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South Africa - 20 years since Mandela freed
I saw Mandela walk to freedom, photographer
by Genevieve Roberts
Article published on the 2010-02-10 Latest update 2010-02-10 14:48 TU
Twenty years after Nelson Mandela walked free from prison, signalling the beginning of the end of apartheid in South Africa, photographer Mark Peters tells RFI how he witnessed history ... and recorded it.
Eyewitness: Photographer Mark Peters
Mark Peters' signed copy of his photo of Mandela
(Photo: Mark Peters)
After 27 years behind bars, he finally walked out of the Victor Verster Prison in 1990.
Mark Peters took the famous photo of Mandela raising his fist as he tasted freedom for the first time in almost three decades.
“I arrived at a police roadblock a kilometre away, and got out of the car, and said to the policeman, ‘Can I go through?’," he says.
“He said no, so I told him, ‘Congratulations, you’ve won the war.’
“He said: 'What war?'
“I said, 'I have photographed you shooting, killing black people in the township. You on the other hand have beaten me up and thrown me in jail and stole my film.'
“He asked my name, told me had just got a radio message on the car that Mr Mandela would be walking through gates in 15 minutes. He asked me whether I would like to get in the car so we could witness history together."
Peters never found out the police officer's name, although he still wishes he could thank him for being smart enough to witness history.
They drove to the front gates of the prison and within minutes, Mandela walked through the gates, raising his hands in the black power salute. The image was on the front page of newspapers across the world, as millions people celebrated his release from prison.
“The crowd was ecstatic,” Peters says. “And Mr Mandela was dignified, as he always is. One of the first things he did was stop his car, got out of the vehicle and walked up to a white gentleman with daughter on his shoulders. I thought that summed up the man.”
But the hope that the crowd felt 20 years ago has “diminished”, Peters believes.
“I think a lot of the people wish that Mr Mandela had come out younger, or stayed longer as President," he says. "I feel that the populace have been let down by the ANC, and, fortunately, I don’t think Mr Mandela is all that aware of the political turmoil going on around him in the country.”
