Busting myths on Mandela

A NEW book debunks some of the myths around former president Nelson Mandela‚ according to those involved in the production of the biography.

Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years‚ as the title suggests‚ focuses on the difficult years after the transition to democracy in 1994.

The book was co-written by award-winning author Mandla Langa‚ who completed Mandela’s unfinished manuscript.

Langa took part in a panel discussion on the book at the SA Book Fair in Johannesburg on Sunday.

He was joined by Verne Harris, of the Nelson Mandela Foundation‚ author and former foundation chief executive Achmat Dangor and academic Victoria Collis-Buthelezi.

Langa said he had delved through 70 000 words of manuscript and studied archive material to fill in some of the gaps.

Harris said Dare Not Linger debunked the myth that Mandela was a mere figurehead in the first democratic administration.

“The mythology was that Thabo Mbeki ran the government and Madiba was more of a symbolic figure‚ but Madiba was hands-on in many areas‚” Harris‚ who moderated the panel discussion, said.

“He could drive people nuts, because he could micromanage. He could play the game better than anybody else.

“Mandela was an opportunist. He knew how to massage processes.

“So [to] the mythology of the principled leader and what are Madiba’s values‚ you have to factor in Madiba as a president. He wasn’t obsessed with reconciliation, but with making democracy stick.”

Dangor said part of the Mandela legacy was that all South Africans should take responsibility for their destiny and not leave it to one man.

Dare Not Linger is due to be published next month.