Zelda la Grange grew up in South Africa as a white Afrikaner who supported the rules of segregation. Yet just a few years after the end of Apartheid she became Nelson Mandela’s most trusted and loyal assistant, growing to respect and cherish the man she had been taught was the enemy. She was even hand-picked by Mandela to remain in his services beyond retirement.
In front of a small audience at the AHRI breakfast in Sydney this Tuesday, she drew on Mandela’s famous words: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
According to La Grange, Mandela firmly believed how you treat people is how they will treat you, so if you approach people with kindness, kindness will be reciprocated. His day-to-day work ethic was based on the values of respect, integrity and honesty.
At the event, La Grange attributed the success of her long and rewarding EA role with Mandela to a mutual admiration and respect. And he inspired her to become a kind, strong and successful woman in her own right.
She has since gone on to play an important role in the formation of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and has received several awards for her dedication and service to the late Mandela. She currently serves as the patron for the First for Women Foundation and is a non-executive director of the non-for-profit organisation Healing Hands.
Win a copy of Good Morning, Mr Mandela
This International Women’s Day, EST10 is giving away four copies of La Grange’s inspiring memoir, Good Morning, Mr Mandela.
Translated into ten languages and distributed all around the world, it tells the extraordinary story of an awkward, terrified young typist in her twenties later chosen to become EA to the greatest man of her time.
For your chance to win, simply like our competition post on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/est10/ by 5pm AEDT Friday 16th March. We will be selecting four people at random to receive a copy of the book.