30 years after first democratic election, SA still grappling with corruption & immigration
These issues are also top of mind for many South Africans as they prepare to head to the polls in just 30 days.
Late ANC President Nelson Mandela greets young supporters atop a billboard in a township outside Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on 16 April 1994, prior to an election rally. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG - Immigration, corrupt government officials and social cohesion are some of the issues Nelson Mandela discussed on the then Talk Radio 702 while on the verge of becoming South Africa's first democratic president 30 years ago.
Today, the country is still grappling with these problems as it prepares for its seventh democratic elections.
These issues are also top of mind for many South Africans as they prepare to head to the polls in just 30 days.
Thirty years ago, Nelson Mandela, in what was likely to have been his last radio interview before becoming this country’s first president, shared his thoughts on various issues with listeners on 702.
He was confronted by the sticky issue of immigration, which remains a hot-button topic even today.
"We must also bear in mind, that it may be unfair to accuse immigrants of turning our country into slums. Slums are created in this country because of the policy of the existing government."
And in typical Madiba fashion, he swiftly dismissed suggestions that his party would not taste victory in the 1994 polls.
"You are now talking about an elephant and a mouse. The National Party is a mouse, if in the course of its feeding, it puts on weight, it still remains a mouse."
The former president also took issue with the apartheid government’s ineptitude and corruption, some of which his own beloved African National Congress (ANC) is accused of today.