"A
few days before Badenhorst's departure, I was called to the main office.
General Steyn was visiting the island and wanted to know if we had any
complaints. Badenhorst was there as I went through a list of demands. When I
had finished, Badenhorst spoke to me directly.
He
told me he would be leaving the island and added: 'I just want to wish you
people good luck'. I do not know if I looked dumbfounded, but I was amazed. He
spoke these words like a human being and showed a side of himself we had never
seen before. I thanked him for his good wishes and wished him luck in his
endeavours.
I
thought about this moment for a long time afterwards. Badenhorst had perhaps
been the most callous and barbaric commanding officer we had had on Robben
Island. But that day in the office, he had revealed that that there was another
side to his nature, a side that had been obscured but still existed.
It
was a useful reminder that all men, even the most seemingly cold-blooded, have
a core of decency and that, if their hearts are touched, they are capable of
changing. Ultimately, Badenhorst was not evil; his inhumanity had been foisted
upon him by an inhuman system. He behaved like a brute because he was rewarded
for brutish behaviour."
Source:
"Long Walk To Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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