He gave his all to help his country prosper

Cape Town

NELSON Mandela emerged from 27 years in apartheid jails in 1990 pledging to seize South Africa's mines and banks. Four years later, his government slashed spending and courted foreign investors, paving the way for the longest period of growth in the country's history.

The former president and Nobel Laureate, who died on Thursday at the age of 95, was instrumental in getting the African National Congress (ANC), which led the fight against apartheid and has ruled ever since, to embrace an open economy.