Sir Trevor McDonald has revealed he was ‘terrified’ before sitting down with South African icon Nelson Mandela for the anti-apartheid campaigner’s first televised interview after his release from prison in February 1990.
Just three days had passed since millions across the world watched Nelson Mandela complete his ’long walk to freedom’ out of Victor Verster Prison and end his 27 years of incarceration.
In this episode of Reporting History, Sir Trevor rewatches the cherished filming from the meeting in the garden of Nelson Mandela’s home in the Johannesburg township of Soweto on February 14, 1990.
He tells host Tom Bradby how he landed the prized sit-down interview and addresses the difficult questions he needed to put to the iconic freedom fighter after Frederik Willem de Klerk finally sanctioned his release.
Sir Trevor also recalls why it took Nelson Mandela another five years, in their interview ahead of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, before he would hint at the harsh physical impact his decades behind bars had had on him.
Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable reports from the defining events of the modern age.
The guests reveal the drama that occurred off camera, from war reporting and frontline journalism to historic global events.
This episode explores:
The moment of Mandela’s release
Why apartheid failed
How Sir Trevor landed the first interview
Mandela’s first interview in Soweto
How Mandela united a divided country
Mandela’s interview before the 1995 Rugby World Cup
Mandela’s legacy