As tributes to Nelson Mandela continued to make the headlines, Alderney Commission chief executive, Andre Wilsenach, recalled the day he met the anti-apartheid icon.
Mr Wilsenach had been working for the African National Congress Government as an economics advisor. "I met him once, and although it was long ago I realised I was in the presence of greatness," he said. "He was a wonderful person. I was a white, Africaans male and we were coming out of the apartheid regime and he was as friendly to me as to any of his black brothers. He was a wonderful person. The part he played in shaping South Africa's future cannot be under estimated. It was huge."
After apartheid crumbled Mr Wilsenach was working with Ernst & Young who had developed a programme to recruit talented young Black people and thereby make the company more acceptable to the new ANC leadership. One day the call came from government to say that some of the people he had recruited were earmarked for ministerial positions - would he come and work for it too?
Mr Wilsenach didn't hesitate. He gave up his career and moved his family to work for the ANC. He was a staunch believer in the new regime. "I could see the absolute sense in it," he said. "There was no future in the way South Africa had gone before and I had known that for a very long time. I was a big supporter of the change and here was the opportunity to play a small role in helping this along. It was a no brainer. It was absolutely the right thing to do."
Mr Wilsenach's reaction when he saw the news of Mandela's death on TV was one, he said, of relief. "I was pleased for him," he said. "People talk about the long walk to freedom, but tend not to talk a lot about the long walk to freedom after that, which was at times very arduous, particularly with his health problems. I have heard he died peacefully in his own home, and for me that was good news."
The Guernsey Bereavement Service has made three visits to Alderney over the past few months and would like to continue to help you. We are visiting the island again on
Tuesday, 23rd February 2024 and would invite anyone who feels they would like Bereavement Counselling to telephone the Bereavement Service Office on 257778 to make a time to meet one of our counsellors.
The Guernsey Bereavement Service has made three visits to Alderney over the past few months and would like to continue to help you. We are visiting the island again on
Tuesday, 23rd February 2024 and would invite anyone who feels they would like Bereavement Counselling to telephone the Bereavement Service Office on 257778 to make a time to meet one of our counsellors. 