"If you wanna go fast, you go alone, 3

but if you wanna go far, we go together." 4

You know my favorite African saying is? 5

What? 6

If you think you're too small to do something, 7

you've never spent a night with a mosquito. 8

(laughs) 9

That's a good one, that's a good one. 10

When you were the grandson 11

of Nelson Mandela, you walk in the shadow of a giant, 12

but Ndaba Mandela is creating his own path 13

as a leader and advocate. 14

Ndaba Mandela, thank you so much 15

for coming all the way from South Africa 16

to our studio here in New York city. 17

It's a pleasure and an honor. 18

What is it that you're here 19

that you would like to share with us? 20

Today I would like to share my story with you, 21

a message of love, peace, and unity. 22

You don't have to worry about the Coronavirus, 23

we will get over it. 24

We will continue to impact the world 25

and inspiring young people to unite 26

and build a better world. 27

Nelson Mandela 28

was South Africa's first democratically elected president. 29

The father of the Rainbow nation 30

was a civil rights icon, who spent 27 years 31

of his life behind bars, fighting for equal rights 32

against South Africa's inhumane apartheid regime, 33

which prided itself on extreme separation of white, 34

black and brown citizens. 35

We have made it very clear in our policy 36

that South Africa is a country of many races. 37

There is room for all the various races in this country. 38

Under the harsh apartheid regime 39

which began in 1948, the darker your skin color 40

meant the worst quality of life you had. 41

Nelson Mandela and other 42

South African civil rights leaders fought 43

to end this injustice. 44

And in 1964, Mandela and many of his comrades 45

in the African National Congress 46

were sentenced to life in prison 47

by the apartheid regime for conspiracy 48

to overthrow the government. 49

From 1964 to 1982, they were locked inside 50

the brutal Robben Island Prison, off the coast of Cape town. 51

My grandfather truly believed in humanity, 52

didn't care about race, color, or creed. 53

In Robben Island, there was a rule 54

that was set for him specifically. 55

My grandfather taught himself 56

and became fluent in reading and writing Afrikaans, 57

the language of the enemy. 58

One of the things he says is, 59

"In order to defeat your enemy, 60

you must work with your enemy, 61

because then he becomes your partner 62

and maybe even your friend at a later stage." 63

When the wardens, right, would receive letters 64

from their loved ones, some of them came straight 65

out of high school, they were young men, 66

they couldn't interpret what 67

the hardcore straight language from their parents was. 68

So Mandela would take those letters 69

and actually translate it for the warden. 70

And the warden would be so touched 71

that he would smuggle an extra couple of slices 72

of bread for Mandela, an extra blanket for Mandela, 73

maybe a newspaper for Mandela, whatever the case may be. 74

And when the authorities would find that out, 75

they would be so mad, right? 76

That they would change the guard immediately. 77

Even when they changed the next guard, 78

Mandela would find a way to connect to that guard, right? 79

And the same thing would end up happening. 80

So they had to put a rule that no guard 81

on Robben Island could guard Nelson Mandela 82

for more than three months at a time. 83

Between 1982 and 1988, 84

Mandela and some of his ANC comrades 85

were moved from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison 86

in Cape town. 87

But by 1988, Mandela was moved again in the city 88

but inside Victor Verster Prison, 89

which was a home that was surrounded by guards. 90

It was during his stay here where 91

he first met his eight year old grandson, Ndaba. 92

So my parents told me, 93

"We're going to visit your grandfather in jail." 94

And so as an eight year old, 95

I had a typical image of what the jail was like, 96

you know, concrete bars, cops, wardens, etc. 97

But when we got there, it was a normal house. 98

They were trying to break them down mentally. 99

To say, 100

"Nelson Mandela, you're an old man now. 101

How about you spend the rest of your days 102

away from political life with your family 103

enjoying these days, and we will make sure 104

that you live the rest of your life in luxury. 105

But you need to denounce your organization with the ANC, 106

you need to denounce your (mumbles) you're working with." 107

And of course we know Nelson Mandela never caved in. 108

So when I got there, there was a swimming pool. 109

I never had a swimming pool at home, right? 110

I met a chef for the very first time, 111

I never knew what a chef was, 112

we had the most amazing food, 113

And of course we met the man himself, 114

and he was so happy and proud to meet us. 115

And that was the first time I had an idea, 116

I was inspired. 117

That moment I said, 118

"I wanna be like this man, I wanna go to jail." 119

Because I thought this was jail. 120

So it wasn't, I wasn't gonna be a leader, 121

It wasn't, I'm not gonna be a fireman, it was, 122

"I'm gonna go." I'm going to jail 123

so I can live like this man. 124

And the crowd getting excited. 125

There's Mr Mandela, Mr. Nelson Mandela, 126

a free man taking his first steps into a new South Africa." 127

In February 1990, 128

Nelson Mandela was released from prison 129

after long negotiations with the apartheid government. 130

And a salute from Mr. Nelson Mandela, 131

his wife Winnie, greeting the people outside 132

the fences of the Victor Verster Prison. 133

This year is a very special year 134

because it's 30 years since Madiba 135

was released from prison, 136

you know, 27 years behind bars. 137

Where were you in the exact moment, in February of 1990 138

when he walked out and he's got his fist in the air, 139

where were you? 140

What was that moment like for you? 141

I was right there my friend. 142

Oh wow. I was right there my friend, 143

I was right there in my man. 144

You know, my first was in the air my friend, 145

do you understand what I'm saying? 146

I was just in awe seeing so many people celebrating 147

the release of this man. 148

Aunties, babies, cats and dogs were in the streets dancing. 149

The world was dancing, it was a great moment, 150

not just for South Africa, 151

but for the world to see justice prevail, you know? 152

It was an amazing moment, 153

so when you see moments like this, how can you not 154

be an optimist? I have fought 155

very firmly against white domination, 156

I have fought very firmly against black domination, 157

I cherish the idea of a new South Africa. 158

In 1994, 159

Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa. 160

(crowd claps and cheers) 161

When Ndaba was 11, he moved in with his grandfather 162

who was serving his only term in office. 163

We moved in when I was 11 years old 164

and you know, the first couple of years 165

we didn't really have a grandfather, 166

we didn't go for walks in the park, 167

we didn't go watch movies or go bowling, right? 168

Because he's the president, 169

he's up and down doing his work. 170

But whenever we did have an opportunity to share a meal, 171