THE NEW South Africa is two years old this month, and, President Nelson Mandela remains the world's most popular statesman. His reputations for integrity and moral leadership has effortlessly survived a rash of scandals around members of his African National Congress party, and even the sacking and then divorce of his wife, Winnie.
To the amazement of many, the man once portrayed as the leader of black communist terrorism has become almost as popular with white South Africans as with blacks.
Even the white supremacists of Potgietersrus in the Northern Transvaal, who sought to bar black children from a local primary school earlier this year, said they were relieved to hear that Mr Mandela was taking an interest in the case. ,"Mr Mandela would not ignore their grievances, they said. He was serious about reconciliation.
Yet Mr Mandela and his government still face major problems. Having brought most whites on board, they still have to satisfy the demands of the black majority, the proverbial sea of poverty lapping around the islands of white wealth.
Apart from some successes in the provision of water and electricity, the new government of national unity has yet to deliver on many key areas of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, its blueprint for the social and economic empowerment of blacks.
The public service and police it needs to run the country are still dominated by the servants of the old regime, and there is talk of foot dragging, obstruction and even sabotage.
But Mr Mandela remains upbeat. Interviewed in Cape Town last week, the ANC leader and President of South Africa said that the relatively slow pace of change was no cause for concern.
"The starting point would be the warning which I gave on countless occasions in the run up to the general elections in 1994," he said.
"I said we had to better the lives of our people by creating jobs, building houses, schools and hospitals, by introducing clinics and clean water. But I then added that this objective can't be achieved overnight. It is a process that can last five years. But within the first two years we've done what the National Party was unable to do for 45 years, and the things we've introduced are a matter of common knowledge."
One of the major planks in the agreement that led to the 1994 general elections was the provision for a commission to investigate and document the perpetrators and victims of political crimes committed in the struggle for and against apartheid.
Now instituted as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under Archbishop Desmond Tutu that commission has begun public hearings in the Eastern Cape Province Does Mr Mandela share the concern that the commission may have a task which is too broad and legal powers which are to9 vague, and that the commission may actually divide rather than reconcile?
"I don't think so," he said. "The Truth Commission is going to examine the problems from the point of view of the victims of apartheid. We've selected men and women of the greatest integrity, extremely able, and we know that they will be able to acquit themselves very well.
"The preparatory work they have put in is very impressive indeed. Yesterday I was briefed by the chairman, Archbishop Tutu, about the progress they are making. I've no doubt that they will do very well."
After his own success in building an unlikely peace, does he have any message or advice for the peoples of Ireland and Britain? Mr Mandela has been asked this question many times before, and he answers carefully.
"I would not be so presumptuous as to give advice, gratuitous advice, to the people of Ireland. We examined our problem and formulated a solution that would be able to address our own internal problem," he said.
"But if any of the opinion makers in Ireland approached me, all that I would do, in all humility, would be to indicate how we ourselves addressed our own problems."
The week before Mr Mandela had spoken of elements within the police force who were determined to resist the new South Africa. Was he worried that dissatisfied public servants from the ancien regime might derail the ANC's efforts to built a just and multiracial society?
"I think that is an exaggeration. I said today that all of the sections of our population, the Africans, Coloureds', Indians, whites, Afrikaans and English speaking, have all responded very well to the message of national building and reconciliation. That is the reason why what has happened in South Africa is regarded as a miracle.
Nor did he have any difficulty working with the other two parties in the government of national unity, the ANC's bitter rivals in the National Party and the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party. All the ministers in the government were giving him all the support he needed, Mr Mandela said, including the ministers from the National Party and IFP.
He had no difficulty working with former enemies. As an attorney he had been intimate with the stories of the victims of apartheid, and in prison he became more intimate still.
"All of us who have had this experience in prison came together to put across this message of nation building. We were convinced that human beings were human beings whether they were black or white, Afrikaans or English speaking."