@izzythepush,
Perhaps izzy, there are many here who had no contact with South Africans in the apartheid era.
In 1969 I was a 17 year-old competing in the UK Australian Surf Life Saving championships in Newquay for my school Atlantic College. We had students from all over the world and were the leading contenders to win it all.
When we met the South African team we were appalled at their arrogance and their racist demeanor.
It wasn't long before our captain called a meeting and suggested we abandon the competition in protest of apartheid .
I was heart-broken but I did the right thing and eventually we did the right thing.
When I think of Mandela I think about the quote that applied to me that day
Quote:"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."