Nelson Mandela Bows Out of Public Life

Leon Marshall in Johannesburg
for National Geographic News

June 2, 2004

The familiar figure of Nelson Mandela, with his trade-mark floral shirt
and ready smile, will be fading from the international limelight. The
father of South Africa's democracy and icon of many across the globe has
announced his intention to retreat from public life.

Speaking at a gathering of media and friends on June 1 in Johannesburg, Mandela said: "I'm turning 86 in a few weeks' time [July 18], and that is a longer life than most people are granted. "I have the added blessing of being in very good health, at least according to my doctors. I'm confident that nobody present here today will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I'm still in good heath, with my family, my friends, and also with myself."

He said he did not intend to hide away totally, but he missed the opportunity for reading, thinking, and quiet reflection and would now do these things and work on his memoirs.

The book he is writing is a sequel to his first autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom, which covers his life from his youth to his release from prison after 27 years in 1990. The new book will include his period as South Africa's first fully democratically elected president, from 1994 till his retirement in 1999.

Mandela's spokesman and assistant, Zelda le Grange, has confirmed his assurance that he is still "100 percent healthy." She said he just felt he was much too busy and needed time to spend with his family.

From the difficulty he has walking, it has for some time been clear that the years are taking their toll on Madiba—the Xhosa clan name by which Mandela is affectionately known in South Africa. But the easy way he has of clutching the hands of his hosts or guests to help steady him—to their invariable joy and pride—has become just part of the disarming charm of a man who is regarded as one of history's greatest freedom fighters.

It is not the first time Mandela has stated his intention to withdraw from public life. He did so after his retirement in 1999, because, he said at the time, he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren.

Little came of that. He was called on to help broker peace agreements in world trouble spots, most notably in conflict-torn Burundi in central Africa.

At home Mandela has relentlessly pursued money-raising drives for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. He would do this by, among other things, inviting business leaders to join him on visits to settlements of poor people, where he would have them pledge donations, particularly for schools and classrooms. Such facilities have become known as the products of "Madiba magic."

Mandela has also remained at the top of the must-see list for politicians and other celebrities visiting South Africa. He is considered to be among the most prestigious guests at functions the world over.

But this time his friends say his retirement is real.

"He has given his whole life to the people and has done a lot for the country. Now he deserves a rest," said Jakes Gerwel, close associate and chairman of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, one of the former president's legacy organizations.

Mandela plans to divide his time among his homes in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Qunu, the rural village of his birth in the Transkei, a territory on the southeast seaboard of South Africa.

Last month Mandela fulfilled what is regarded to have been his last major political function. He addressed the South African parliament on May 10, the date on which, ten years earlier, he was sworn in as president.

He started his speech in typical style, by telling the Speaker of Parliament that he was aware that an exception had to be made to the standing rules "to allow a retired old pensioner, who is neither a member of Parliament nor the serving head of state of any country, to address you."

Referring to the fact that his fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former President F.W. de Klerk, who released him from jail, was also allowed to address Parliament, Mandela added: "That all the parties represented in parliament unanimously consented to this extraordinary departure from the rules touches us, not only for the honor it pays us, but also for the spirit of our nation that it speaks of."

Recalling the atmosphere at what he called the ceremonial birth of South African democracy ten years earlier, Mandela said: "We recall the joy and excitement of a nation that had found itself, the collective relief that we had stepped out of our restrictive past, and the expectant air of walking into a brighter future."

Mandela first intimated his intention to step out of the limelight immediately after it was announced on May 15 that South Africa had won its bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup of soccer.

Mandela was in Zurich, where he and fellow South African Nobel Peace Prize laureates de Klerk and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, played a key role in persuading members of soccer's international controlling body to vote for their country. Sitting in the front row of the hotel room where the announcement was made, Mandela broke into a relieved smile as the verdict came.

In the emotion-charged atmosphere, a beaming Mandela, surrounded by well-wishers, said, "I feel like I am 15 years old." A little later his mood changed. With tears of happiness trickling down his cheeks, he said, "I can see my grave now. I shall be withdrawing from public life at the end of this month [May]."

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