World News | SA Author Under Fire After Labelling Nelson Mandela ‘angry, Revengeful Terrorist' in Her Book
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Brenda Hattingh, the South African author who in her book on Nelson Mandela has labelled him as an angry, revengeful terrorist, has come under fire from various quarters, who urged her to stick to facts about the respectable anti-apartheid leader.
Johannesburg, Jun 19 (PTI) Brenda Hattingh, the South African author who in her book on Nelson Mandela has labelled him as an angry, revengeful terrorist, has come under fire from various quarters, who urged her to stick to facts about the respectable anti-apartheid leader.
Hattingh raked a controversy after she in her recent book ‘Life Lessons from Nelson Mandela' mentioned that Mandela went from being an “angry, revengeful terrorist” to ”live his best life – a 5-star life, at the age of 80 years and – only after lockdown.
She used the lockdown term in reference to the 27 years that the elder statesmen spent as a political prisoner before becoming South Africa's first democratically elected and also the first black President after decades of white minority rule in the country.
After a huge outcry on social media, Hattingh apologised about her remarks made on the back cover of her self-published book, which she said was about “Life lessons from Nelson Mandela about lockdown.”
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“The phrase on the back cover stating he (Mandela) entered prison as an angry, revengeful, terrorist and murderer' was the dominant narrative around him when he began his 27 years behind bars in 1962. I regret phrasing this so directly without giving context,” Hattingh told the daily Cape Times.
"During that time, this was how Mandela was labelled. He was seen as a terrorist and murderer by the oppressive apartheid government, and general white populace of that time,” she said.
She said Mandela was also on the US terrorist watch list till 2008 and fortunately his terrorist label has faded into the background.
"Today we can look back and acknowledge these wrongful perceptions, labels and the way he and his comrades were treated. This too is a lesson,” she said.
But the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) did not buy into her apology, saying that it had to set the record straight about Hattingh's remarks.
“The Foundation has chosen not to interfere with this exercise of freedom of speech. However, it would be important to stick to facts, especially in reference to the questionable and inaccurate remarks made in the book about who and what Mandela was before he went to prison,” NMF spokesperson Luzuko Koti told the daily.
“The public has the right to be outraged at these inferences made in the book because Mandela's legacy belongs to the people. The NMF deeply appreciates that people have been active and used their freedom of speech to stand up and defend Mandela's legacy on questions of fact,” Koti said.
Hattingh's comments on the back cover of the book were explained in detail in a series of daily articles on her website, where she is called a leadership coach and mentor.
The author frequently quotes Mandela in her posts, including one where she writes: “After his long isolation and release from prison, Nelson Mandela was removed from the international blacklist as a ‘dangerous terrorist'.
“Instead he was now known by his personal attributes such as credibility, authority, influence, charisma, consistency, impartiality … loving and caring.”
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)