SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: Nelson Mandela's carpenter for the past 16 years retires and recalls times with the anti-apartheid icon

Record ID: 170385

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: Nelson Mandela's carpenter for the past 16 years retires and recalls times with the anti-apartheid icon
  • Date: 1st November 2013
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) NELSON MANDELA'S CARPENTER, COLIN FITZGERALD, SAYING: "Madiba, was for love and that was Madiba's strength. He followed love. And that would be a fine example for the rest of the world to follow." FITZGERALD TEACHING WHEATLEY WHEATLEY'S HANDS USING TOOLS FITZGERALD WATCHING WHEATLEY WORK FITZGERALD TEACHING WHEATLEY
  • Embargoed: 16th November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: General,Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA5OPST0ZUB4Z1T6T5KP9JOBWBD
  • Story Text: Colin Fitzgerald, a carpenter for 51 years, has decided it's time to retire and pass on his memories and expertise of working for one of the world's biggest icons to a new generation.
    Colin and his wife Clare have been a trusted part of Nelson Mandela's life for the last 16 years and he helped to refurbish Mandela's Houghton house in Johannesburg.
    When Clare was diagnosed with osteoporosis seven years ago Colin was forced to stay home to care for her and turn to teaching as his main source of income.
    After appearing in the the local paper, he has had many enthusiastic enquiries.
    Jennifer Wheatley, one of the first to take lessons, said she's very excited to be learning with such a talented man.
    "Still early days. Yeah I must say I'm very excited to start taking what I, I'm learning and actually putting it to use and start building something. But we will see how it goes. And I'm finding it very interesting and easy to pick up. And Colin makes it very easy," said Jennifer after finishing her second lesson at Colin's home workshop in Johannesburg's Sophiatown suburb.
    Originally from Jersey in the Channel Islands, Colin travelled and surfed all over the world until he fell in love with Clare and South Africa and decided to stay.
    In 1994, soon after Nelson Mandela was elected, Colin was asked by the new South African government to refurbish the home of a "VIP". It wasn't until he arrived at the gates of the house that he realised that it belonged to the country's first black president.
    Colin said that before meeting Mandela, he always had a deep sympathy for the anti-apartheid struggle but admitted he was unimpresssed by the Mandela he saw in the media. That all changed as soon as he met the man.
    "I used to listen to all the bullets and the gunshots going into Alex cause I lived in that, just over it and Lombardy East. I could hear the people getting shot. And then to hear them sing in freedom, on their election night is one of the greatest experiences in my life. But when I used to listen to Mandela on television for that period of time, he didn't come, for some reason or other, he didn't come across as a great knowledgeable man. he came across as quite a stern, stern man and not a broad man, not all rounded , fully rounded man. So when I got the job at Mandela's place I had no great respect for him," said Colin, recollecting the night when Mandela was elected as President.
    "But soon as I met him, soon as I met him, I realised that the image that came across on screen and on the papers was not Mandela. Mandela is a full, rich amazing man. So right from the first time I met him I fell in love with him," he added.
    During a decade and a half, Colin was in charge of refurbishing large parts of the house, including Mandela's study and lounge and renovating much of the family furniture brought back from Mandela's home town of Qunu.
    The job was so large he then asked his wife Clare to give up her own work and join him in the project.
    "The first time Madiba looked at his lounge suite, the whole lounge which we had done out for him, and he stops still and looked at it. 'Am I in the right place', he said. 'Yes you are in the right place Madiba'. And then he said 'No, this is too posh. Too posh, too grand for me. But he settled down to it. And that's his favourite place now in the house," said Clare, remembering Mandela's first impression of the lounge they built.
    Both Colin and Clare said they are proud of the work they did for Mandela, and feel fortunate they are still trusted by the man they both say they love.
    Mandela has been in a critical but stable condition since June and returned to his home September 1 after three months in hospital with a recurring lung ailment, a legacy of the nearly three decades he spent in jail.
    He continues to receive intensive care at his home in Johannesburg's Houghton suburb which has been "reconfigured" to allow him to get special care there.
    Colin said Mandela's wife Graca has loved and cared for the anti-apartheid leader ever since he fell ill.
    "Outsiders will have no idea how much Graca loves Madiba. The love affair that Clare and I have observed over the years that Graca has shown for Madiba is so full on is a historical love affair. One can't pick it up but we've had intimate discussions with Ms. Machel over Madiba's health, she's asked our opinion and we've supplied our opinion and she has always taken the route that is the best for Madiba. Most caring and most loving for Madiba," he said.
    The Nobel Peace Prize laureate's latest hospitalisation in June attracted a wave of attention and sympathy at home and across the world.
    Mandela made his last public appearance waving to fans from the back of a golf cart before the Soccer World Cup final in Johannesburg in 2010. In April state broadcaster aired a clip of the thin and frail statesman being visited by current President Jacob Zuma and top officials from the African National Congress.
    He was elected South Africa's first black president in multi-racial elections in 1994 that ended white minority rule.
    "Madiba, was for love and that was Madiba's strength. He followed love. And that would be a fine example for the rest of the world to follow," said Colin.
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