The world is short of thinkers; those who influence the world with their ideas and philosophy. Mahatma Gandhi gave the world an idea, something that several leaders of the world followed. His path of non-violence was adopted by two of the most influential anti-racism leaders – Martin Luther King, Jr, who changed race relations in the United States, and Nelson Mandela, who quietly bore a prison sentence for 27 years, and then came out and changed South Africa and the world.

Mandela’s influence in maintaining peace and harmony in a charged atmosphere in South Africa can only be contrasted by what happened in neighbouring Zimbabwe, where violence and race-related attacks on the white community increased since the country got its independence in 1980.