On Dec. 5, the world bid farewell to Nelson Mandela, a man whose name and image have become symbols of the struggle against apartheid and, in its wake, of reconciliation between white and black South Africans. He died in his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95.
He was a man deserving of “a celebration of thanksgiving for his life,” said Rev. Dr. Rick Fee, general secretary of the Presbyterian Church’s Life and Mission Agency and a former missionary in Nigeria. Fee spoke with the Record about the church’s support for Mandela over the years.
Mandela was committed to ending white minority rule in his country and spent 27 years of his life in prison because of his efforts.
During the 1970s, 80s and 90s, many churches around the world called for an end to the system and laws that made life difficult for black citizens, and urged companies, banks and governments to put financial and political pressure on the government of South Africa.
Successive General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in Canada joined the call. Although it stirred debate in the PCC, the denomination backed the World Council of Churches in its controversial Programme to Combat Racism, which provided grants to liberation movements including Mandela’s African National Congress. And in 1986, the assembly asked the government of Canada to recognize the ANC as the “the legitimate voice of the majority of the people” and to “urge the Government of South Africa to release Nelson Mandela from prison immediately and unconditionally.”
Rev. Stewart Gillan was also posted as a missionary to South Africa. The appointment “came out of a long process of wondering how we could be involved,” Fee said.
Mandela was released on Feb. 11, 1990, and went on to be elected the first president of a democratic South Africa. He stepped down in 1999 after one term in office.
In his later years he turned to other causes. In 2002, Mandela offered his prisoner number at Robben Island, 46664, to become part of a global campaign against HIV/AIDS.
Rick Fee attended the 2004 international AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where Mandela suddenly appeared on stage during the closing ceremonies.
“The place went crazy,” he said. “It was very dramatic. He just wanted people to know that this [HIV/AIDS] was something that had to be made aware of and that it shouldn’t be treated as a horrendous issue, but treated as an illness.”
Mandela’s son, Makgatho Mandela, died of AIDS-related causes in 2005. He was 54 years old.
“He wanted to be upfront [about the death of his son],” Fee recalled. “He called a press conference and announced to everybody that his son had died of AIDS. And he said he’s doing this because he doesn’t want people to think that this is something that happens to other people. It’ happened to me. And so he went forth and became a public figure. And this had not been done in Africa. … So this was a bold step on his part to spread the message that this disease affects everyone.”
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