At least 50 000 people would later be waiting for him to make his first public address on the steps of Cape Town’s City Hall.
Mandela’s route from Paarl to Cape Town should have taken about half an hour, but awestruck supporters and security concerns meant it would be only that evening when Mandela finally appeared, using Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s glasses to read his speech because he had forgotten his own.
Describing himself as a “humble servant of you, the people” in his address, Mandela changed our lives as he spoke.
* May He eternally rest in Peace!
