Gill Marcus: Reserve Bank governor and former deputy minister of finance 1999

THIS is a day of great sadness, but also of celebration of an extraordinary human being.

We are a nation in mourning, and the world has responded in the most incredible way.

He touched the lives of so many people, so his passing is personal to everyone, whether you knew him or not.

He was, and will remain, a person whose values, courage and convictions are embodied in the DNA of our country.

We should recognise Mandela was a revolutionary. He had the courage of his convictions, and he acted appropriately according to the time — whether it was the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s when he went to jail. It was all part of something bigger.

He knew what to compromise on. But he didn’t compromise on his core values: the freedom of people, the healing of society, that every South African’s life matters.

It was an extraordinary combination of values and behaviour. It was truly through his conviction and determination that we got to 1994.

His ability to bind the nation together was quite extraordinary. It is a mark of greatness that he adapted to the dynamics of the time to reach the goal of creating an inclusive economy.

I don’t think it was a change of mind (Mandela’s decision to abandon nationalisation as ANC policy in 1992) as much as a remarkable ability to see what policies would be in the best interest of South Africans.

The macro-economic policies he embarked on enabled work to be done for South Africa to reenter the world and participate in an extraordinary way in global institutions that shape policy and impact on the global landscape.

You don’t get an inclusive economy simply by waving a magic wand — there are real issues that need to be addressed.

We are a very young country, even though it does not feel so in the lifetime of one person. You get an inclusive economy because you do certain things.

We need to address legacy issues, deal with the difficulties we face.

We need to make people-centric decisions and address the challenges we face based on the population we have, not the population we wish we had. Anyone who thinks Madiba sold us out understands nothing about Madiba or the economy.

I have so many memories of Mandela ... let me reflect on one poignant moment when his great friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, died. I was with Madiba and Cyril [Ramaphosa] at the hospital, and Madiba wanted to see OR’s body.

We went with him into this room that was prepared where he could say farewell. OR had had a stroke and though he recovered well, there were still signs of the stroke in the way he walked and spoke. Madiba looked at OR lying there and said to us: “His face tells you he is at peace.” That’s how I feel today about Madiba.