UNITED KINGDOM: A new documentary tells of apparent behind the scenes politics contributing to Mandela's release from prison

Record ID: 221201

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: A new documentary tells of apparent behind the scenes politics contributing to Mandela's release from prison
  • Date: 11th December 2013
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 09, 2013) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) EXTERIOR OF CURZON MAYFAIR CINEMA POSTER OF 'PLOT FOR PEACE' PRINCESS MICHAEL OF KENT ARRIVES AND INTRODUCES JEAN-YVES OLLIVIER RECEPTION OLLIVIER BEING PHOTOGRAPHED
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA6AQV9D1ZCL15SHAZZCZXA1TWY
  • Story Text: Princess Michael of Kent may have seemed to have a big draw on Monday night (09 December) in London for the special screening of 'Plot for Peace' but the real star was French businessman Jean-Yves Ollivier.
    The rather unassuming man is the subject of the documentary film, which shows him to have been a key player in the changing political landscape in southern African countries during the 1980s and early 1990s and how his actions in turn appeared to have facilitated the fall of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela.
    As a commodities trader who worked out of African states, Ollivier became an advisor on African affairs to the then Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac and he continued that role when Chirac became France's Prime Minister.
    The documentary film, which features interviews with former South African foreign minister Pik Botha, Winnie Mandela, and ex-South African president Thabo Mbeki, suggests that Ollivier had no political or financial agenda when he decided to get involved in the release of political prisoners between various African countries.
    The film outlines how he secretly negotiated in 1987 the exchange of 133 Angolan soldiers and 50 SWAPO independence fighters from Namibia for South African captain Wynand DuToit. It also suggests that Ollivier persuaded Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso to act as mediator in the Brazzaville Protocol, which set out that Cuba and South Africa would withdraw troops from Angola to pave the way for Namibia to become an independent nation.
    According to the documentary film the Brazzaville Protocol was one of the key reasons behind South African President P.W. Botha's resignation from power. He was succeeded by F.W. de Klerk, who helped broker the end of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela.
    For his work as an independent diplomat in southern Africa, Ollivier was made Grand Officer of the Order of Good Hope by Nelson Mandela for his role in ending apartheid.
    However, recognition wasn't something that Ollivier wanted, according to the film's co-directors Carlos Agullo and Mandy Jacobson. They spent a long time trying to convince him to be part of this documentary, which is part of a series of films commissioned by the African Oral History Archive to tell stories which haven't been heard about African history.
    Jacobson explained: "If you think that his currency, not only in South Africa on that regional battlefield but around the world he has worked in similar situations with secrecy and discretion as his key asset or currency so we had to convince him for many reasons why it was important and it fits very much into the African Oral History's Archive which is about saying these stories are important for future generations and I suppose at a certain time of his life he realised that maybe he should come out now at a later stage of his life and tell this story."
    The documentary film suggests that Ollivier's passion for solving political issues within Africa comes from his childhood in Algeria. However, when asked at the launch the reasons behind his actions, Ollivier replied: "Why? Because there was a problem and I had ways and means maybe to help and it was my duty to help - nothing else."
    He added: "It's just like being in front of a car accident. There is a car on the side of the road, there are wounded people, what do you do? You stop your car, you get out, you don't worry about whether you're going to dirty your pants or if the people who are waiting for you for dinner are going to wait for you for a long time. You don't even think of that. You do whatever you have to do to help and to assist. It's the only thing I've done, nothing else."
    Ollivier hopes that the film will inspire people to get involved in issues first-hand, rather than getting involved with on-line petitions. "You cannot just be behind your screen and say you love it or... you don't participate in the world like that. You have to act, you have to do things outside your room. I hope the story, the feelings people will have are yes, you can still as an individual do things, but you have to move and look ahead and try to help," he said.
    When asked how he foresaw the future of South Africa after Mandela's death on November 5th, he replied "No-one should expect that Mandela has achieved his dream, it's just like Martin Luther King. Both of them had a dream and they are both gone from planet Earth without these dreams being completely achieved. It's our duty as a human being to help those dreams become a reality in the future."
    The special screening was organised prior to the announcement of Nelson Mandela's death and as a tribute a one minute's silence was held before the film began.
    "Mandela was the first person in the history of humankind who was able to unify the whole planet, institutions, individuals, government, people, everybody was attached to one cause. It shows us the way that today there are still causes you can be projecting for tomorrow that the whole planet and the whole of humankind will follow," Ollivier said in tribute to the former South African president.
    "Plot for Peace" is set for UK release on March 14, 2014.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register