Nelson Mandela

Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole / I thanks whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul. / In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud / Under the bludgeonings of fate, my head is bloody, but unbowed. / Beyond this place of wrath and tears, looms but the horror of the shade / and yet, the menace of the years finds, and shall find me, unafraid. / It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll / I am the master of my fate - I am the captain of my soul.

Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.

The day I am afraid to do that is the day I am no longer fit to lead.

I thank whatever gods may be / For my unconquerable soul. / I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.

Brothers, sisters, comrades: I am here because I believe you have made a decision with insufficient information and foresight. I am aware of your earlier vote. I am aware that it was unanimous. Nonetheless, I believe we should restore the Springboks; restore their name, their emblem and their colors, immediately. Let me tell you why. On Robben Island, in Pollsmoor Prison, all of my jailers were Afrikaners. For 27 years, I studied them. I learned their language, read their books, their poetry. I had to know my enemy before I could prevail against him. And we DID prevail, did we not? All of us here... we prevailed. Our enemy is no longer the Afrikaner. They are our fellow South Africans, our partners in democracy. And they treasure Springbok rugby. If we take that away, we lose them. We prove that we are what they feared we would be. We have to be better than that. We have to surprise them with compassion, with restraint and generosity; I know, all of the things they denied us. But this is no time to celebrate petty revenge. This is the time to build our nation using every single brick available to us, even if that brick comes wrapped in green and gold. You elected me your leader. Let me lead you now.

Well, that is right. That is exactly right. But how do we get them to be better then they think they CAN be? That is very difficult, I find. Inspiration, perhaps. How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us? I sometimes think it is by using the work of others.

You criticize without understanding. You seek only to address your own personal feelings. That is selfish thinking, Zindzi. It does not serve the nation.

People don't realize that I played rugby myself when I was a student at Fort Hare. It is a very rough game, almost as rough as politics.

If I cannot change when circumstances demand it, how can I expect others to?

But I must. Because that minority still controls the police, the army, and the economy. If we lose them, we cannot address the other issues.

It is a HUMAN calculation. If we take away what they cherish; the Springboks, their national anthem, we just reinforce the cycle of fear between us.

We need inspiration Francois. Because in order to build our nation we must exceed our own expectations.

The Rainbow Nation starts here. Reconciliation starts here.

Good morning, how are you, thank you for coming at such short notice. I couldn't help noticing the empty offices as I came to work today. And all the packing boxes. Now, of course, if you want to leave, that is your right. And if you feel in your heart that you cannot work with your new government, then it is better that you do leave, right away. But if you are packing up because you fear that your language, or the color of your skin, or who you served previously, disqualifies you from working here now, I am here to tell you, have no such fear. Wat is verby is verby. What's past is past. We look to the future, now. We need your help. We want you help. If you would like to stay, you will be doing your country a great service. I ask only that you do your jobs to the best of your abilities, and with good hearts. I promise to do the same. If we can manage that, our country will be a shining light in the world.