JUST IN: Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela: “When I was a child I wanted to live in a prison, like my grandfather” | International
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Ndaba Mandela was a child when he met his grandfather, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and great fighter against apartheid in South Africa Nelson Mandela, and he became an adult at his side. The current political scientist, born in Soweto (Johannesburg) 43 years ago, spreads his legacy as president of the Mandela Institute for Humanity and participates in Spain in the Alliance for the Future of Education, an initiative to renew teaching in more than challenging times. Question. What does it mean to be Mandela’s grandson? Answer. We have a responsibility to continue my grandfather’s legacy. He was able to achieve political emancipation, but economic emancipation has not come and we face many challenges in South Africa; We still have a long way to go. For example: making sure young people can access education, which is under attack in South Africa right now because resources have been reduced. What generation is going to be formed without the means to become critical thinkers? I often tell young people that they should dream big, so big that their own dreams scare them.Q. What is your memory of your grandfather? A. I have many. The first time I saw him he was in jail, in a house converted into a prison. I was eight years old when my parents took me to see him and I have an idealized memory because I came from Soweto and I found concrete walls, a house with a pool… I didn’t have one! There I met a chef for the first time in my life. And the grandfather was asking us: How are you? What is your name? And what is your favorite subject? From the beginning you could see that he was interested in education.P. What did he answer? A. At that moment I said mathematics, but then I didn’t go there (laughs). That day I thought that when I grew up I wanted to live in a prison because prisons had swimming pools. He didn’t understand that this was the last one they put him in in his last four years. [estuvo 27 en total] to break him mentally and distance him from his political movement. But he never gave up.P. Then she lived with him.R. He was released in 1990 and sent my parents to college. He told my father: “You go study and I’ll take care of your children.” At first it was hard, because he was very strict, but he taught me to adopt his values. She taught me how to make the bed, how to take care of my pants, my shirt, and told me that I had to keep my room clean and thus focus on what was important. “With a clean room you can do your homework,” he told me. He taught me about love, about believing and always being there for my brothers. When I was 13, I remember one day he told me: “Ndaba, you are my grandson and people see you as a leader, so you must have the best grades.” He taught me that I was privileged. “You don’t have to worry about your next meal and, as a privileged person, you have a responsibility towards your siblings; you must take care of the little ones, that’s a family thing. Congratulate if they do well and scold if not. I am because you are. DVD1320. Ndaba Mandela in El Bancal. . Álvaro García. 05/26/2026Álvaro GarcíaQ. Is his legacy alive? A. Yes, we black people have today dignity thanks to Nelson Mandela. He brought us freedom, but above all he prevented civil war; that is his true legacy: to maintain peace and stop the bloodshed. But, of course, that is not over; the next generation has to take over and the question is: What do we do now to continue his path? Because the legacy is not a question of memory, but of a call to action: what can each of us do to achieve more rights. Q. public. That the word be recognized to fight against the stigma. A. Yes, we had a debate. When my father died we asked ourselves: What are we going to tell the world? We can say pneumonia or tuberculosis because AIDS kills your humanitarian system and you die from something else, but my grandfather said: “No. We won’t do it. We will simply say that AIDS has taken my son’s life.” And that was important, it was the first time that a prominent family revealed the truth. We do not have to hide, we must talk about this disease like any other and not feel ashamed, as if we had done something dirty. Q. Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize, what do you think of Trump being a candidate? A. How are you going to receive the Nobel if he is bombing Iran! He is involved in a terrible war in the Middle East. Q. You He has inherited the position of chieftain or head of his clan. What does it mean to you? A. Our clan descends from the royal family. Nelson Mandela comes from the fourth house of the royal family, which is polygamous. And our role is to mediate between the previous families as well as advise the king. We have to listen to other advisors and make decisions. country, how am I going to lead a place that can’t even be seen on the map? (laughs). I’m not that attached to power, so thank you.” My father didn’t want to either, he was focused on being a lawyer. And that power fell to my brother, we supported him. Then at some point he had differences with the community and with the king and, lately, people turned their sights on me. Q. And what will it mean for you? A. I must take care of my people, I was born in the Soweto ghetto, but Kunu, our village, is in such a remote rural area that the government does not reach there and I must take care of everything that the people of that town need. I am a representative of my community. Q. Do you like it? A Yes, and I will take my rightful place.
Key Developments:
Analysts believe this development may influence future diplomatic, political, or economic discussions internationally.
International media coverage is expected to intensify as more updates become available from official sources.
More details may emerge as official sources continue releasing new information.
Source: This article was originally published by Internacional en EL PAÍS and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.