Nelson Mandela: in the name of the founding father

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/06/nelson-mandela-south-africa-black-president

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Despite self-deprecating jokes about being "an unemployed pensioner", Nelson Mandela was rarely short of things to do after stepping down as president in 1999. Even at the age of 84, after being urged to slow down for the sake of his health, he joked: "What would surely kill me would be to wake up one morning not knowing what to do for the day."

After his retirement in 2004, when his schedule was drastically scaled back, some occasions still required the personal imprimatur of the world's best-loved statesman.

In February 2005, he braved a British winter to appear at Trafalgar Square in support of the Make Poverty History campaign, calling on rich nations to give Africa a better deal on trade, debt and aid. Praising the British people for their support in the anti-apartheid struggle, he told a reverential crowd: "Millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free."

The Nelson Mandela Foundation was established in 1999 to ensure his legacy would last after the man himself was gone. Based in a low-rise building in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, the foundation's 33 staff work on projects ranging from building rural schools to funding research on HIV/Aids.

The foundation has a small annual budget, relying on corporate donors such as BMW and the South African telecoms firm Vodacom, or wealthy individuals such as Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey to fund its projects.

While Mandela was alive, the foundation sought to raise a $500m (£320m) endowment to maintain its independence after his death. But his unique ability to charm the powerful and famous will be sorely missed. And because of his stature, he could draw attention to a cause in a way few ordinary fundraisers can.

In retirement, Mandela chose to speak out on HIV/Aids, conceding he had failed to do enough on the issue while president. The man known to South Africans by his clan name, Madiba, disclosed that his late son Makgatho Mandela had had Aids. And in 2002, he publicly embraced the HIV-positive Aids activist Zackie Achmat.

Mandela lent his Robben Island prison number – 46664 – to a concert in 2003 to raise Aids awareness, telling South Africans victims of the epidemic should "not be allowed to become a number". The concert in Cape Town, at a stadium within sight of Robben Island, featured Bono, Beyoncé, Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel. It was the world's biggest internet charity event, streamed live to 2 billion viewers.

According to friends, he found genuine delight in meeting sportspeople and film stars. Mandela always had a passion for boxing: as a young man, he trained as a heavyweight at a makeshift gym in a Johannesburg suburb. And in his later years, on Robben Island, he enjoyed watching Hollywood films. Meeting Whitney Houston, he joked: "I'm only here to shine her shoes."

Part of the foundation's brief is to act as a trailblazer. It has led the way on HIV/Aids, opening a clinic to provide free antiretroviral drugs months before the South African government started doing the same. The former president Thabo Mbeki was sceptical of a link between the virus and the syndrome.

The foundation, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, which helps children from impoverished backgrounds, and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, which provides fellowships, form what is known as the Mandela family of organisations.

The Mandela name is a potent brand, and there have been repeated legal battles to protect it. In October 2009, Mandela issued a statement denying he had written a foreword for a political biography of Denis Sassou Nguesso, the president of Congo-Brazzaville, after the claim was made in large type on the cover.

In unusually blunt language, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said: "Mr Mandela has neither read the book nor written a foreword for it. We condemn this brazen abuse of Mr Mandela's name. We will be taking appropriate action."

Such is the value of the Mandela name that his grandson Mandla went to court to evict relatives from a house that has links to his grandfather. He won an ugly court battle in September 2009 amid allegations from the relatives, who had lived in the house for 18 years, that he wanted to cash in on its past by turning it into a tourist attraction.

In 2008, a request to advertise Viagra with the slogan "We are 10 years old – Mandela is 90" was politely turned down.

Increasingly, the foundation that bears Mandela's name is engaged in a ceaseless battle to protect what has, in effect, become a one-man industry. Streets, squares, schools and a World Cup stadium are named after Mandela. His image looks out from books, posters and newspaper front pages. Four organisations in South Africa bear his name and seek to further his legacy.

From the makers and promoters of everything from Russian dolls and car licence plates to fridge magnets and salt and pepper shakers, there have been many unauthorised attempts to cash in on his image.

Mandela grew tired of efforts to exploit his name. "He is sick of seeing his own face everywhere," a friend said. "I've watched him looking at all these representations of himself, and I can tell he's had enough."

The foundation's intellectual property manager receives 10 requests a week to use Mandela's image. It is aware of 450 unofficial websites registered with variations on his name, as well as dozens of unlicensed trinkets for sale on eBay and in townships.

The fear is that policing his name will become impossible. "As time goes on, it's going to become more difficult," said John Samuel, the former chief executive of the foundation. "It's because it is such a vast area to patrol."

Mandela himself was once quoted as saying: "You can Kennedy-ise my name but not Disney-ise it."

Robbed of the aura of the living man, the charities he founded are now left to continue Mandela's work. Speaking before Mandela's death, Samuel said: "I think obviously that event [Mandela's death] will have a major impact, but one of our challenges between now and that day is ensuring the foundation can survive.

"What we need is to have a well-run foundation. We need a first-class institution. Whatever we do in the Mandela name has to be worthy of the name."

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