30th Anniversary of the Release of Nelson Mandela: Interview with Verne Harris

The 11th of February 2020 will mark the 30th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster prison. To commemorate this moment, the Nelson Mandela Foundation will host three, connected events in the Western Cape. This year’s commemorations will consider the ‘new prisons of Africa’ that have come to define life for many and focus on how to achieve substantive liberation. These ‘prisons’ range from the physical prisons that have led to high levels of incarceration and the failures of restorative justice, to the effective prisons that define our lives, such as the violence that keeps people in their homes to the prisons of the mind that keep people within a particular understanding of themselves.

The commemoration events fall within a time for South Africa to reckon with its history as the president’s State of the Nation Address is days after the thirtieth anniversary. It is therefore a time for reflection and planning and the commemoration events bring the historical narrative of the country into focus as we assess that state of South Africa, where we have come from and where we are going. The thirtieth anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela is also the thirtieth anniversary of the unbanning of political parties in South Africa, the defeat of Apartheid and the beginnings of democracy in South Africa. It is, therefore, an immensely historical occasion that celebrates the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the hard-won freedoms we enjoy today.

Transcript

Commentator: Mr. Nelson Mandela a free man, taking his first steps into a new South Africa.

Verne Harris: My name is Verne Harris. I worked for Madiba between 2004-2010 as his Archivist, setting up what we later called The Centre of Memory. I am still working at The Nelson Mandela Foundation. Just a couple of momentos hanging on my wall here...that's an image of me working with Madiba. The best part of my job was being able to go to him with questions about particular documents or photographs. I think that one was taken in 2004.

Commentator: There’s Mr. Mandela. Mr. Nelson Mandela a free man taking his first steps into a new South Africa.

Verne Harris: The day Madiba was released from prison, my wife and I didn't have a television set in those days and so, it was a question for us. Where do we go to watch the release? The choice was really between getting together with activist friends and comrades or to visit my family. We chose to come through to Johannesburg. A large part of my family was in Johannesburg at the time and so it was kind of a family gathering. What that day meant to me has changed over time. So, it's hard to remember, with great clarity, what it meant at that particular moment. I think it would be fair to say that it was, at the time, a moment of unspeakable joy but you're also thinking, but maybe it doesn't stick. It might all still unravel and be unfixable. It is interesting, thinking back on that, because my family certainly didn't support the struggle or see Madiba as a leader at all. That moment was significant, even for them. There was also the harsh reality of a civil war going on. He understood that you can't find reconciliation without fundamental transformation.