On September 23, 1996 Ivy Smit wrote this poem for President Nelson Mandela. He acknowledged receipt of it and she was sent an autographed photo and letter of thanks from the President’s Office.

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From prisoner to President
Who would have thought, as you went through hell
Alone is your cold, damp prison cell
That one day for South Africa, you’d be heaven-sent
And be transferred from… prisoner to President!

What were your thoughts as day by day
You watched your young life passing away?
Condemned and imprisoned for a cause well-meant
Never dreaming you’d go from… prisoner to President!

Longing for loved ones and many a true friend
As your small garden on Robben Island you would tend
Your hands calloused and rough with many a dent
Little knowing your destiny was from… prisoner to President.

Oh, how hard it must have been for you
To lose your mother and precious son too
I can imagine your sorrow as to your cell you went
God took pity and decided you’d go from… prisoner to President.

You were imprisoned by believers of dreaded apartheid
And could have been consumed with malice and hate
Instead you were the Saviour for South Africa sent
The long walk from… prisoner to President.

Ivy Smit

ALSO READ: TIMELINE: Nelson Mandela’s journey

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