Struggles only move forward when decent men and women step forward and say, 'enough is enough and no more.'

[Nelson] Mandela was very keen not to be understood as an exceptional person.

The reality is today most of our political leaders want to be treated as gods and semi-gods, from the security details to the fuss around them and so on.

You know how they say, 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?' What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic.

I was 15 years old when I first heard the name Mandela, or Madiba, as he is fondly known in Africa. In apartheid South Africa he was public enemy number one. Shrouded in secrecy, myth and rumour, the media called him 'The Black Pimpernel'.

I first met Nelson Mandela when I was in my late 20s, in 1993. I was helping facilitate an African National Congress (ANC) workshop to plan its media strategy. I went down to meet him for the first time and you know me I got stupid... I just choked. I said, "Hello Madiba, it's a real honour to meet you," and I couldn't get another word out.

I think even though he [Nelson Mandela] was feted and praised as he was, he always was at pains to say, I'm a human being.