Graça Machel sheltered her husband, Nelson Mandela, from South Africa’s woes in the last two years of his lif

“I would say he was aware of – about all these things, maybe until about two years back,” she said in her first television interview after emerging from six months of mourning.

“But I decided to save him, to protect him, from getting involved and knowing in depth what was going on, because he was such a sensitive person.”

Amanpour had asked Machel whether Mandela knew about his country’s “struggle,” such as the “growing inequality” and “oppression against women.”



“How aware,” she asked, “was he that the dream still needed a huge amount of work in order to make it really come true?”

“He wouldn’t be able to act on those issues,” Machel said. “And I felt, why to keep him with a heavy heart where he is not able to make a difference to change the situation?”

Both she and the rest of her family made a conscious effort to shield him.

“Madiba also trusted, you know, people he was working with; he trusted even the leadership of this country. So many times he would say, ‘You know mum, I’ve done what I was able to do, and let other young people, other leaders, to carry on.’”

“It’s in the hand of everyone; it’s not one single person.”