Nelson Mandela’s Praise for Morocco Resurfaces After Grandson’s Controversial Remarks

By calling to attack Morocco from Algeria to "liberate Western Sahara from injustice," Zwelivelile Mandela has dishonored his grandfather, a peaceful man, an iconic figure in South Africa and the world. After this call, a video of Nelson Mandela expressing his gratitude to the kingdom has been widely shared on social media. In this video, the former South African president gave a speech on the occasion of the celebration of his first anniversary in power. "Madiba" emphasized the generosity of Morocco, which helped to arm and finance the anti-colonial forces in South Africa between 1960 and 1962, through a Moroccan politician and former member of the resistance against French and Spanish colonialism, Abdelkrim Al-Khatib, whom he presents as one of the "architects of the South African army".

"I visited his country in April 1962 and I told him that I wanted to speak to your Majesty the King, he said why, I said that we have created an army, we want our soldiers to be trained, we want weapons, we want money," the South African leader recounted. In response, "he said he had very well understood my mission precisely because he had himself gone through the experience we were undertaking. He said: ’Bring your men to Dar Salam (Royal Palace in the capital Rabat), [...] and I will train them.’" Thanks to this contact, Morocco trained the South African soldiers, delivered weapons to South Africa. The rainbow country also received funding from the kingdom. "He said how much do you want, I said I want 5000 pounds sterling. In those days, 1000 pounds was like a million today, he said you come back here tomorrow, I came back; he said be there at 9am, I was there at 8am, and he said here are the 5000 you want, I don’t want a trace, I want you to go deposit this money in your bank in London," "Madiba" still recounted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOoVmKP7GeM