納爾遜·曼德拉：巨人辭世

AMONG Nelson Mandela’s many achievements, two stand out. First, he was the world’s most inspiring example of fortitude, magnanimity and dignity in the face of oppression, serving more than 27 years in prison for his belief that all men and women are created equal. During the brutal years of his imprisonment on Robben Island, thanks to his own patience, humour and capacity for forgiveness, he seemed freer behind bars than the men who kept him there, locked up as they were in their own self-demeaning prejudices. Indeed, his warders were among those who came to admire him most.

Second, and little short of miraculous, was the way in which he engineered and oversaw South Africa’s transformation from a byword for nastiness and narrowness into, at least in intent, a rainbow nation in which people, no matter what their colour, were entitled to be treated with respect. That the country has not always lived up to his standards goes to show how high they were.

Exorcising the curse of colour

As a politician, and as a man, Mr Mandela had his contradictions. He was neither a genius nor, as he often said himself, a saint. Some of his early writings were banal Marxist ramblings, even if the sense of anger with which they were infused was justifiable. But his charisma was evident from his was a born leader who feared nobody, debased himself before no one and never lost his sense of humour. He was handsome and comfortable in his own skin.

In a country in which the myth of racial superiority was enshrined in law, he never for a moment doubted his right, and that of all his compatriots, to equal treatment. Perhaps no less remarkably, once the majority of citizens were able to have their say he never for a moment denied the right of his white compatriots to equality. For all the humiliation he suffered at the hands of white racists before he was released in 1990, he was never animated by feelings of was himself utterly without prejudice, which is why he became a symbol of tolerance and justice across the globe.

Perhaps even more important for the future of his country was his ability to think deeply, and to change his mind. When he was set free, many of his fellow members of the African National Congress (ANC) remained dedicated disciples of the dogma promoted by their Party’s supporter, the Soviet Union, whose own sudden implosion helped shift the global balance of power that in turn contributed to apartheid’s demise. Many of his comrades were simultaneously members of the ANC and the South African Communist Party who hoped to dismember the capitalist economy and bring its treasure trove of mines and factories into public ownership. Nor was the ANC convinced that a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy—with all the checks and balances of bourgeois institutions, such as an independent judiciary—was worth preserving, perverted as it had been under apartheid.

Mr Mandela had himself harboured such doubts. But immediately before and after his release from prison, he sought out a variety of opinions among those who, unlike himself, had been fortunate enough to roam the world and compare competing systems. He listened and pondered—and decided that it would be better for all his people, especially the poor black majority, if South Africa’s existing economic model were drastically altered but not destroyed, and if a liberal democracy, under a universal franchise, were kept too.

That South Africa did, in the end, move with relatively little bloodshed to become a multiracial free-market democracy was indeed a near-miracle for which the whole world must thank him. The country he leaves behind is a far better custodian of human dignity than the one whose first democratically elected president he became in 1994. A self-confident black middle class is emerging. Democracy is well-entrenched, with regular elections, a vibrant press, generally decent courts and strong institutions. And South Africa still has easily sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest and most sophisticated economy.

But since Mr Mandela left the presidency in 1999 his beloved country has disappointed under two sorely flawed leaders, Thabo Mbeki and now Jacob Zuma. While the rest of Africa’s economy has perked up, South Africa’s has stumbled. Nigeria’s swelling GDP is closing in on South Africa’s. Corruption and patronage within the ANC have become increasingly flagrant. An authoritarian and populist tendency in ruling circles has become more strident. The racial animosity that Mr Mandela so abhorred is infecting public discourse. The gap between rich and poor has remained stubbornly wide. Barely two-fifths of working-age people have jobs. Only 60% of school-leavers get the most basic high-school graduation certificate. Shockingly for a country so rich in resources, nearly a third of its people still live on less than $2 a day.

Without the protection of Mr Mandela’s saintly aura, the ANC will be more harshly judged. Thanks to its corruption and inefficiency, it already faces competition in some parts of the country from the white-led Democratic Alliance. South Africa would gain if the ANC split, so there were two big black-led parties, one composed of communists and union leaders, the other more liberal and market-friendly.

Man of Africa, hero of the world

The ANC’s failings are not Mr Mandela’s fault. Perhaps he could have been more vociferous in speaking out against Mr Mbeki’s lethal misguidedness on the subject of HIV/AIDS, which cost thousands of lives. Perhaps he should have spoken up more robustly against the corruption around Mr Zuma. In foreign affairs he was too loyal to past friends, such as Fidel Castro. He should have been franker in condemning Robert Mugabe for his ruination of Zimbabwe.

But such shortcomings—and South Africa’s failings since his retirement from active politics—pale into insignificance when set against the magnitude of his overall achievement. It is hard to think of anyone else in the world in recent times with whom every single person, in every corner of the Earth, can somehow identify. He was, quite simply, a wonderful man.納爾遜·曼德拉一生取得無數成就，其中兩項最引人注目。第一，因堅信“男人和女人生來平等”入獄27年，面對壓迫卻不屈不撓、寬宏大量、品德高尚，是世界上最能鼓舞人心的政治家。囚禁於羅本島的艱苦歲月中，他耐心、幽默、寬容，似乎比把它囚禁於此的人更加自由。彷彿鎖在監獄裏的不是他，而是自取其辱、充滿偏見的對手。最後，就連看守們也對他無比敬佩。

第二，南非在他的打造和治理下，從一個骯髒、狹隘、受人恥笑的國家變成一個不分膚色、人人平等、互相尊重的“彩虹之國”，這簡直是一個奇蹟。如今的南非發展並不盡如人意，可見建成“彩虹之國”難度頗高。

消除膚色差異

曼德拉是一名政治家，也是一個普通人，性格也有互相矛盾的地方。他經常這樣評價自己：我不是天才也不是聖人。早期文章中充斥的憤怒雖然可以讓人理解，但講的還是老一套的馬克思主義理論。他從小就具有領袖魅力，是天生的領袖，不懼怕任何人，不向任何人屈服，隨時隨地都幽默感十足。他相貌英俊，喜歡自己黝黑的膚色。

在一個法律都刻上種族歧視烙印的國家，他從未懷疑自己堅持的“所有國民都應得到平等對待”的信念是錯誤的。若大多數公民（指黑色人種）擁有發言的權利，他也不會否認白種人的權利，這纔是他的出色之處。1990年被釋放之前，面對白人種族歧視者的百般凌辱，他也從未有過復仇的念頭。他是一個毫無偏見的人，因而在世界上都是寬容和正義的象徵。

考慮到南非的未來，更重要的是他有深入思考、改變觀念的能力。1990年曼德拉被釋放後，南非非洲國民大會黨（現爲南非執政黨）中的許多同志仍然癡迷蘇聯提出的教條主義，但蘇聯的突然垮臺打破了世界權力平衡，最終爲消除種族歧視奠定了基礎。許多同志既是非洲國民大會黨成員，也是提倡瓦解資本主義經濟、將煤礦和工廠收歸國有的南非共產黨成員。非洲國民大會黨黨員也不相信，在因種族隔離變得扭曲的國家，資產階級充滿權力制約和平衡的西方議會式民主有什麼值得保留的。

曼德拉雖有些懷疑，不過沒有表露出來。出獄前後那段時間，他向一些雲遊天下、有機會比較各國制度優劣的幸運兒諮詢了大量相關意見。他耐心傾聽，經過慎重考慮，最後決定：徹底轉變南非現有的經濟模式而不是摧毀它、維持普選權制度和自由民主制不變。這對南非全體國民，尤其是對南非的黑色人種更爲有利。

最終，南非只發生了小規模的流血衝突就完成了向多民族自由市場民主政體的成功過渡，不得不說是一個奇蹟，發生這一切，全世界人民都應該感謝曼德拉。相比1994年成爲南非第一任民選總統時的南非，他卸任後的南非變得更加尊重人的尊嚴；自信的黑人中產階級正在形成；民主已在南非立地生根；定期舉行的選舉定期舉行、媒體欣欣向榮、法院正直辦案和機構強而有力，經濟是撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲國家中規模最大、最爲完善的。

但是自從1999年曼德拉卸任總統以來，南非在姆貝基和現任總統雅各布·祖馬兩位不作爲的總統的領導下，讓世界失望了。其他非洲國家的經濟迅猛發展，南非的經濟卻一落千丈。尼日利亞日益增長的GDP正日益接近南非的水平；非洲人國民大會黨內部的腐敗和政治獻金問題越發明顯；統治階層內的獨裁主義和民粹主義傾向愈發嚴重；曼德拉非常憎恨的種族仇恨主導了公衆話語權；貧富差距不斷擴大；只有不到五分之二的勞動年齡人口擁有工作；只有60%的畢業生獲得最基本的高中教育畢業證；對於一個資源富饒的國家，幾乎三分之一的國民每天的生活費用不足2美元，簡直令人震驚。

在沒有曼德拉光環的籠罩下，非洲人國民大會黨將受到嚴厲的指責。由於腐敗問題和缺乏效率，非洲人國民大會黨在國內許多地方已經面臨來自白人領導的民主黨聯盟的競爭。如果非洲人國民大會黨分裂，南非將有兩大黑人領導的黨派：一個成員主要是共產主義者和工會主席，另外一個成員更多的是崇尚市場的自由主義者。

南非的國父，世界的英雄

非洲人國民大會黨的墮落並不是曼德拉的錯誤。當姆貝基做出致命的錯誤指示造成上萬人因艾滋病喪生時，也許他應該更加大聲地疾呼，發出反對聲音；面對祖馬幕僚的腐敗行爲，也許他應該更加堅定地予以反對；在處理外交事務方面，他對過去的朋友太過忠誠，比如費德爾·卡斯特羅；面對置津巴布韋於水火之中的總統羅伯特·穆加貝，或許他的譴責可以更直率些。

縱使有這些缺點，縱使卸任之後不再活躍在政治舞臺上導致南非倒退，但和他取得的諸多成就相比，都顯得無足輕重。很難想象當今時代地球上任何一個地方有可以和他媲美的人。簡而言之，他是一個傑出的人。