As the world digests the news of the passing of Nelson Mandela, we sit with millions of others watching the newsreels summarising his extraordinary and long life.  My children struggle with the facts of the old apartheid regime, they cannot understand, or even believe, that such a society existed within their parents lifetime.

And it is because of Nelson Mandela and all those who fought with him that the not just South Africa, but the world changed.

I live in a free African country where it is not racial discrimination, but the shackles of poverty and chiefdom which prevent people from realising their true potential.

I come from one of the richest, freest countries on Earth, but a place where increasing racism and discrimination continue to hold it’s most vulnerable people  back.

Nelson Mandela’s example taught us, to paraphrase Tony Blair, that racism is not just immoral, but stupid. The problems of our world are profound and ongoing. We must try to follow his example, to teach our children the importance of standing up for what you believe is true, and to live a life imbued with humility, courage, reconciliation and grace.

Vale Nelson Mandela.

“Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished”