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

prison guard A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation ...

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

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, ...

'' 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 by South Africa's first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela, and it was first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 yea ...

'', 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", up ...

. 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, uncovering details of Mandela's personal life, and later sold this information 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 South African lawyer who became the country's first Jewish attorney-general. He was the state prosecutor in the Rivonia trial in which anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and seven others were ...

who had tried to get him executed in the

Rivonia Trial The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location f ...

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 South African people of British descent South African writers People from the Western Cape South African prison officers

Mandela's view of Gregory

Criticism

See also

References

External links