The Presidential Years

Madiba had a very good sense of history. He paid a lot of attention to history so he knew what these countries had done for the liberation of his own country and aware that at that time he was the leader who all Africans were looking up to. Nyerere is no longer there, he left us very soon, and the leadership began to let’s say lower its standards and Madiba was still there as a beacon, so he had a sort of moral responsibility to continue to support. That’s why, as you would know, he ended up being asked to take on the Burundi process because Mwalimu died while he was working on the issue and one of Mwalimu’s last wishes was for the Burundi issue to be completed. So when Madiba is asked to take on the role, he feels the moral obligation to do it - it was for Africa, it was for Nyerere.

Graca Machel