Bob Nicholls

Nicholls worked as a security adviser and instructor for Mandela between 1992 and 1994

I remember that night before he went to bed on his first night as president, Madiba insisted on thanking all the members of his security team. It blew my mind that after such a long day he still found time to shake each person by the hand and to thank them personally. He noticed that one member of his security team, the man who drove his car, was not there. He said, “I would like to thank him too.” So we found him. I think he was asleep in the car as he had been up since 4am. We woke him and brought him to the president.