Zelda la Grange joined the presidential typing pool in 1994. She soon won Mandela’s trust and went on to become his right-hand woman.
For 16 years, Zelda la Grange was the constant companion at Nelson Mandela’s side. It gave her unrivalled access to world leaders from Bill Clinton to Muammar Gaddafi.
Mandela was a tough and demanding but irreplaceable boss, she recalls.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
“He was straightforward, but I have to say he wasn’t a pushover. If he’d made up his mind about something, he stuck to that.”
Mandela has been criticized for maintaining warm relations with leaders such as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
La Grange explained, “Madiba never condoned the things that Gaddafi did wrong, but the fact that he delivered on his promise meant a lot to Madiba because it showed him there was a relationship based on trust.
“Gaddafi was so hospitable whenever we went to Libya. He would ask Madiba, ‘What would you like to be prepared for supper?’ There’s very few other heads of state who went to the trouble to ask Madiba what he wanted to eat.”
(Liberty Times)
齊爾達．拉格蘭吉一九九四年加入總統府打字組。她很快就贏得曼德拉的信任，之後成為他的左右手。
齊爾達．拉格蘭吉有十六年的時間都陪伴在曼德拉左右。這給予她無人能及的機會，接近從柯林頓到格達費等世界各國領袖。
她回憶說，曼德拉是很嚴格、要求很多，但卻無人可取代的老闆。
「他有話直說，但我要說，他不是容易被說服的人。如果他對某件事下定決心，就會堅持到底。」
曼德拉因為與如利比亞的格達費這類領導人維持良好關係而受批評。
拉格蘭吉解釋說：「馬迪巴從未寬恕格達費做錯的那些事，但他信守承諾對馬迪巴來說深具意義，因為這表明他們之間有基於信任的關係。」
「不論我們何時造訪利比亞，格達費都很好客。他會問馬迪巴『您想要晚餐為您準備什麼？』其他國家領袖少有人會不怕麻煩地問馬迪巴想吃什麼。」
（自由時報／翻譯：管淑平）
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