Film screening: Life is Wonderful - Mandela’s Unsung Heroes

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Nelson Mandela’s words, spoken quietly and with conviction 60 years ago this year during the seminal Rivonia Trial, resonate through the ages. He became a global figure without peer – an inspiration to people in every part of the world. Yet alongside him in the dock, as he spoke those words, were eight other men who had risked their lives and their freedom for the cause of a free South Africa.

Mandela spoke for them too. These men, their families and their communities fought with every fibre of their being and risked torture and death for the ideals they held so dear – of democracy, of the right to freedom, of equality and diversity. Those convicted – Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Denis Goldberg, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni – each gave over twenty years of their lives in prison to this cause, before emerging to win their life’s struggle for a multiracial democracy in South Africa.

Life is Wonderful tells an inspiring story of immense courage and self-sacrifice on the part of a small group of idealists from a range of cultural heritages who said: ‘Not on my watch’ and ‘Not in my name’. In the words of Andrew Mlangeni, Accused Number 10, ‘they were a multi-racial band of comrades who fought for a non-racial democracy’.

Through ground-breaking interviews, the film, produced by former English High Court Judge Sir Nicholas Stadlen, sheds light onto the stories of Nelson Mandela's co-defendants at the Rivonia trial, the lawyers who saved them from the gallows and some of the other brave men and women who supported them in their fight for the freedom of South Africa.

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The film lasts for 89 minutes and will be followed by a short panel-led discussion and Q&A session chaired by Dr Wayne Dooling, Chair, SOAS Centre of African Studies.

About the speakers

His Excellency, High Commissioner Mamabolo began his political career in 1978 as the Deputy Head of Mission for the ANC in Tanzania later serving as the ANC’s Chief Representative in Mozambique, Cuba and Zimbabwe. Following the election of the first ANC Government in 1994, he became High Commissioner to the Republic of Zimbabwe, until 1999, when he became South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the African Union and concurrently South African Ambassador to Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti. 

He has served as South Africa’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, as the South African High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations. 

In 2017 he was appointed as Joint Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations and Chairperson of the African Union, a position which he held until 2021. Today he represents the Republic of South Africa as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  

Ayanda Mhlongo is an Academic Activist whose commitment to ethical and servant leadership has enabled her to represent South African youth at the United Nations Youth Assembly in New York and at UFMG in Brazil. At the University of Cape Town, Ayanda strategically developed a Teaching Assistant post and gathered funding to assist 2000+ students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This was an intentional effort to fight the legacy of apartheid that impacts South Africa’s education system. Ayanda and her team raised a record-breaking R5.4 million to help students in Africa pay University fees and accommodation. For this, Ayanda was awarded the prestigious Mail & Guardian Top 200 young South Africans award, which celebrated her for using education as a tool to drive social development and transformation in South Africa.  

Ayanda is an Action for Southern Africa Fellow and holds an MPhil in Multi-Disciplinary Gender Studies from the University of Cambridge. A PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge, she explores historical and intergenerational trauma in South Africa and centres the experiences of black female freedom fighters and their progeny.  

Makomborero Haruzivishe is a human rights and pro-democracy activist from Zimbabwe with 12 years’ experience as a frontline activist. He previously led the University of Zimbabwe Students Union, the Zimbabwe National Students Union (as Secretary General) and director for People Power ZW, a national social movement of grassroots organizations and activists seeking an inclusive and democratic Zimbabwe, where freedom of speech and association, along with other constitutional rights are protected. 

Makomborero was persecuted for his work; arrested 37 times, expelled from the University of Zimbabwe, imprisoned, and tortured. He has never been convicted of any charges against him.  In 2021, he was awarded Southern Africa Human Rights Defender of the Year.

Makomborero has asylum status in the UK. He is studying Law at the University of Kent, volunteers as Country Coordinator for AI-UK and serves on the ACTSA Advisory Council. 

Her Honour, Judge Anuja Dhir KC was appointed to the Judical Appointments Commission as a judicial member on 9 June 2018 and reappointed on 9 June 2021. She was called to the Bar in 1989, having practised as a barrister for 23 years, mainly in crime and from 2007 as a special advocate in national security cases.  

Anuja was a member of a number of Bar Council committees, including the equality committee, the professional conduct committee and the law reform committee. Anuja has been involved in advocacy training in the UK and abroad for over 20 years and is of South African heritage. In 2015 she was appointed as a Tutor Judge for the Judicial College. 

Chair: Dr Wayne Dooling (SOAS University of London)

About the co-hosts

The screening is being held as part of ‘All shall be afforded dignity’, a UK-based commemorative programme on the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s liberation (1994-2024) from apartheid, convened by The Liliesleaf Trust UK’s Anti-Apartheid Legacy: Centre of Memory & Learning and Action for Southern Africa together with the support of the South African High Commission to Britain and Northern Ireland. The film is being shown with the kind permission and generosity of the former Trustees of Life is Wonderful and the production company Knickerbocker Glory.

• Organiser: SOAS Library in collaboration with Anti-Apartheid Legacy: Centre of Memory & Learning and Action for Southern Africa together with the support of the South African High Commission to Britain and Northern Ireland.
• Contact: librarycomms@soas.ac.uk