Zelda la Grange is one of the many guests at the Amsterdam Festival voor het Afrikaans.

La Grange worked for Nelson Mandela from 1994, the year in which he was elected the first black president of South Africa. She was at his side until shortly before he passed away in 2013. La Grange wrote a memoir about these years, Good Morning, Mr President, published in 2014. ZAM editor Bart Luirink will interview La Grange at the opening of the festival about her white conservative upbringing, her journey of transformation, her ‘life with Mandela’, his heritage and South Africa’s long walk to equality and a better life for all. This conversation is part of the Mandela100 program.

Other guests at this festival of literature, music, film and theatre include singers Laurika Rauch, Gert Vlok and Die Wasgoedlyn, writer Antjie Krog and actress Sandra Prinsloo.

Read all about the inter with La Grange and the festival’s programme at www.festivalvoorhetafrikaans.nl.

Afrikaans is a ‘ground-breaking, sensual, daredevilish and creole language spoken by 7 million South Africans’, Adriaan van Dis says in a special video made for the festival. You will find it on the festivals homepage.