A stern father who took fiery young men to task
JULIUS Malema may think he was given a hard time as ANC Youth League leader by President Jacob Zuma, but Peter Mokaba had it far worse under Nelson Mandela.
At one stage, Mokaba, who died in 2002, had to sneak into the ANC headquarters to avoid running into a fuming Mandela. This was after the youth league leader made inflammatory remarks “inciting violence” against the Inkatha Freedom Party and FW de Klerk.
Mokaba had told a rally in Tembisa on the East Rand that hostels had to be destroyed “brick by brick” because they were strongholds of the IFP. He had also told ANC supporters not to fire their guns in the air — and to rather save their ammunition “for De Klerk”.
“He wanted to call the people who were firing their weapons to order,” recalled former youth league leader Thabo Masebe.
“In his own way, Peter got up at the podium and said: ‘Comrades, don’t waste your ammunition. Save [it] for De Klerk.’ That was just a tactic, because then De Klerk represented the enemy.
“As soon as Peter heard Mandela was angry, he started avoiding him for a few days. He came into the building very late in the afternoon or when he thought Mandela had left.”
But one day, Mokaba walked into ANC headquarters and bumped into an an- gry Mandela. “Mandela said: ‘You think you can hide. Do you know how to say the right things?’ ” said Masebe.
This was the second time Mandela scolded Mokaba.
Mandela had been livid that Mokaba shouted the slogan “kill the boer, kill the farmer”.
❛ Him being tall as he was, it was a very intimidating experience
This was corroborated by another former youth league president, ANC MP Lulu Johnson.
“Mandela was not impressed. He had to literally look for Peter,” said Johnson.
Johnson said that, given Mandela’s height [he was 1.84m or just over six feet tall, according to the Nelson Mandela Foundation], most youth leaders felt intimidated during interactions with him.
“He was a father. On any misunderstanding you had to be set down and lectured. Him being tall as he was, it was a very intimidating experience.”
Johnson recalled the time his ANC Youth League called for the banning of the Springbok emblem on the South African rugby team jersey.
“He gave us a two-hour lecture because then it was during negotiations,” said Johnson. “He told us changing the emblem was not a priority. He spoke both as a father and a leader.” BULLETS: Peter Mokaba felt Nelson Mandela’s wrath