Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has been subject to historical revisionism
South Africa would have been worse off had she influenced the transition to democracy, as a new book shows
THE END OF minority white rule in South Africa three decades ago prompted worldwide celebrations. Multiracial politics led to the election in 1994 of Nelson Mandela, the country’s first black president. He became a beacon of liberal democracy and, for some, the triumph of Africans over a form of colonial rule. For most, there was relief that a civil war, a widely feared prospect, had been avoided.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The powers that be”
Culture June 3rd 2023
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- Ramesses the Great was a superb self-promoter
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