To have secured a place on Mr. Mandela’s office wall was fortuitous. The now-famous photograph captured the senior leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), and Mr. Mandela asked for a copy of this photograph from me. I gladly obliged,” says #petervanderspuy with a chuckle. There’s an unmistakable touch of pride in his voice. The image from the year 1993 shows the lanky pilot with #nelsonmandela in front of a private airplane, surrounded by the senior leadership of the ANC at the time: Chris Hani, one of the most popular politicians in South Africa; Mac Maharaj, who would later go on to be the spokesman for Mandela’s successor Jacob Zuma; and Peter Mokaba, who headed the ANC’s Youth League at the time. Hani would be murdered shortly thereafter, while Mandela would become South Africa’s president in 1994. “One day, Mr. Mandela called and asked for this photo, as it was one of the last ones that showed the leadership together,” recalls van der Spuy. “I sent him a copy of it in a beautiful frame and I understand that it ended up in his office.”
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