One of Piet’s Stories

The following blog post was written on the evening of the 24^th July. Due to technological restrictions it was posted at a later date.

Peit told us the following story today about Nelson Mandela.

Soon after taking the presidency, Mandela showed up one afternoon to the presidential house and happened to see a figure jump back into the bushes. We he asked his aide about this he was told that it was one of the gardeners, who were never supposed to be seen-they were supposed to hide and avoid being seen.

When Mandela saw a man soon after he chased the man in order to tell him how much he appreciated the garden. The man was embarrassed and assumed he had done something wrong.

Mandela decided that he would invite the gardeners, all twelve, to a tea the following Friday and asked the gentleman in charge of the house to invite them. He refused, saying it was impossible because the men were never allowed inside the house. Mandela asked again and the man still refused…then Mandela demanded, as President, that he invite the men for tea and cookies the following Friday. All twelve men showed up, nervous, in their best clothing for the tea.

Following the tea, Mandela told them he wanted the opportunity to appreciate the garden the way he has. He took them out onto the lawn where he had a helicopter waiting to take the men up to see the garden from the air.

To me this story showed a little of the Mandela magic people in South Africa talk about.