The Guardian obituary is more nuanced than the rather one-dimensional assessment we have been getting elsewhere.
Whilst I acknowledge that the 1988 Wembley Stadium concert was important (and certainly brought Mandela's name before a generation of people who knew little about him previously), I feel that Tony Hollingsworth overstates things. There were many other factors involved. As The Guardian obituary points out, Botha was seeking to release Mandela several years before the concert.
One impact of the concert was that, on Mandela's release, many celebrities sought to burnish their own reputations by meeting and associating themselves with him. When that happened, I felt it diminished him in equal measure. The Guardian piece does much to explain that.
I found it difficult to accept his support for "necklacing", as practiced by Winnie Mandela. The Guardian says it damaged the reputation of the liberation movement and it certainly did in my case. It is difficult to countenance that kind of vigilante justice anyway but "necklacing" was a particularly nasty form. "One humanity; one justice" did not apply in those cases - none of which diminishes the impact of, and sentiment behind, MK's words that day.
