1. PROVIDENTIAL FIGURE OF NELSON MANDELA IN SOUTH AFRICA
Fernando Alcoforado *
Nelson Mandela, who was one of the most important political leaders acting against the
process of racial discrimination brought by "apartheid" in South Africa and became an
international icon in humanitarian causes, died at 95 years on December 5, 2013 in the
city of Johannesburg. Mandela had an educational background influenced by the values
of African and European culture and gradually managed to discern how the British
colonial thought was busy telling Africans that they should draw on the higher dictates
of Old World culture. After going through the best educational institutions of the time,
Mandela had the opportunity to learn about the fight against "apartheid" promoted by
the African National Congress (ANC).
Living in Johannesburg, where he worked in real estate and then, in a law office,
Mandela was linked to the activities of the ANC and continued his studies in the law
field. In 1942, Mandela founded the ANC Youth League. In the 1950s, activists allied
to Mandela decided to hold a major demonstration of civil disobedience when they
protested against the segregationist policies imposed by the ruling National Party in
South Africa. This great political demonstration resulted in the drafting of the Freedom
Charter, an important document of struggle in which the black population showed their
outrage over racial segregation. In 1956, authorities arrested Nelson Mandela and
decided to put him to death for treason. However, the international repercussions of his
arrest and trial that Mandela was set free. After that, Mandela continued to conduct
peaceful protests against the established order.
In March 1960, a protest took over the streets of Sharpeville which resulted in the
deaths of several unarmed protesters. Thereafter, Nelson Mandela decided to engage in
the formation of the "Spear of the Nation", an armed wing of the ANC. Naturally, the
segregationist government soon went in search of the leaders of this faction, and August
5, 1962, Mandela was once again arrested. After facing a lawsuit, Mandela was
sentenced to life imprisonment penalty that would fulfill in a penitentiary island located
three kilometers from Cape Town. Over the next twenty- seven years Mandela was
oblivious to the outside world and lived the challenge of waiting for the time in his cell.
It should be noted that the goal of "apartheid" in South Africa was to separate the races
in the legal ground (white, Asian, mestizo or colored black or Bantu), establishing a
hierarchy in which whites dominated the rest of the population and, in geographically,
through the forced creation of reserved territories: the Bantustanes. In 1959, the
"apartheid" reached its fullness when the black population was relegated to marginal
small, autonomous territories of South African and private of citizenship. In 1960,
South Africa was excluded from the Commonwealth. The UN imposed sanctions. In
1972, South Africa was excluded from the Munich Olympics, with the threat of a
general boycott of African countries. Finally, in 1977, the South African regime was
officially condemned by the Western community and subjected to an embargo of
weapons and military equipment. In 1985, the UN Security Council called on its
member states to adopt economic sanctions against South Africa.
Given the political and economic isolation of South Africa, only in 1990, under the
conciliatory government of President Frederik Willem de Klerk , Nelson Mandela was
released when continued the fight against "apartheid" in South Africa. The release of
Mandela after 27 years in prison also represented a compromise between him and
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2. President Klerk to build a peaceful transition in the country to, on one hand, avoid
"bloodbath" in South Africa and on the other, ensure the interests of the dominant white
economic elites in the country. President Frederik de Klerk ended the racist regime in
June 1991 after several negotiations with the representatives of the various ethnic
communities of the country. Thereafter, the black population regained their civil and
political rights. In 1992, the segregationist laws were finally abolished with the support
of Mandela and Willem de Klerk. In 1993, Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize
and, in 1994, were organized the first multi-racial elections in South Africa. The
electoral victory of Nelson Mandela began the purge of the racist practices of the
African State that earned him great international recognition.
It is noticed for what happened in South Africa that Mandela's role in all the events was
conditioned by internal and external events that led to the end of racial segregation. It is
important to note that great men are like that impregnated the energy of the acts of
thousands and millions of men who prepare the dough to exercise leadership. Taking
the example of Napoleon Bonaparte, it can be stated that the French Revolution and its
aftermath, which brought to power the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie with its
natural and vital aspirations of expansion, was crucial for his talent manifested itself as
a major general.
The role of Nelson Mandela in South Africa is similar to that of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon emerged to continue the French Revolution, while Mandela became the
providential figure that allowed change the reality of South Africa at a critical moment
in its history. One difference between Napoleon and Mandela lies in the fact that the
former have deployed Bonapartism in France which is a type of government in which
the legislature loses strength and the executive grows stronger while the second
implanted representative democracy in South Africa. In Bonapartist model of
government, the ruler is a dictator who seeks to build a charismatic image of a popular
representative. Given the political, economic, social and moral crisis experienced by
Brazil, many people are waiting for the emergence of a leader like Napoleon or
Mandela who is able to unite the nation around a common project of interest to the
majority of the Brazilian population.
*
Alcoforado, Fernando, engineer and doctor of Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the
University of Barcelona, a university professor and consultant in strategic planning, business planning,
regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo,
1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do
desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,
http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel,
São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era
Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social
Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,
Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora,
Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global
(Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011) and Os Fatores Condicionantes do
Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), among others.
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