James Gregory (7 November 1941 – 2003) was the censor officer and

prison guard A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

for many years of his captivity. He later wrote the book ''Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend'', on which the 2007 film ''

Goodbye Bafana ''Goodbye Bafana'', or ''The Color of Freedom'' ( US), is a 2007 drama film, directed by Bille August, about the relationship between Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) and James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), his censor officer and prison guard, base ...

'' was based. The book, and later the film, are based on the idea that Gregory and Mandela had developed a friendship despite being prison guard and prisoner, respectively.

Mandela's view of Gregory

In his autobiography, ''

Long Walk to Freedom ''Long Walk to Freedom'' is an autobiography credited to South African President Nelson Mandela. It was ghostwritten by Richard Stengel and first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education ...

'', Mandela briefly mentions Gregory on two occasions. The first was during his imprisonment in

Pollsmoor Prison Pollsmoor Prison, officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. Pollsmoor is a maximum security penal facility that continues to hold some of South Africa's most dangerous c ...

: The second occasion that Mandela mentions Gregory in his autobiography is on the day of his release in 1990 from prison: ''The Making Of'' video for the film ''Goodbye Bafana'' contains an interview with Nelson Mandela where he speaks of James Gregory as follows:

Criticism

Gregory's claims were disputed by one of Mandela's biographers,

Anthony Sampson Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (3 August 1926 – 18 December 2004) was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was ''Anatomy of Britain'', which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", upda ...

. Sampson's biography said that Gregory was pretending to be Mandela's friend in prison, so that he could make money. According to Sampson, the close relationship depicted in Gregory's book, ''

'', was a fabrication, and in reality Gregory rarely spoke to Mandela. Gregory censored the letters sent to the future president and thus discovered the details of Mandela's personal life, which he sold in ''Goodbye Bafana''. Sampson said that Mandela considered suing Gregory, but refrained from doing so when the Prison Department distanced itself from Gregory's book. Sampson also said that other warders had told him in interviews that they suspected Gregory of spying for the government. Mandela: The Authorised Biography, p.217. Mandela later invited Gregory to his inauguration as President, apparently having forgiven him as he had the former president P.W. Botha, and the prosecutor Dr.

Percy Yutar Percy Yutar (29 July 1911 – 13 July 2002) was a lawyer who became South Africa's first Jewish attorney-general. He is most noted as the state prosecutor in the Rivonia trial in which anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and seven others were c ...

who had tried to get him executed in the

Rivonia Trial The Rivonia Trial took place in South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, and led to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and the others among the accused who were convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life at the Palace of Justice ...

References

External links

The Independent, 11 February 1994: ''I was Nelson's Friend, And Jailer: James Gregory tells his story to Benjamin Pogrund''
Retrieved 2012-07-10

Retrieved 2012-07-10
The Nelson Mandela Foundation: ''Nelson Mandela's Warders''
Retrieved 2012-07-10 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, James 1941 births 2003 deaths White South African people South African writers People from the Western Cape South African prison officers

Mandela's view of Gregory

Criticism

See also

References

External links