Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela

Author:Nelson Mandela
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780385669924
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Published: 2011-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

12. CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD STENGEL

STENGEL: … Mac Maharaj was talking about how you … in prison … used to represent other prisoners, and that was against regulations?

MANDELA: Yes, oh yes.

STENGEL: But eventually they allowed that?

MANDELA: Yes.

STENGEL: How did that happen?

MANDELA: No, by insisting and asserting your right. They had to accept. Because when a man fights, even the enemies, you know, respect you, especially if you fight intelligently … I say, ‘This is wrong; I have seen it. What are you going to do about it? Whether I have a right, you know, to speak for other prisoners, a crime, an offence has been committed and what are you going to do? You’re an officer: you have to do something about it. Very well, if you don’t want to do so, give me permission to write to your head office. And if your head office doesn’t assist me, I’ll write to the minister of justice. If the minister of justice doesn’t help me, then I will have exhausted the channels of complaint within the prison service. I’ll go outside.’ Now they feared that. They feared that … I was persistent, and there are cases where I took up the matter and eventually went to the minister of justice, and when no improvement happened, then I smuggled a letter out and reported the thing to the press. So when I went to them and I said, ‘If you don’t attend to this, I know what to do’ … they feared because of previous experience. So in that way, you know, they allowed me to talk for other prisoners.

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