eding in turning Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, and other
leaders into members of their party. This influence was
theoretical and ideological, based on reading, hearsay, and
revolutionary tradition. Through the years, it also became
increasingly economic, in terms of financial support from parts
of the communist, the socialist, and the social-democratic world
— including Sweden, Norway, and India as well as the USSR.
Mandela's party, the ANC, was completely pragmatic in its
views of material means, however. It accepted succour and aid
wherever it came from, whether from Libya (as it happens, one of
Mandela's grandchildren was baptized "Gadaffi"), Iraq,
diamond investors, or multinational corporations, sticking to its
cause and never deviating from its course. The Sotho maxim "many
rills make a big river" often was in Mandela's mind. As a
matter of fact, and quite contrary to contemporary European and
American views, Nelson Mandela and the ANC remained ideologically
independent while their financial dependence grew. Nevertheless,
as a result of this focus and political imbalance, the ANC became
a pawn in great-power politics, which delayed Ma