ABSTRACT
For Mandela, freedom involved freedom from the very idea of retribution, vengeance, and any form of coercion. This was substantive freedom through reconciliation. Only then could peace be secured. Human beings, human nature, and human actions are not uncomplicated. All humans are flawed. They often act instinctively because they are embedded in and shaped by ideologies that have removed humans from humanity. People had to understand the frailties and the ambiguities of the human condition.
