The Nelson Mandela Foundation has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over its allegation that an African leader concocted a bogus endorsement by the anti-apartheid hero.
There was anger — and worldwide astonishment — when Denis Sassou-Nguesso, president of Congo-Brazzaville, published a book containing a foreword attributed to Mandela on its front cover. The foreword praised Sassou-Nguesso as ”one of our great African leaders”.
The Johannesburg-based foundation was quick to condemn the ”brazen abuse” of 91-year-old Mandela’s name and give a strong hint of litigation. Verne Harris, its acting chief executive, said: ”Mr Mandela has neither read the book nor written a foreword for it … we will be taking appropriate action.”
Strictly speaking, Harris was correct. Mandela had indeed neither read the book nor written a foreword. Sassou-Nguesso was widely mocked for outrageous chutzpah in trying to sell books. But the case was not so simple.
The South African government confirmed on Friday that the words used in the foreword were Mandela’s. They were delivered by him in a speech in 1996, according to a statement from Sassou-Nguesso’s office.
Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, who was reportedly a middle-man in granting permission for the use of the words — though not as a foreword — flew to Congo-Brazzaville this week to placate Sassou-Nguesso, who was smarting at the charge of dishonesty.
Sexwale, a member of the Mandela foundation board, said: ”I came here to give him a message from Nelson Mandela, who regards him as a brother and a true friend.”
He continued: ”The message I want to state is the following — and it must be absolutely clear — the book of President Sassou is a great book, and the quotations of Mr Mandela in that book are supported by Mr Mandela himself. The publishers just made a small mistake of saying the word ‘foreword’ but the quotation stands for itself.
President Sassou-Nguesso is a leader in Africa — the words that had been put by Mandela in that book are correct.”
Sexwale said he did not wish to dwell on the misuse of Mandela’s speech in Sassou-Nguesso’s Straight Speaking for Africa. ”For us it is not an issue,” he said. ”It is just a mistake.”
Mandela had written a personal letter to Sassou-Nguesso ”clarifying the situation” and standing by the favourable words he spoke about him 13 years ago. – guardian.co.uk