Mandela’s Secret Weapon: How Empathy Can Topple a Dictator

From Apartheid to Ubuntu: Paul’s Journey with Mandela, Tutu & the Truth Commission

Welcome to What We Don't Know with Matt Brittin & Hayaatun Sillem.

The show about better leadership in a truly chaotic world.

Across the series, episodes are hosted by Matt and Hayaatun as well as a range of other leading figures, bringing different perspectives to each conversation.

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Paul recounts growing up white in apartheid South Africa with parents who opposed the regime, joining the anti-apartheid student movement, working on death penalty cases for a young black lawyer who was assassinated, and helping victims’ families build Kule Manni.

At 26 he helped develop the Truth and Reconciliation Commission law and became its executive secretary under Archbishop Tutu, sharing leadership lessons about preserving opponents’ dignity and Mandela’s openness to hearing testimony about ANC abuses.

He discusses empathy and Ubuntu as foundations for resilient societies, the role of information ecosystems and economic breakdown in modern polarization, and ways to embed Ubuntu in organizational culture.

He describes the personal toll of trauma, later scaling transitional justice support globally by offering comparative experience rather than prescriptions, and founding London’s Conduit to convene coalitions tackling complex challenges like UK flooding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices