This paper is written in order to celebrate the life and times of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a great revolutionary, a humanitarian, the first President of democratic South Africa and a true world icon, imprisoned by the apartheid state of South Africa for his beliefs and values. He was the leader of the banned African National Congress (ANC). He brought light into a dark world. Mandela had no easy walk to freedom. The paper in many ways is a personal reflection of the writer and the article uses some newspaper analyses on his legacy and, outlines the issue of economic freedom that was vital to an open society. He set South Africa on a pragmatic path and his speech at Davos was a watershed for the South African economy. The South African business community, the world of business finance and the Regent Business School mourns and salutes the fallen icon. The paper does not pretend to capture or enunciate his legacy in great detail, nor does it pretend to capture the subtle nuances of the life and times of Nelson Mandela, because this will be an almost impossible and herculean task to achieve in a paper of this nature.

This paper is written in order to celebrate the life and times of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a great revolutionary, a humanitarian, the first President of democratic South Africa and a true world icon, imprisoned by the apartheid state of South Africa for his beliefs and values. He was the leader...