Madiba

Black, white, Indian or coloured — everyone in the rainbow nation loves Nelson Mandela Perhaps it's something to do with being such a young, new nation, or with its tortured history, but South Africa is inordinately proud of its national symbols and icons. Freed - to a large extent - of their ugly colonial, racist baggage, this is a recently reconstituted country that embraces its new identity, its new look, its new figureheads with a cheerful sense of pride. 

If you've got it, flaunt it, could be the mantra as far as South African patriotism is concerned. 

Across the colour spectrum of this country, South Africans wear their new flag with huge in-your-face pride, and, to a man, woman and child, they adore Madiba, the affectionate name given to the frail, ailing, revered former president Nelson Mandela.