Initially unaware of his grandfather’s impact on the world’s history and the role he would later play in his own life, Ndaba Mandela was 7 years old when he first met his grandfather Nelson Mandela, who was at the cusp of being released from jail after nearly three decades of imprisonment.
“They had never discussed this man [Nelson Mandela] in our home. You couldn’t mention the Mandela name, so for a long time, I never heard about him,” Ndaba Mandela said, speaking to listeners worldwide at RootsTech 2025.
During his virtual keynote address, Ndaba Mandela shared fragments of his experience and the life lessons he gained while being raised by his grandfather in the years following his release. Ndaba Mandela’s virtual address was published March 5 to RootsTech.org.
‘A larger-than-life character’
Near the start of his address, Ndaba Mandela explained that even when knowledge of his grandfather was new, his admiration for him grew quickly.
“I just began to realize that my grandfather was a larger-than-life character and it was so amazing to me,” he said.
It wasn’t until a few years later, when Mandela came under the care of his grandfather — who would soon become the first democratically elected president of South Africa — that he began developing a personal connection to him.
“‘Ndaba, your father never got the opportunity to go to university, so I’m sending him to university,’” Mandela recalled his grandfather telling him upon arriving at his home in Northern Johannesburg, South Africa. “‘… While he’s at university, you will stay with me. I will look after you.’ And that is how I moved in with my grandfather. I stayed with him until the end.”
Lessons from a grandfather
Now, more than 10 years since his grandfather’s death, Ndaba Mandela told listeners it is the personal relationship he built with his grandfather and the life lessons he learned through his example that have “spurred [him] on to become a leader in [his] own right.”
At one point, Mandela recalled, his grandfather approached him, saying: “Ndaba, you’re my grandson, therefore people will look at you as a leader. Therefore you have to get the best marks in class.”
Feeling the weight of his grandfather’s legacy, Mandela said he thought: “Whoa, whoa, whoa, the pressure, the pressure — why can’t I just be a normal kid? Why do I have to be a leader?”
Only later in life, Mandela said, did he understand the importance of what his grandfather was saying.
“The pressure,” he said, “that’s how diamonds are created. … Through great pressure exerted underground. … So, our parents want us to become diamonds. They want us to shine because we do not have an idea of how much power we have.”
By pairing this and other lessons with an understanding of his genealogy, as taught by his elders, Mandela said he has gained confidence and a deeper understanding of his role as a leader in his home and community.
“A leader, actually, is not about being the best,” Mandela said. “It’s not about being number one. A leader is about serving your community.”
Finding hope in the ‘sound of children’
Nearing the end of his remarks, Ndaba Mandela shared that his grandfather possessed a profound love for and belief in the youth as the “leaders of tomorrow.”
He said: “In jail, they never got to hear the sound of children. And what does the sound of children represent? A hope to create a better world.”
Thus, inspired by his grandfather’s belief in the youth, Mandela dedicated some of his final remarks to encouraging the youth to “dream.”
“I want you to dream so big that your dreams scare you,” Mandela said. “If your dreams don’t scare you, you are not dreaming big enough.”
He also encouraged listeners to learn their genealogy, acknowledging the “hills and great mountains” their ancestors had to climb to bring them to where they are today.
“In order for us to know where we are going,” he said, “we need to know where we are coming from.”
