Amandla!

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's historic Walk to Freedom.

I remember watching with tears in my eyes as the former ANC leader walked out of prison after 27 years and into the history books.

It was a moment that hadn’t seemed possible in those dark days of the 1980s when the Government under Thatcher refused to back sanctions as she believed they would hurt the poor black majority more than the rich white minority.

Famously at a Conservative Youth meeting (I’m not sure that’s what they ACTUALLY called the now defunct group), many of the future Tories wore Hang Nelson Mandela T-shirts and called him a terrorist.

Thatcher maintained her position even after many African nations boycotted the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh because of Britain’s continuing ties to the regime.

The fight against the evil that was apartheid was a long and hard.

Some national governments backed sanctions but many more individuals made personal decisions about which banks they would use and which products they would buy based on whether those companies were helping to prop up the South African government.

This put pressure on companies and many pulled out of the country.

It was these acts of individual protest, along with the countless amazing acts of heroism from the country’s black majority and allies among white South Africans that lead to the downfall of apartheid and the birth of Mandela’s Rainbow nation.

Even at the time I remember many of the great and good warning that the country would descend into hell. With bloodshed and recrimination once the angry black mob was set free.

I even heard some say that the blacks were not capable of running a first world country.

Now 20 years later South Africa a vibrant nation full of opportunity and hope.

It’s also about to host the biggest sports event in the world (sorry Olympic fans but it is) and Mandela, now 91, is lauded by almost everyone as a living legend.

I’ve been to South Africa several times over the last few years it seems unthinkable that the country I've come to love was once the pariah that I grew up hating.

The transition was largely peaceful and the lessons learned there have been used in post conflict areas like Northern Ireland and the Balkans.

Of course, there is still extreme poverty and of course there is a massive crime problem but the country didn’t collapse and there has been no large scale bloodshed.

I personally think this transition could only happen under the stewardship of a man like Madiba.

The Struggle, as it was known, is the best example of why it’s important to keep going when you’re campaigning against something you know to be wrong.

Even when the chips seem stacked against you and the playing field feels more like a cliff face.

As Peter Tatchell reminded us when he spoke at our Campaigning Conference in January, you need to keep going and keep believing.