Nelson Mandela’s close friend and comrade, Andrew Mlangeni says he will say very little about the former president’s health moving forward out of respect for the families wishes.

The struggle stalwart and former Robben Island prisoner was speaking on the side-lines of the observance of Nelson Mandela International Day in New York, after he made a call in a newspaper interview last month for Madiba’s family to release him.

Family members criticized the calls and Mlangeni says he’s learned his lesson.

“Let me be frank with you, a few weeks ago, the Mandela family requested everybody to say very little about Madiba, they are going through a very difficult period, all of them and the more comment we give to the media about Madiba, they say it’s not good for them, so I’m strictly trying to respect that,” explains Mlangeni.

He says he’s been close friends with Madiba since the 1950s and added that, although he respects the family’s wishes, people on the outside are understandably also concerned.

“His illness does affect even us, who are not members or relatives, he was my president of the ANC, president of the state of SA, my co-prisoner for more than a quarter of a century, more than 25 years we’ve been together in prison. Every time he opens his mouth to say something, just one word, second word you know already the entire story, that’s how close we were on Robben Island some of us. The moment I open my mouth I just say one word, people can know that this is the story he’s going to tell me,” he says.

It’s an important day to us as South Africans, it is an important day because here you have the entire international community supporting the causes for which Madiba stood for

Mlangeni, who will later on Friday ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in honour of Madiba’s 95th birthday and the 4th Nelson Mandela International Day , says it’s gratifying to see the world and not just South African’s rally around Madiba’s legacy.

“It’s an important day to us as South Africans, it is an important day because here you have the entire international community supporting the causes for which Madiba stood for, he was representing all those good values, Madiba has always been saying, children must go to school, we must fight poverty, make sure that people are employed,” says Mlangeni.

At 88 years-old, Andrew Mlangeni’s no spring chicken but he says age allows him to speak his mind even though he’s a little more cautious after his earlier remarks were repudiated by some Mandela family members.
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