa,

but they want peaceful reform.

What Simple Minds are looking for
is violent reform.

The BBC were taking on something
that they knew

was a political hot potato,

but they had the courage to do that.

There is going to be a rock concert
in London's Wembley Stadium

tomorrow that's billed as
"Bigger than Live Aid".

You know, you have
this moment of trepidation.

How is this thing going to work?
Will it work?

This is not going to be like
any other concert.

Thank you!

Everything OK?

CHEERING

Hopefully, today we're on stage

and we're representing the voice
of all the people

who want to see an end to the m*rder
and the t*rture...

and the tyranny that's going on
in South Africa.

This song is dedicated to
Nelson Mandela.

I remember the song that we wrote
for the event.

ARCHIVE: It's called Mandela Day.

CHEERING

Our keyboard player at the time,
Mick MacNeil,

he was setting up a drum pattern

and the first thing he pulled up
sounded like a heartbeat.

And I thought, "Oh, that's great.
A heartbeat. He's a human."

Cos when you think of Mandela,
I mean, he was almost a myth.

The last image the anti-apartheid
movement was using,

he was still a young man in it.

♪ It was 25 years ago this very day ♪

♪ And now the freedom
moves in closer every day... ♪

So this idea of this myth...

yeah, he is a myth,
but he's not a myth.

He's a human being.

♪ Na-na-na-na
Mandela Day ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, Mandela's free... ♪

JAMES MANGE: When it was
"Set free Nelson Mandela",

it was basically "Set free
all the political prisoners".

We all appreciated
that there is this concerted effort

for us to be free.

That not only spoke to us
being freed as prisoners,

but it spoke to us being freed
as a country.

♪ 25 years ago. ♪

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

People, they were
being drawn into this

by just the sheer weight,
if you like,

of the talent that
they were going to watch.

But what they then got...

Hello, England. Hello, world.

was something very different.

Isn't it true that no matter what
the South African consulate says,

no matter what Mrs Thatcher says,

the fact of the matter is

that apartheid is wrong?!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

They got informed by way of
the presenters telling them

who Mandela was
and what apartheid was.

They got that
emotional experience.

ANNOUNCER: Let's hear it
for Jerry Dammers!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm recovering in the hospital
in London,

so I watched it on TV

and I heard that song.

♪ Free Nelson Mandela! ♪

♪ Free Nelson Mandela... ♪

It is the best possible medicine
I could have had.

SURESH KAMATH: The
concert at Wembley made you feel

that you were part of a huge change.

WITH CROWD: ♪ The whole world
is watching ♪

♪ The whole world is watching... ♪

[VICE CHAIR, BRITISH
ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT] Yeah, I felt...

SHAKY VOICE
... really proud, actually...

of what we'd done as a movement.

- CROWD: ♪ The whole world is watching ♪
- Whole

♪ The whole world is watching... ♪

And I thought, "f*ck the Tories.
We've done this."

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
WHISTLING

Mr Nelson Mandela,
until you are free,

no man, woman or child,

whatever colour or culture
they may come from,

are really free.

CHEERING

I informed Mandela
about the concert,

which was in the UK,

performing for him
for his 70th birthday.

Everybody sing!

♪ We just called... ♪

WITH CROWD: ♪ To say
we love you... ♪

We just gotta say it.

♪ We just want to say
happy birthday

♪ Nothing else ♪

♪ We just called ♪

WITH CROWD ♪ To say we love you ♪

♪ And we mean it from
the bottom of our hearts... ♪

He was very happy
and he really enjoyed it.

You know Mandela loved music?

He really loved music.

♪ We just called to say
happy birthday... ♪

Happy birthday,
Nelson Mandela!

♪ We just called to say... ♪

Up here!

♪ We love yo-ou! ♪

♪ And we mean it from
the bottom of our hearts! ♪

♪ Oh, my

♪ We love you from the
bottom of our

♪ Hearts! ♪

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That global broadcast event
reached 600 million people.



When there were only 5 billion
in the world.

Probably 100 countries'
broadcasters across the world

broadcasting a tribute
to Nelson Mandela

when he's in prison, still.

It's sort of...

The apartheid government had lost.

We were aware of it.

It was necessary for all members

of the State Security Council

and all Members of
Parliament, in fact,

to take note of that

and to help think:
how do we respond?

After that concert,

everybody wanted
to be Mandela's friend.

There was a shift from
Margaret Thatcher,

you know, because they want votes

and they could see
how popular the campaign was.

Our cause was now supported
by the entire world.

Apartheid South Africa
was completely isolated.

REPORTER: Nelson Mandela
was admitted to

Cape Town's
Tygerberg Hospital yesterday.

Since then, he's
had tests on his left lung.

His wife, Winnie,
who returned to visit him today,

was shocked by his condition then,

though doctors have said
he has since improved.

BATTERSBY: There was
concern within Government that

the clock is ticking.

Mandela is 70 years old.

He's had health issues.

REPORTER: Within hours of
Nelson Mandela's secret transfer

to this comfortable
Cape Town clinic,

he was visited in his
£40 a day private room

by the Minister of Justice,

one of several ministers
favouring his release.

So it all became
a little precarious.

He could go at any time
and there would be no replacement.

If we're going to get this
understanding and settlement done,

we'd better do it pretty soon.

If he had died in prison...

you know, that would
have been a terrible thing.

Mr Mandela was suddenly moved
from a Cape Town clinic

to the grounds of a rural prison.

He occupies a house said
by the South African government

to be comfortable and secure,

but he remains a prisoner
behind barbed wire.

NELSON MANDELA: When I reached
Victor Verster,

I was very sorry because I was
leaving my colleagues behind.

But after a few weeks I loved it.

You know, in that period
I was visiting there

at least 3-4 days a week.

I was there quite a lot of times.

We would take Walter Sisulu
on one basis

to meet Mandela for the day.

Then later we'd take the whole
Rivonia trial group there

to meet him for the day.

BATTERSBY: Suddenly,
Mandela had control.

He saw a tremendous
trail of people.

Mainly, obviously,
anti-apartheid people,

trade unionists, politicians.

He was then able to basically
see anybody he wanted.

So at the height of the movement
to free Mandela,

both domestically
and internationally,

at this point,
a b*mb literally explodes.

REPORTER: According to police,

the decomposed body of
Stompie Moeketsi was found on

an open space of land in Soweto

after an anonymous telephone call.

We hear that something

has gone badly wrong
with Winnie Mandela.

So when she came back to Soweto,

she formed this thing called
the Mandela Football Club,

which was basically a bunch
of former convicts

and various people
sort of cobbled together.

And the football club were,

if you like, her
bodyguards, basically.

The story is that a young activist,

Stompie Moeketsi, has died

as a result of being assaulted

by the football club.

And Winnie Mandela was present.

REPORTER: For the first time,

graffiti on the streets
of Johannesburg

attacking Winnie Mandela.

Her public fall from grace

providing perfect propaganda
for her enemies.

Things really got
out of hand by that time.

I called...

and I told her
I've just seen the news.

She was silent.

That it could even be dreamt

that I would be responsible

for the m*rder of a child

when I have spent all my life

fighting against these injustices

appals me.

Clearly, things had gone very
badly wrong with the football club.

REPORTER: Mrs Mandela arrived
in Cape Town this morning

and left immediately
for the Victor Verster Prison,

where her husband,
Nelson, is being held.

That was a crucial moment.

That was the moment in which

the whole thing could have
exploded completely.

Winnie was under
intense investigation,

and it would take a couple of years

to get to the bottom
of the whole story.

REPORTER: Mrs Mandela
has refused to discuss

her conversation with her husband,

but he's known to have been
deeply concerned

by the so-called football club,

which has done little
to honour his name.

It was the worst time of her life,

at her lowest.

And of course,
even poor Nelson Mandela tried,

but could not do much.

Apartheid ultimately
came out in its worst form,

the worst side of Winnie Mandela.

Oh, it was the saddest thing
of his life

because he loved his wife.

He loved Winnie.

And in the end,

that marriage broke down.

CAMERAS CLICK
CHEERING

WHISTLING
DRILL WHIRS

The Iron Curtain was being torn down.

The Berlin Wall, brick by brick,

pushed over.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
WHISTLING

The world was more malleable
than people had told you.

This could never happen,

but it was happening

and it just felt like a moment

where everything was possible.

CHITRA KARVE, ANTI-APARTHEID
MOVEMENT: The global West

was now calling
for the end of apartheid

to come ASAP,

and there was no more time left.

NEWS ANCHOR: The President of
South Africa, PW Botha,

has resigned as leader
of the ruling National Party.

Mr Botha, who's 73,
suffered a stroke two weeks ago.

The Education Minister,
FW de Klerk,

will take over as party leader.

We are in contact with the ANC
at the moment

with regard to the
possibility of a meeting.

It had become politically imperative

to release him and
to have him participate.

FW de Klerk had only one
significant meeting with Mandela,

and Mandela did not want
to be released on Pretoria's terms.

He wanted to be
released on his terms.

He wanted to be released
when his colleagues

were all out of prison

and the ANC to prepare
the ground for his release.

It never dawned on me that
he would be one day released.

He invited all of us,

we had lunch,

we sat down and he told us,
"We will be released."

They were like music to my ears.

I wish to put it plainly,

that the government
has taken a firm decision

to release
Mr Mandela unconditionally.

CROWD CHANT

You know, without our identity,
we cease to exist.

And for him...

his identity, no-one was ever
going to take his identity.

Not apartheid. Not imprisonment.
Not anything.

SEABIRDS CALLING

NELSON MANDELA: 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
will live together in harmony.

It is an ideal

for which I hope to live for.

But, my Lord, if it needs be,

it is an idea for which
I am prepared to die.

CHEERING

REPORTER: This is Victor Verster
Prison outside Cape Town

on the 11th of February, 1990.

In a few moments,
Nelson Mandela is due to walk away

from here after 27 years
of incarceration

in South African jails.

CHEERING

WHISTLING

REPORTER: There's Mr Mandela,
Mr Nelson Mandela.

A free man taking his first steps

into a new South Africa.

CHEERING CONTINUES

He finally walks out.

And it was just...

It was really surreal.

CHEERING CONTINUES

REPORTER: Tens, perhaps hundreds of
thousands of South Africans gathered

in the centre of Cape Town

to welcome the leader whose prestige
has never been higher.

I stand here before you...

not as a prophet...

but as a humble servant
of you, the people.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
WHISTLING

I must confess,
I am unable to describe my emotions.

I was completely overwhelmed

by the enthusiasm.

I have lost a great deal

over these 27 years.

Despite the hard times
that we've had in prison,

there have been men, you know,
who are very good,

in the sense that
they understand our point of view

and they do everything to try
and make you as happy as possible.

And that has wiped out any
bitterness which a man could have.

When I think of myself
during that time...

I was so happy to see him happy.

I was so happy
to be part of the puzzle,

to see him as a free man.

I was part of the advance team

that organised his first tour.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
WHISTLING

Out of this world.

CHEERING CONTINUES
WHISTLING CONTINUES

After all the years of exile

and all the suffering
and everything,

it was such a validation.

People just...

But it was because of Oliver Tambo's

anti-apartheid movement
that he organised.

He is the architect of all of that.

When I was released,
I made it a point

that I was going to visit him

because he is the one man

who has been able to keep
the organisation together

for the last three decades.

Ten months after the Nelson Mandela


Mandela sends his lawyer,
Ismail Ayob,

to see me in London to say,

would I do a second
global broadcast event?

They wished to give him
a global platform

as soon after he's released
as possible.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And within 54 days of his release,

we had the second
global broadcast event.



CHEERING AND APPLAUSE INTENSIFIES

CROWD CLAPPING RHYTHMICALLY,
CHANTING: Nelson! Nelson! Nelson! Nelson!

CROWD CONTINUE CHANTING

Dear friends, here...

and elsewhere in the world...

CROWD NOISE DIES DOWN

thank you that you chose to care.

CHEERING

When you worked with him closely,

there was always a
kind of deep sadness.

It was...

the pain of...

He carried the pain
of oppression very personally.

There was always, for me,
the picture of this man

who had given his life

to the people of South Africa.

KEYBOARD CHORDS PLAY
ELECTRIC GUITAR CHORDS PLAY

♪ The higher you build
your barriers ♪

♪ The taller I become ♪

♪ The further you take
my rights away ♪

♪ The faster I will run ♪

♪ You can deny me ♪

♪ You can decide ♪

♪ To turn your face ♪

♪ Away ♪

♪ No matter cos there's... ♪
STEADY DRUMS KICK IN

WITH BACKING SINGERS:
♪ Something inside so strong ♪

♪ I know that I can make it ♪

♪ Though you're doing me wrong,
so wrong... ♪

When he was released, I felt,

"Yes!" You know?

I'm gonna have him to myself.

I'm gonna be going to have coffee,

we go to movies. Ha!

That was shattered

because he suddenly became
the grandfather of the entire world,

let alone South Africa.

When the choice was made to him

who he would choose
between country and family,

he chose country every time.

I was resentful.

SHIP HORN BLASTS

One feels we cannot really

express what we feel for,

you know? Because part of ourselves

remain behind bars.

♪ Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika... ♪

CHOIR SINGING ANTHEM ECHOES
♪ Maluphakanyisw'uphondo Iwayo... ♪

- CHOIR: ♪ Yizwa imithandazo yethu... ♪
- JAMES SNIFFS

♪ Nkosi sikelela ♪

♪ Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika... ♪

Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika, for me,

it was almost like
the very deep prayer...

that had brought
through the ages to say,

"This is where we come from,

"and the road and the path
that we have travelled

"has always been thorny,

but we have to keep
on soldiering on."

That's what Nkosi Sikelele was.

CHOIR CONTINUE SINGING

NELSON: I, Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela...

do hereby swear to be faithful

to the Republic of South Africa.

We did bring down apartheid.

We did achieve our basic aims

to destroy that system
of complete denial

of self-determination
to African people.

We still have a huge way to go,

and lots of things
are absolutely intolerable,

but that main project of
the Mandela-Tambo generation

has been achieved:

giving people rights

and the rights to
bring about changes,

so that everybody truly feels

South Africa belongs to all
who live in it.

NELSON MANDELA: The time for the
healing of the wounds has come.

The moment to bridge the chasm
that divides us has come.

- CHEERING
- The time to build is upon us.

It made me feel guilty to get
to know this extraordinary man.

I said to him one day,

"I'm a representative of the people

"who kept you incarcerated.

"And yet, you treated me with
the utmost courtesy and respect.

"And I want to tell you
that I believe

you are a God gifted person
to be so tolerant."

You feel embarrassed

that that should have
been done to him.

VOICE SHAKING
We didn't understand...

his wishes for
his people properly.

NELSON MANDELA:
If we don't forgive them...

then that feeling of bitterness
and revenge will be there.

And we are saying,

"Let's concern ourselves
with the present and the future."

But to say,
"The atrocities of the past

will never be allowed
to happen again."

As long as our people
were oppressed,

it was my duty to be involved.

If I had to live again,

I would do exactly the same thing.

A CAPELLA CHOIR SING SOFTLY

_

SINGING SWELLS