The Leadership We Need: Lessons for Today from Nelson Mandela – Andrew Russell (2025)
“Just about everywhere we look, our faith in political leaders has hit rock bottom; mediocrity, fanaticism, and moral cowardice abound. Nelson Mandela, who remained as generous as he was shrewd, despite spending twenty-seven years in jail, stands as a timeless reminder and a timeless inspiration. Humanity is, and always has been, capable of great things, and there is always room and reason for us to be better.” – John Carlin, Knowing Mandela.
In these times of global strife and uncertainty, we need role models we can turn to for inspiration, guidance, and genuine leadership. Now more than ever, we need to take stock and push the default setting button. The default setting for global leadership in modern times is Nelson Mandela.
Andrew Russell is an ordinary white South African who lived through the most tumultuous period of our history, during which the oppressive system of apartheid was dismantled and South Africa enjoyed its first-ever democratic elections.
The Leadership We Need is a book full of hope, a place for all of us to draw strength from the life of Nelson Mandela, the rural Eastern Cape boy who, against all odds, became president of a democratic country. It is a book for people of all ages, learners and educators, leaders and followers.
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Mandela’s Last Prison Guard: Fourteen months at Victor Verster – Jack Swart with Andrew Russell (2026)
On a Sunday morning in December 1988, Jack Swart was pulled from a church service at Victor Verster prison and told he would soon become Nelson Mandela's personal prison guard. To Swart, a white Afrikaner who had graduated from prison training college with a prize of dictionary given to him by Prime Minister Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, it felt like a demotion. Mandela was just another prisoner.
Fourteen months later, everything had changed.
This is the intimate, never-before-told story of the final chapter of Mandela's imprisonment - told by the man who was there with him every step of the way. From his arrival at 0700 each morning to prepare breakfast, Jack Swart witnessed history from the most unique vantage point imaginable: the kitchen, the garden, and the daily rhythms of life in the cottage at Victor Verster Prison.
In these pages, Swart takes us behind the doors where Mandela spent his last fourteen months in captivity - baking bread, brewing ginger beer, preparing gourmet meals for visiting dignitaries, and gradually, impossibly, becoming friends with the world's most famous political prisoner. He reveals the man behind the icon: someone who thought microwaves were televisions, who preferred sweet wines, who loved swimming in the pool and who greeted his guard with unfailing courtesy every single morning.
From Robben Island in the 1960s to the momentous final day when Mandela simply tapped him on the shoulder and walked to freedom, Jack Swart's story is a testament to the power of human connection across the deepest divides. It is a story of how a relationship built on daily routines - breakfast, cleaning, conversation - became something that transcended race, politics, and the prison walls themselves.
This is the story of how an unlikely friendship embodied the reconciliation that would soon transform a nation.
Jack Swart served in the Department of Correctional Services from 1965 to 1996, working at Robben Island, Pollsmoor, and Victor Verster prisons. After Mandela's release, he was invited to the presidential inauguration, his 80th birthday and then by his family to his funeral.
SELLING PRICE WITHIN SOUTH AFRICA: R300 plus delivery costs Available on Amazon outside South Africa
COMING DURING 2026
The Mouse in the House – Andrew Russell
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This story is based on true events. Nelson Mandela really did live in the cottage at Victor Verster Prison from 7 December 1988 until his release on 11 February 1990. Jack Swart really was his prison guard and did become his friend.
The story of the mouse is also true. Madiba really did ask Jack to remove a mouse without killing it. Jack did believe he had killed it by accident. And months later, when another mouse appeared, Madiba did write Jack a note. That note still exists today.
This story is a reminder of Madiba’s gentle humour, his compassion for all living things, and his ability to teach important lessons through small moments.
When you visit this region of South Africa, you can stand at the gates where Madiba walked to freedom. You can see the beautiful sculpture of Nelson Mandela created by Jean Doyle. You can stand still and just listen. And maybe, if you’re lucky and quiet, you’ll see a mouse.
Remember what that mouse represents: courage, forgiveness, second chances, and the power of coming home.
Remember Ubuntu: I am because we are.
And remember that everyone – no matter how small – has a story worth telling.
"When we read we are able to travel to many places, meet many people and understand the world."
Nelson Mandela
