Brazil has its own apartheid, says Nelson Mandela’s daughter

The eldest daughter of former South African president Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), Makaziwe Mandela follows in her father’s footsteps as an advocate for social justice, even outside of traditional politics.

Born in Johannesburg and raised in Soweto, an important focus of anti-racist resistance in South Africa, the activist is active in a non-profit foundation, the House of Mandela Family Foundation, where she leads projects in the areas of education, food security, and alternative energy in rural communities in South Africa.

For the first time in Brazil, Mandela spoke to an audience composed mostly of people from the financial and technology market during Febraban Tech in São Paulo, where she addressed the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) movement on companies, the impact of climate change on developing countries, and the importance of education as a tool to combat social inequality, which includes the fight against structural racism.

Valor Econômico: You are following the steps of your father, Nelson Mandela, in the fight for social justice, the welfare of poor communities, and against racial discrimination. Why did you choose to work in companies and organizations instead of traditional politics?

Makaziwe Mandela: I never got involved in politics. My father did, and I could see the good and the bad side of politics, and I could never be in his shoes to experience his achievements and sacrifices. I understand that I can have my role to make changes, even if they are small.

When I worked in large companies, I strived to make them more egalitarian regarding race and gender, and I always ensured that the women below me would advance. I always encouraged them to improve themselves educationally by seizing the opportunities that companies would offer.

If we all took the time to make a small effort as individuals to be kinder, I think we would have a different world than we have today.

Tell us about your work leading the House of Mandela Family Foundation. On what fronts do you work? Are you thinking of any cooperation project involving Brazil?

We work on the pillars of education, food security, and alternative energies, established with my daughter [Tukwini Mandela, who also works at the foundation]. I am personally passionate about the issue of food security.

Most African families are headed by women, and agriculture is the basis of their livelihood. Today we know how much climate change is affecting the countries, but these people can still produce their own food and sell the surplus in the market; they have been able to change their lives, so we are focusing on these projects.

We support women in getting appropriate seeds, and we hope that in the future, we can build an agriculture school to teach people how to use the minimum of land and water and high-yield seeds to grow vegetables and fruits for their families, creating wealth for rural communities.

We have seen Brazil’s advances in agriculture and fashion, which is a business front we also work on.

How does this business front work?

We produce jewelry and corporate gifts. We have a collaboration with Italy, and we are looking for other cooperation opportunities. In Africa, we produce food, but because of barriers and tariffs imposed on us, we cannot export, and the same happens with fashion.

In Brazil, the textile and fashion industry received government support so small businesses could enter international markets.

Although the Brazilian Constitution and laws say that you are an individual worthy of respect, you can not become a full citizen in rights.

Speaking of business, the acronym ESG has become a mantra, but to what extent the action of companies in this field has the potential to cause substantial effects beyond the speech? Do you believe that there is a reinvention of capitalism in progress?

We should be encouraged that big companies are starting to talk about these issues, even if they are very few at this early stage. But we see the World Bank, the Davos Economic Forum, which brings together the richest people in the world, and they are starting to talk about it.

As individuals and workers, we need to lobby the CEOs to ensure that the positions and policies are in place and grounded. We can’t expect capitalism to change overnight, but the system needs to be forced to realize that it won’t be able to keep itself safe unless it changes how it does things.

Poverty levels have increased in several countries; do you think that is why the system is proving to be unsustainable?

Yes, you have seen it in Brazil, with the increase of people in poverty living on the streets, which creates an unstable, ungovernable situation. And it will not stop because there is still inequality and the gap between rich and poor.

The poor will not sit back; they will stand up and use the means they have at their disposal; nobody can stop them. History has already shown this; the cycle repeats itself, so we should all wake up. We cannot be protected behind walls, fences, or bars. There is no way.

Do you see similarities between the situation in Brazil and your country, South Africa, on social issues?

Yes. In South Africa, we achieved political freedom, but not economic freedom; this was one of the biggest mistakes of my father’s party, the ANC [African National Congress]. They should have insisted on economic freedom and fighting our society’s social and economic divisions.

You don’t change 350 years of racism and laws that put the majority part of the population in the background overnight, so South Africa is going backward on many issues.

Do not be surprised if one day you hear about a coup in the country, as we had big riots last year when poor people were invading stores because of hunger, and small children were stealing clothes and shoes because they did not have access to basic things.

Both countries have an issue involving structural racism, apartheid being the most explicit expression. How to combat it and achieve greater racial and social equity?

Brazil has a type of apartheid very similar to what we experienced in South Africa, even though you do not have a history of apartheid with racism ingrained in the government and laws and practices.

Racial democracy is a way to camouflage inequalities. Although the Brazilian Constitution and laws say that you are an individual worthy of respect, you cannot become a full citizen in rights – 54% of the Brazilian population is black, descended from Africans brought to the country to be enslaved, and at the same time half of this population is poor and marginalized, so what does that mean?

That is racism, classic racism. Education is essential because if we don’t know where we come from, we cannot find the right tool to solve our current problems.

In South Africa, we have been honest in admitting past mistakes; we created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that helps unearth the apartheid atrocities against black people.

People are admitting and talking openly about race issues; there is a vibrant discussion now in South Africa, especially among the youth. So Brazil also needs to have this conversation about race.

The covid-19 pandemic highlighted social inequalities and, at the same time, forced international cooperation in the development of vaccines, for example. How do you see the lessons and legacy of the pandemic?

Well, I see that the pandemic has clearly shown that we are facing this together, that there is only one planet, and we all live on it, so we have to share resources and collaborate.

I wish this collaboration between and within countries would have happened before covid-19 because that would have saved millions of lives.

But I think the lesson remains that even the developed world, which looked to its navel and sought solutions within itself, realized that nothing would come from a single country without the global community’s genuine cooperation, collaboration, and togetherness.

With information from Valor Econômico