The great thing Mandela did was his policy of reconciliation.   Sure, government services were worse, there was corruption in some places, etc etc etc.   Regardless of all that, instead of trying to get revenge on white people, confiscating their land  and possessions, he pursued a policy of forgiveness and reconciliation, in spite of having to spend 27 years at hard labor and  living in a tiny cell with only a bucket for a toilet.  

 

That's what made him a great man in my opinion.   His policy of forgiveness and reconciliation, and his vision of a rainbow society. 

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