Nelson Mandela was a mythic figure when he was a political prisoner. Most mythic figures disappoint when they come out of whatever cocoon they were in. That was not the case with Mandela. When he was released from prison in 1990, I was wowed by his magnanimous spirit and utter lack of bitterness towards his oppressors. He was a remarkable man who will be greatly missed by his country and the rest of the civilized world.

I’ll let the wonderful and courageous South African singer-songwriter, Johnny Clegg, have the last word with this song he wrote for Madiba who joined Clegg onstage during this 1999 performance: