Shelved Mandela book full of rumours and speculation: Mandela Foundation

Madiba is the main victim of the controversial ‘Mandela’s Last Years’ book, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Wednesday.

The foundation said the book demonstrates both ignorance and prejudice. It said the author and Mandela’s former doctor, Vijay Ramlakan did not seek any input from them.

“The author assumes the position of the impartial, objective and ethical scientific observer. And yet, detailed analysis of the book reveals the extent to which partiality, ignorance and disregard for confidentiality shape his narrative. Madiba is the main victim.

“But there are many others, both institutional and individual. As an organisation mandated by Madiba to do memory work rooted in authentic, reliable and comprehensive historical evidence, we have been compelled to document for our archive the book’s inaccuracies, falsehoods and invasions of privacy,” the foundation said.

The NMF said Ramlakan’s account confuses people who worked for the Foundation with people who worked for Madiba.

“His account also confuses people who worked for the Foundation and people who worked for Mrs Machel. In it, speculation and rumour easily become fact.”

The foundation said some of the speculations in the book include:

• For the author, Mrs Machel was ‘entrenched in the work of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’ (p.166).  In fact, she had a personal office at the Foundation but no formal role or responsibility in relation to our work.
• He speaks with great authority on what he calls the Foundation’s ‘downgrading’ of Zelda la Grange in 2012 (pp.92-93).  This without seeking a view either from us or from her.
• His assignation of full responsibility to the Foundation for the 2011 ‘routine tests’ media release (a ‘blunder’, p.65) gives no sense of the complexity everyone around Madiba at the time was negotiating.
• He insinuates that the Foundation supported Madiba’s appearance at the 2010 football World Cup final as ‘an opportunity for fundraising’ (p.37). This is an outrageous notion, not surprisingly unsubstantiated.

The book caused controversy after Mandela’s widow Graca Machel said she was considering suing the doctor for breaching patient-doctor confidentiality.

Ramlakan had told publishers Penguin Random House that he was given permission by the family to write the book.

Mandela’s former wife Winnie Madikizela-mandela has also distanced herself from the book.

The publishers have withdrawn the book from shelves following backlash from the family.

The foundation has also welcomed the withdrawal of the book.

“It is not an easy thing for us to support the withdrawal of a book. We oppose censorship in principle and work hard at avoiding the role of gatekeeper. Madiba repeatedly communicated to us an imperative not to be tripped up by a desire to protect him. Always, however, there are limits. And Mandela’s Last Years is beyond them,” it said.

The NMF said Ramalakan failed to respect the law and ethics.

ALSO READ:

//