It’s just over 30 years since the Nobel peace prize was awarded jointly to Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk for their work in laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa. 

About 18 months after receiving the honour at the Oslo City Hall, and with Madiba firmly in charge of government, the now jobless de Klerk was asked to address the political society of the University of Johannesburg (or RAU, as it was known at the time). This happened to be the last year of my own short teaching career at the same institution and, somehow, I managed to crack an invite to this flagship event...

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