Nelson Mandela, ‘the naughty boy who noticed things about people’
In a new book, Barbara Masekela, the former South African president’s then chief of staff, reveals his yearning to be ordinary, his humour and his penny-pinching ways.
Nelson Mandela amid supporters in Soweto in 1999. “He wanted to be with the people, and rub shoulders,” says Barbara Masekela. AP
Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks
Two years ago, a quiet ping on my phone changed the course of my work.
My media start-up, Missing Perspectives, had just gained an unexpected new follower: Katie Telford, long-time chief of staff to former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Of all the people I imagined might stumble across our work, the right hand to one of the world’s most influential leaders wasn’t one of them.
