Obituaries — Nelson Mandela

I seek leave to move a motion without notice in relation to the passing of Nelson Mandela.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.

I move, That this House express its sorrow at the passing of former South African President Nelson Mandela on 5 December 2013, aged 95. On behalf of the Government and the people of New Zealand, I offer our condolences to his family and to the people of South Africa. Nelson Mandela was a positive force for change, not only in South Africa but across the world. He was a man who during the course of his remarkable life made the transition from supporting an armed struggle against apartheid to becoming a joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

On the long walk that was his life he was faced with many difficult choices. As he grew in stature and influence, he had to manage the expectations of his fellow South Africans, from the poorest and most marginalised to the richest and most powerful. He had to balance the desires of his own supporters who had suffered so much with the expectations of the global community and most South Africans for a peaceful transition in their country. As an activist and as a political leader, he had to face these challenges and dilemmas while remaining true to himself. Ultimately, he made the decisions that mean that on this day leaders are gathering from around the world to pay tribute to a man who became a global symbol of determination, perseverance, and forgiveness.

During his 27 years in prison he was a focal point for the fight against the apartheid regime, but on his release he exhibited an inspiring ability to put his own hardships and sacrifice behind him. Where he could have chosen bitterness and revenge he chose instead forgiveness and reconciliation, and his relationship with F W de Klerk was an example of this. After Mr Mandela was elected President in the historic 1994 multiracial elections, he and F W de Klerk formed a Government of national unity and were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The nature of Mr Mandela’s character enabled him to transcend the economic and political tensions associated with meeting the high expectations of the new South Africa. I, along with other members present in the House today, had the privilege of meeting Nelson Mandela in 1995, and we all experienced there his incredible ability to make you feel that the privilege of meeting was all his.

The Prime Minister, John Key, has led a small group of distinguished New Zealanders to pay respects to Mr Mandela at his official memorial service in South Africa. We have conveyed to the South African Government the sympathy of the Government and people of New Zealand. Many New Zealanders added their voices and actions to the struggle against apartheid. Mr Mandela’s passing is an opportunity to acknowledge those New Zealanders. They have proved to be right. The conflict that occurred in New Zealand over sporting contacts with South Africa was, as those New Zealanders asserted at the time, about more than our right to watch sport.

Nelson Mandela’s passing will cast a long shadow. His place in history is unassailable. We can honour his legacy by supporting South Africa to stay on Mr Mandela’s path of forgiveness, freedom, and prosperity.

I am privileged to rise on behalf of the New Zealand Labour Party to pay homage to the wisdom and achievements of one of the world’s greatest leaders, certainly in my lifetime, Nelson Mandela. We pay our respects to a man who dedicated his life to fighting injustice. It is hard to imagine a more worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour that, as the Deputy Prime Minister has already said, was properly accorded him in 1993. Nelson Mandela’s long walk to freedom included an incredible 27 years of imprisonment, from 1962 to 1990. Only a giant could endure that and then upon release pursue justice and reconciliation rather than revenge. Through the decades of his incarceration, the black and coloured majority were subjugated to the interests of the white minority. They were second-class citizens in their own land. They suffered segregation and poverty. They had no right to vote, fewer civil liberties, and suffered egregious human rights abuses, including murder.

Mandela’s indomitable spirit was an inspiration not just to millions in South Africa but to billions around the world. The remarkable dignity and forgiveness that he displayed in rising above the wrongs of apartheid and the wrongs he had endured personally are truly the marks of a man of great spirit and humanity.

Apartheid was an abhorrence to New Zealanders. The New Zealand Labour Party fought against it. We consistently favoured economic sanctions. We took a strong and leading stance against sporting contacts to increase pressure against the apartheid regime. Labour actively opposed the All Blacks having to send all-white teams. The Labour Government led by Norman Kirk in 1973 cancelled a tour to New Zealand. Labour opposed the 1981 tour, which the Government of the Rt Hon Robert Muldoon actively sought and encouraged. Many of us here marched in protest and in support of Mr Mandela and his cause. It seems incredible that this lasted until the 1990s. It does not seem that long ago.

A comment that Mandela made in Johannesburg in 2004 captures his humanity and his humility in a better way than I could do in words. He said: “As the years progress one increasingly realises the importance of friendship and human solidarity. And if a 90-year-old may offer some unsolicited advice on this occasion, it would be that you, irrespective of your age, should place human solidarity, the concern for the other, at the centre of the values by which you live.” It is this love of humanity that we celebrate today. But we should be cautious not to lapse into platitudes. It is unlikely that he would appreciate fine words for their own sake.

I would like to leave you with a quote from one of the speeches he made just a few years ago: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right—the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.” If we are truly to memorialise Nelson Mandela, we will do this with actions. Thank you.

Nelson Mandela was not, as some of the comments of the past several days would have us believe, some anodyne, twinkly-eyed grandfather. He was a gracious man, considerate to all those he interacted with, possessing a disarming sense of humour. He understood that breaking the cycle of retribution required honesty in order to reconcile for the good of future generations. But under the velvet there was steel. Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter, a man of great courage, determination, and uncompromising integrity. The apartheid regime was not merely racist and repressive; it was evil and murderous, and it survived only through domestic barbarism and through the support of Western Governments, including, shamefully, our own—sometimes particularly our own.

The South African regime of the early 1960s understood all too well the power of Nelson Mandela as a leader of the struggle against it, and it sought to crush this potency entirely. It imprisoned him on an island and tried to completely suppress all images of him, let alone anything he said or wrote. Yet in the act of this attempted burial, it made him more powerful than it could possibly have imagined. Nelson Mandela became the symbol that united the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and across the world. The apartheid regime imprisoned a man for 18 months for having the words “Release Nelson Mandela” on his tea mug at work, but those words—that call—would become the clarion call for the entire world. This is a coffee cup that HART—Halt All Racist Tours—produced, and we sold quite a few copies. It actually has a picture of Nelson Mandela on it. It is the last picture that we had at that time. It was taken in, I think, probably 1964, before he was imprisoned, and it was a shock to see an old man walk from Pollsmoor Prison, robbed of 27 years of his life. He rescued his country from spiralling into civil war and then set about forging a new nation based on the ideal of it being a place where everyone belongs—a rainbow nation. That ideal had been one to which Nelson Mandela dedicated his life and, as he said, it was one for which he was prepared to die if need be.

That ideal is not yet realised, and others must take up his burden more convincingly than some of his successors have done. In the year 2000 I was present at the closing ceremony of the International AIDS Conference in Durban. It had been a fraught conference, dominated by Thabo Mbeki’s denial of access to anti-HIV treatments, based on his misplaced idea that HIV was not the cause of AIDS. Nelson Mandela used his speaking slot at the closing ceremony to comprehensively rebut Mbeki’s position and to skilfully unite the conference in a position on access to treatments that has saved many, many lives. The other occasion when I had the privilege of seeing him in person was at a gathering of some from the anti-apartheid movement in St Matthews-in-the-City in 1995. Nelson Mandela had sought the opportunity to specifically thank the anti-apartheid movement in this country for our support and contribution in bringing justice to South Africa.

If anything binds this country to Nelson Mandela and to his legacy, it is the work of the anti-apartheid movement. I know that a number of members of this House took action to oppose apartheid, and literally hundreds of thousands of other New Zealanders did the same. We took that action in defiance of our Government of the day, which tacitly supported and lent comfort to the apartheid regime. Very often we took that action in defiance of the law, believing that we served a greater good, and I am proud of those actions. Now, today, I stand here not only on behalf of the Green Party but with a sense of those hundreds of thousands standing with me, shoulder to shoulder, arms linked, to wish you well, Nelson Mandela, on your voyage to the stars. Nelson Mandela, we fought for your freedom from the other side of the world, and now we mourn you from here. We celebrate your life and we vow to keep alive your belief in redemption, truth and reconciliation, and good lives and a fair future for everyone.

Nelson Mandela had a truly remarkable life. He rose by ability from humble origins in a rural village to leading his country out of the apartheid era and becoming the President of South Africa. Despite his 27 years of imprisonments, his courage, humility, forgiveness, and compassion provided an example to the world, and, indeed, created an image of him. One of his greatest achievements was to set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where victims of the apartheid era could tell their stories, and perpetrators of violence could tell theirs. Although controversial, the process was a crucial step towards healing South Africa’s deepest wounds. His skill in managing the transition from apartheid without widespread violence, repression, or economic collapse is an enormous legacy, which we hope lives on to build South Africa’s economic and social peace and security into the future. That is the enormous challenge that we seriously wish South Africa is able to meet going into the future.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker, kia ora tātau kātoa e te Whare, e tangi nei ki tērā o ngā tipua, kai tērā taha o te ao. E pēnei rawa te korero: “Ka tanuku, ka tanuku, ka tanuku. Ka tanuku te toka i te whenua, ka tanuku.” Nelson Mandela, e moe, e te raiona o tō whenua, o te ao. Haere ā-wairua mai nei kia rongo koe i te kupu whakamihi, i te kupu whakamīhā, i te rere o te kōrero, ka whakaputaina e tēnā, e tēnā i te rā nei ki runga i a koe.

E Koro, e kī ana te korero: “Kiri kawa ki te kupu, kiri kawa ki te te riri, kiri kawa ki te rākau.” Ko koe tērā, te whakatinanatanga o tērā korero: “Te toka tū ki te moana, tai timu, tai pari.” Ko koe tērā, Nelson Mandela, i tukitukia e te tai, e te hau, e te ua. E te kaiūrungi o te waka, te waka i puta i te riri, i tau ki uta i te rangimārie, moe mai.

Ko koe tērā i pere nei i te wā māra, te māra o te whakapono, o te tūmanako, o te ngākau māhaki. Ko koe tērā i huhuti nei i te tarutaru o te noho wehe o te kaikiri, o te pēhitanga o te tangata. I a koe te rangatiratanga o tō whenua, nāu ngā iwi pakanga i whakakotahi i runga anō i te aroha o tētahi, ki tētahi.

E Koro, i puta koe i te pūehuehu o tō kāinga, ā, i te otinga mai, ko koe tērā i noho nā i te toka-ā-nuku, arā, i te paepae o te ao. Ko tō koingō nui kia whai wāhi te iwi mangumangu i roto i ngā whakahaere o tōna ake whenua, ā, kia kore rawa rātau e noho nei i raro i te korowai o te whakahāwea, o te kōhuru, o te kaikiri.

Mō mātou ko ngā iwi o Aotearoa iti nei, ko koe te reo karanga o te kotahitanga, i ora ai mātau i ngā mate kaikiri i tēnei whenua. Waimaria ana mātau i a koe, Nelson Mandela, i ngā rā i kite mātau i ngā āhuatanga katoa o te mana tangata. Kai te pērā anō hoki ko ngā iwi taketake o te ao. Kāre i tua atu ki te whakaiti, ko koe tērā. Ahakoa rā, koia tō hanga he tangata kau anuanu, he tangata whakaoho i te ihi, i te wehiwehi, i te whakamīharo.

I pērā rawa te āhua i tō ekenga ki runga o Tūrangawaewae, te nohonga o ngā Kīngi Māori i te tau 1995. Ki taku mōhio, kei tērā o ngā marae te tipu i waihotia mai ai e koe, hei tohu maumaharatanga mō tō hīkoi ki Aotearoa nei.

Ko te mate kē, e Kōro, anei mātau e tuku nei ki a koe ā-wairua, e whakamīharo nei i ngā mea i kōkiritia e koe i te wā i a koe e takatū ana i te mata o te whenua ēngari, kai te ao tonu, kai Aotearoa tonu a kaikiri, a tohe, a pakanga. Koinei te mahi ā ētahi o mātou i tēnei Whare Pāremata, he tohe i te tohe mō te tangata whenua, kite ahuatanga o te kaikiri, arā, ko ngā whāinga o ngā pēhitanga a tētahi, ki tētahi. Kāre anō kia oti noa tērā āhuatanga, e Koro. Kāre i a Aotearoa me tōna kotahi ēngari, i te ao. Nō reira, he pai kē te kī i a koe te whakakitenga mō te whenua, mō te ao.

Ko ētahi kua tutuki, ko ētahi ka noho mai hai whāinga mā ngā whakatipuranga e haere mai nei. Nō reira, e Koro, whakangaro atu rā. Kua tae atu koe ki te ahunga rua o te tangata. Kua noho ngā Taru-o-Tura ki runga i a koe, e moe. E pēnei ana tētahi rārangi kōrero i puta i a koe i te tau, 1994.

[Thank you, Mr Speaker. Greetings to us all the House as we mourn the loss of a colossus on the other side of the world. It is said: “The great rock in the land has crumbled.” Rest, Nelson Mandela, the lion of your country, indeed, of the world. Come here in spirit to listen to the congratulatory, wonderful, and flowing tributes expressed to you by each one who spoke before me today.

Old One, there is a proverb that states: “Short tempered with words, short tempered in battle, and short tempered with weaponry.” You encapsulate that proverb, as well as the saying: “A rock that stands fast in the ocean despite the ebb and flow of the crashing tides”. Oh leader of the vessel that emerged through conflict and came ashore peacefully, slumber on.

It was you who worked and cultivated the garden of faith, hope, and humility. It was you who plucked out the weeds of living separately through racism and suppression of people. You had the sovereignty of your country; you united the warring factions based on the empathy for the other.

Old One, you rose up from the dusty and turbid environment of your village and, at the end of it all, you ended up as the rock of the earth on the global stage. Your greatest point was for black people to participate in the governance of their country so they would never ever live under the cloak of prejudice, murder, and racism.

For us, the people of little old New Zealand, you were the voice that called for unity and why we survived the scorns of racism in this country. We were fortunate to have you, Nelson Mandela; we witnessed all forms of people power. The situation is the same as well for indigenous peoples globally. That aside, you were the epitome of humility; a person who inspired others and was held in awe and admired.

You displayed those qualities in 1995, when you visited Tūrangawaewae Marae, the home of the Māori Kings. As I understand it, you planted a plant at one of the courtyards to mark your visit here to New Zealand.

The problem really, Old One, is that here we are paying our respects to you spiritually, and extolling the things that you addressed in your lifetime while racism, protests, and conflict remain in this country and around the world. Some of us here in this Parliament persist and debate on behalf of the people of the land in respect of situations relating to racism and the suppression of one over the other. It is not yet over here in New Zealand alone but globally as well. Therefore, it is more fitting to say that you had the vision for the country and for the world as well.

Some things have been achieved while some things remain for the generations to come to aim at. So, fade away, Old One. You have arrived at the two directional points for man. The Seeds of Tura are upon you, sleep on. You uttered a statement in 1994 which goes like so.]

In closing, can I just take a quote from Nelson Mandela, which may sum up today. He said in 1994: “Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.” Kua ea te wāhi ki a koe, Nelson Mandela, e moe.

[The part about you, Nelson Mandela, has been satisfied, rest up.]

History records the stories of many extraordinary men and women, and many of those stories are either a little bit misted by time or embellished by the passage of time. We are all privileged to have lived in the same time as one of the greatest people in history, Nelson Mandela. We do not need the story to be embellished or dressed up, because we know the story, we have now heard it frequently, and our admiration for the account of events, I suspect, increases every time we hear it. The idea that a man who was so seized with a cause and imprisoned for such a long period of time in such harsh and intolerable conditions would then be released as an old man and bear his captors no grudge is one that many of us struggle to comprehend. How can it be? Yet we witnessed it—not just that day of the long walk to freedom in February 1990 but in his subsequent life, right through to the time of his death last week.

We saw, alongside the wisdom and the generosity of spirit, a man who also had a true sense of humility, a remarkably self-deprecating sense of humour, and an extraordinary ability to engage with people, to give them that moment of time when they seemed to be the centre of his world, and then to also inspire them to be loyal for ever after.

I recall, when he came to New Zealand in 1995, two events—firstly, the day he came to this Parliament. It was a sunny Wellington day, as usual. You could not move around this complex for people in the grounds. Every building nearby, every balcony, was thronged with crowds waiting to see the great man arrive. A couple of weeks later the Queen of England came to New Zealand. There were barely 200 people in the grounds to welcome her on that occasion. That, to me, spoke volumes. Nelson Mandela attracted the attention of New Zealanders, not just those of us who had been part of the 1981 campaign but New Zealanders across the board who wanted to pay honour to his extraordinary achievements and to acknowledge his greatness.

The second recollection I have from that visit was a dinner he spoke at at the Wellington Town Hall, where he demonstrated that wonderfully self-deprecating sense of humour. He told a story about being in the Kruger National Park. Two stereotypical elderly female American tourists had accosted him and, in an accent that I will not pretend to repeat, they told him how much they admired the great little country that he had and this wonderful place they were present at. He thanked them and moved off. He said that he then heard one say to the other “Who was that?”. The other one said: “Oh, I don’t know. He was probably one of the gamekeepers.” He, as the President of South Africa, could tell that story just to put everyone at ease, without having to draw attention to himself.

But I think there is one other important feature of his life and his approach that perhaps we have not paid sufficient attention to. We know of the man who struggled for years—a lifetime—to make South Africa the rainbow nation it is today. We know of the way in which for all of that time, or a large part of it, the white community in South Africa decried him as a terrorist, and if anyone heard the interview this morning on Morning Report with Francois Pienaar talking about his engagement with Nelson Mandela, you would have got a real sense of that. But, actually, when you look at what Mandela was about, he was not about attacking the institutions of the State. When he became President, he became a firm upholder of the institutions of the South African State. It was about who controlled those institutions. It was about who controlled the law, who controlled the courts, who controlled Parliament, and who controlled the economy. And the fact is that for so much of his life, so many of his fellow countrymen were excluded from that process.

It is a remarkable chain of events now taking place in South Africa. The memorial services—the fact that there will be three funeral processions over the next few days to allow everyone to participate—mark the sort of event that we could not contemplate occurring in the normal course of our lives. But it is the mark of the world’s fondness for, respect for, and recognition of, the achievements of Nelson Mandela.

All of us have our memories. All of us know the story. All of us wish the people of South Africa strength, steadfastness, and determination as they go through this period and as they face the future of their country. I think that as Nelson Mandela managed to unite a nation in the last years of his life and in his post-release period, he will be an even stronger uniting force in his death. He will be a memory that will create a tradition that people will want to aspire to for the future. My colleague Te Ururoa Flavell quoted that quotation before about Mandela’s prescience of his own death. He will be able to rest contented and peacefully, his long walk to freedom is over, his journey is done, his people are safe, and his country is on the road to prosperity and to progressivity in the future.

Motion agreed to.