Halala Madiba

A book of poetry celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela has been launched to mark the South African statesman's 88th birthday on Tuesday.

The book, titled Halala Madiba (Hail Mandela), is more than an anthology about one man.


It is also the story - through poems from around the world - of South Africa's freedom struggle. The poets include former statesmen, reggae and rap artists, performance poets, and even a 12-year-old child.

It follows the trajectory of Mandela from freedom fighter to "grand old man".

It was the long years of incarceration on Robben Island, beginning in 1963, which inspired the first poems.

One of the earliest is "And I Watch it in Mandela" by South African John Matshikiza, written in 1974.

It is not for the safety of silence
That this man has opened his arms to lead.
The strength of his words hangs in the air
As the strength in his eyes remains on the sky;
And the years of impatient waiting draw on
While this man burns to clear the smoke in the air.
There is fire here,
Which no prison
Can kill in this man;
And I watch it in Mandela.

This poem was written during the darkest days, but it is full of fire - and a sense of what was to come was borne out when Mandela was, eventually released.

Like everyone else, John Matshikiza remembers that day: "I was in London, I was with my mother and my daughter and my partner and we were all just bowled over by what was happening.

"We'd been waiting all of our lives for this. That is all I can say. It was the whole of my life."

By Shen Liknaitzky
BBC 2006