Collision from Home: Mandela's Grandson on Gradual Change: 'South Africa Has Proven That It Does Not Work'
- Siyabulela Mandela says South Africa is still fighting the same racism that jailed his grandfather for almost 27 years
- Mandela says we need to be clear when we speak about global power: "power means whiteness; power means white supremacy; power means racism"
- Mandela joined WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, The Handmaid's Tale author Margaret Atwood, and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal at the 30,000-attendee online event Collision from Home
TORONTO, June 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nelson Mandela's grandson today said South Africa's failures after the abolition of apartheid prove that only radicalism can confront white supremacy worldwide. Siyabulela Mandela, a peace activist with Journalists for Human Rights, made the remarks at the 30,000-attendee online conference Collision from Home, produced by the team behind Web Summit – the world's largest tech conference.
"In South Africa we are still fighting the same racism that Nelson Mandela was sent to prison with for almost 27 years, together with his generation. So the gradual move and the gradual shift that everyone has been talking about, that everyone has been hoping for – South Africa has proven that it does not work," said Mandela.
Asked if racism can be defeated incrementally or whether a full revolution is required, Mandela said that South Africa's experience post-apartheid proves the latter.
"South Africa is one of the most divided countries: the racial parties and how the economy is skewed according to racial lines in the country indicate to the world that the gradual shift, as anticipated by those who waged a struggle in South Africa against the apartheid regime, as anticipated by the generation of Nelson Mandela – it doesn't really work.
"So therefore we need a radical shift, and a change in attitudes to those whom we consider as in positions in power. Here we have to be critical to put things into perspective: power means whiteness; power means white supremacy; power means racism," he said.
Watch a clip from the interview here.
About Siyabulela Mandela:
Siyabulela Mandela is a peace and human rights activist, currently completing a PhD in international relations and conflict resolution at Nelson Mandela University. He is dedicated to continuing his grandfather's legacy on peace, human rights and social justice.
About Collision:
Collision is known by CBC as the "TIFF for tech", while Inc. Magazine calls it the "fastest-growing tech conference in North America". Collision is set to move online for 2020 with Collision from Home. Collision will return to Toronto as a physical event for the second year from June 21-24, 2021 at the Enercare Centre.
About Web Summit:
Forbes says Web Summit is "the best tech conference on the planet"; Bloomberg calls it "Davos for geeks"; Politico, "the Olympics of tech"; The Guardian, "Glastonbury for geeks"; and, in the words of Inc. Magazine, "Web Summit is the largest technology conference in the world".
Whatever Web Summit is, it wouldn't be possible without an incredible team of over 200 employees based in Dublin, Lisbon, Toronto and Hong Kong, including world-class engineers, data scientists, designers, producers, marketers, salespeople, and more. They've disrupted an old industry by building incredible software and designing mind-blowing events, revolutionising how people and ideas come together to change the world.
Useful links:
Collision images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/collisionconf/
Collision speaker lineup: https://collisionconf.com/speakers
Collision schedule: https://collisionconf.com/schedule
Share this article