Former South African leader Nelson Mandela died at age 95 on Thursday after a long-fought battle with a lung infection, drawing shocked reactions from the MSU community.
Mandela’s name is one to mark the history books, carrying with it a story known across the globe. He was a known anti-apartheid revolutionary and, even after being convicted of treason and spending 27 years in prison, he was able to peacefully arrange an end to white minority rule in his country with his previous captors.
He also was the first black man to serve as South Africa’s president, his presidency lasting from 1994-99.
News as jarring as the passing of a worldwide icon typically leads to one reaction, as it did with history graduate student Liz Timbs: shock.
“We all knew it’s been coming, but for the official word to come down, you think it can’t be real,” she said. “You think that he must still be with us, and he probably still is.”
Timbs spent studied Zulu abroad in Durban and Empangeni, two cities in South Africa. However, Mandela was one of the first to spark her interest in the country that she said she’d love to get back to.
“One of the first books I’ve ever read on South Africa was an autobiography of Nelson Mandela’s life,” she said. “That was his biggest influence on me.”
Social relations and policy senior Kevin VanLiew was in Cape Town, South Africa while Mandela was hospitalized. He said that, while he was slightly shocked, his passing still was to be expected.
“I was there in Cape Town for my internship while he was ill,” he said. “People in the town were really on edge.”
International relations and Russian junior Kory Miller spent two study abroad sessions in Cape Town, and witnessed firsthand just how much of an impact Mandela had on the South African people.
“People kept saying, “once he passes, we’ll kill all the refugees,” which didn’t make sense to me,” he said. “Somehow just him being alive kept people in-check. “Peace” may be a loaded term, but I think he kept a lot of people cool-headed.”
“Peace” seems to be one of the first keywords that come to mind when describing Mandela. For VanLiew, Mandela’s nonviolent approach to putting a stop to apartheid was one of the greatest influences he could have had.
“He showed that peaceful protest is the best way to make a change in the world,” he said. “He gave the people of South Africa the ability to hope and to dream.”
Zulu and James Madison senior Winnie Imbuchi, however, hopes that people will remember Mandela in a slightly different light.
“Nelson Mandela was not just one-sided,” she said. “He had leadership on the militant side of apartheid. He was peaceful, but he tried it all. He was not simply an advocate for non-violence.”
“My initial response to his death was relief, not that he was dead, but for him,” Imbuchi said. “I felt relief because he has been suffering for a long time, and sometimes it’s okay to let go. I felt a sense of peace for him.”
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