I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.

Getting on well with Pollsmoor's commanding officer Brigadier Munro Mandela was permitted to create a roof garden also reading voraciously and corresponding widely now permitted 52 letters a year. On 13 April 1992 Mandela publicly announced he was separating from Winnie moving to Houghton a white Johannesburg suburb while the ANC forced her to step down from the national executive. Mandela appeared at many; though a poor public speaker he was a popular figure with great status among black South Africans.

W. He is held in deep respect within South Africa as the "Father of the Nation" where he is often known under his Xhosa clan name of Madiba. Internationally Mandela was the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.