Nelson Mandela and others being transported to court for the 1964 Rivonia Trial.
(Image: Copyright Lionel Shapiro)We are excited as the Foundation to let you know that our new Strategy 2025-2028 was approved by our Board of Trustees in the February board cycle. We have named the strategy Rolihlahla: Making Good Trouble.
The name takes inspiration from the opening line of Long Walk to Freedom, which reads: “Apart from life, a strong constitution and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed upon me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla. In Xhosa, Rolihlahla literally means ‘pulling the branch of a tree’, but its colloquial meaning more accurately would be ‘troublemaker’.”
We have also derived inspiration from John Lewis, the late US civil rights movement leader and former congressman. He is shown to say, in the documentary film John Lewis: Good Trouble, “When you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, say something, do something, get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.”
In a world in which there is a rise of polarisation and a prominence of deliberately bad leadership, we think it is time for us to cause trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble. Our troublemaking is a refocus on the mandate Madiba gave the Foundation – to “promote and develop the cause of peace, human rights and democracy”, according to the 2009 trust deed.
We have sharpened our focus by developing four strategic areas: i) Mobilising Legacy, ii) Advancing Equity, iii) Fostering Good Leadership and Public Institutions, and iv) Achieving Global Justice. In one sentence, our purpose is to mobilise the legacy of Nelson Mandela to contribute to the creation of just societies.
For purposes of our work, we have defined just societies as “those in which everyone can realise their potential and they are not inhibited by intersecting factors including poverty, race, sexual orientation, disability, age or geographic provenance. In other words, societies in which people have equity of opportunity and can lead full lives in a peaceful environment. Moreover, they are democratic societies in which there is justice based on respect for human rights”.
The work we are already doing in the Mobilising Legacy strategic area includes maintaining the Centre of Memory, which houses Madiba’s papers and memorabilia, a permanent exhibition on his life and times and a reading room for researchers. We are also pleased to house Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s papers for the moment, as well as Dr Frene Ginwala’s. The centre is a vibrant public resource where many of our partners from civil society organisations, state institutions and various companies host meetings and events. We also receive over a thousand visitors from around South Africa and the world on a monthly basis to our permanent and temporary exhibitions.
To mobilise Madiba’s legacy to do the work of causing necessary trouble in the world, we are working to achieve equitable access to land in South Africa in the Advancing Equity strategic area through litigation, mobilisation and dialogue.
Under Fostering Good Leadership and Public Institutions, we seek to offer Madiba’s leadership into the world more strongly than before. This is particularly needed in this period in world history when leaders are coming to the fore in prominent countries who are deliberately working against the common good and driving division and conflict. Some South Africans purporting to represent Afrikaners have made common cause with such leaders. We must counter them.
Global justice requires the recognition of our shared humanity and the building of solidarity with and support for those who are suffering war, injustice and deprivation. In addition to our ongoing work on championing the end to the apartheid cruelty being exerted on Palestinians, we are starting new work to promote the end of wars currently raging on the African continent.
We are excited about the next phase of the Foundation’s work. Of course, we are a small organisation. We will be launching the strategy more fully in the coming months along with a refreshed organisational identity.
None of the ambitious targets and impact we have set ourselves will be achievable without partnerships with individuals and organisations whose values align with ours. We look forward to your support as we cause good trouble together towards a more just world.