Mandela: forgiveness and reconciliation

On Wednesday 9 March, girls from Year 10 through to Upper Sixth, as well as friends and family of the school, were privileged to hear a talk by Reverend Colin Chambers – a former Lieutenant Commander in the South African Navy and Chaplain to President Nelson Mandela during his time on Robben Island.

In a number of sessions with the different year groups, and then in the evening session for adults, Rev. Chambers delivered an insightful presentation, reflecting on the years he spent as President Mandela’s, and other Robben Island prisoners’, Chaplain. The key theme of the event was to highlight Mandela’s capacity to forgive, and commitment to reconciling the nation of South Africa after the Apartheid. Rev. Chambers outlined some of the hardships the prisoners would have endured during their time on Robben Island – from the mindless hard labour, in limestone rock quarries where the sun’s reflection gave many inmates permanent sight damage, to the living conditions, in which inmates would only have a mat to sleep on and two blankets for warmth. Even within the prison, people of different races were treated differently – for instance the black inmates were made to wear short trousers, were not given any underwear, and were only allowed 5 oz of meat, whilst inmates of Asian or mixed race were entitled to long trousers, underwear, and 6 oz of meat.

Across South Africa at the time, black people were enduring atrocities of their own under Apartheid, from being treated violently, to suffering segregation – with different benches at the seafront, different entrances, different water fountains etc., dependent on race. As Rev. Chambers stated, “South Africa was heading for civil war – no question.” It was against this climate that President Mandela worked to heal the nation. On leaving prison, according to Rev. Chambers, Mandela stayed overnight with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who said of him: “He answered racism with reconciliation”.

There were many examples of Mandela’s reconciliatory works. The first, taking a helicopter to have koeksisters (a delicious South African treat) with the wife of Hendrik Verwoerd, often thought of as the ‘father of Apartheid’, to his work to bring the country together through the Rugby World Cup, held in South Africa in 1995 (about which the film Invictus was made). He also pardoned the ‘freedom fighters’, who couldn’t then be brought to court, and worked to incorporate all South African traditions, people, and languages under one nation – by featuring all identities in the country’s new flag, and adding two additional songs and three further language to the national anthem (previously only sung in English and Afrikaans), which now features three distinct songs in five of the country’s 11 languages.

One of Rev. Chambers’ most poignant recollections was of the Robben Island prisoners’ favourite hymn – time and again, at Christmas and throughout the year, the group’s favourite song to sing in church would be No not one (there's no friend like the lowly Jesus) about Jesus’ struggle. The impact of Rev. Chambers’ counsel on the history of South Africa may have been beyond our comprehension – it is impossible to attribute particular influences of one person over another’s behaviour. But it was fascinating to hear about Mandela’s softening of spirit after his conversion, and to hear too about the timing and impact of President F. W. De Klerk’s conversion. The two became joint Nobel Peace Prize winners, after President De Klerk allowed Mandela’s release, and paved the way for the first democratic elections – which saw queues of two to three miles long, and resulted in Mandela becoming President, and F. W. De Klerk becoming his Vice President.

The talk provided those of us who have grown up without the first-hand experience of war to take time to reflect on the civil war of South Africa that never happened – and to reflect on the current situations around the world which are causing so much devastating loss of life, such as the heart-breaking situation in Syria. Two of the striking moments from the day were: the crowd of students, especially after the Year 10 talk, wanting to view the inside cover of the bible signed by President Mandela and other leading figures of the ANC, and how touched Rev. Chambers was when a small group of Lower Sixth students approached him, at lunchtime, to ask if they could shake his hand – to be one handshake away from Nelson Mandela.