a heart Closed to Calls for a settling of sCores

Mr. Stephen harper, Canadian Prime Minister, with what may have been greater political astuteness than real conviction, points to the heart of the matter, the essential reason that Western governments and media felt comfortable basking in the glow of worldwide attention that followed Mandela’s release from Victor Verster prison on 11 February 1990 until the memorial service at First National bank Stadium on 10 December 2013.

“Despite his long years of captivity, Mr. Mandela left prison with a heart closed to calls for a settling of scores. Instead, he was filled by a longing for truth and reconciliation, and for an understanding between all peoples... he demonstrated that the only path forward for the nation was to reject the appeal of bitterness. h is forbearance was legendary: his magnanimity spared all South Africans incalculable suffering.” Stephen Harper, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, 5 December 2013. governments with sizeable black populations were profoundly fearful of Mandela’s influence on the direction of black activism worldwide. In trinidad and tobago, for example, there had been an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government in 1970. When Mandela was released finally from prison in February 1990 it was mere months before the second failed coup of July 1990. the interim period was marked by social unrest brought on by the rapid social and economic changes fuelled by stupendous oil boom revenues that were frittered away by the failure of public policy to implement a system of ways and means to hold on to those revenues. by closing his heart “to calls for a settling of scores” Nelson Mandela smothered the sparks that had been ignited by political activists frustrated by the perceptions, real and imagined, of social injustice and political stagnation.

1990: Exiled activist Wolfie Kodesh joined a demonstration days prior to Mandela’s release. Kodesh hid Mandela in his flat during his fugitive period.

At the Annual Conference of the Methodist Church Mthatha, South Africa, September 18, 1994