By Fiona Forde
A letter from Nelson Mandela to Denis Sassou Nguesso has stalled any possible legal action over the Congolese president's controversial book, while Minister for Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale's alleged upcoming visit to Congo-Brazzaville this coming Friday is expected to put an end to the weeks-old diplomatic spat.
The Sunday Independent understands Madiba wrote to Sassou Nguesso earlier this month in a bid to ease the tensions that erupted last month over the preface of the semi-autobiographical book.
Straight Speaking for Africa included a short speech Madiba made about the long-standing head of state during a visit to Cape Town in 1996 when he referred to Sassou Nguesso as "one of our great African leaders". However his words were wrongly attributed as a foreword to the text and understood as an endorsement of the book.
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In an unusually harsh tone, particularly where a head of state was concerned, the Nelson Mandela Foundation lashed out at what it called the "brazen abuse of Mr Mandela's name" and threatened to take "appropriate action".
The Congolese government duly demanded an apology and said if none were forthcoming they too would take action.
However shortly after the furore erupted Sexwale emerged as the middle-man who had granted permission for the use of the words, not as a foreword but as part of the body of the book, and the foundation duly rowed back from their initial stance.
Whether they were protecting Sexwale or had been genuinely mistaken in their stance is still unclear.
In a letter received on November 2, Madiba told Sassou Nguesso that while he had not written a preface to his book he stands by the favourable words he spoke about him 13 years ago.
The Congolese president is said to be "satisfied" with the letter.
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