Cross paths with Ayanda Mbatyothi and you could
be forgiven for thinking you have seen a ghost. The 37-year-old has minor celebrity status in South
Africa as a Nelson Mandela lookalike. He performs
his famous speeches, earns cheers at political
rallies and, in a reference to the struggle hero's clan
name, was once told by an aghast Mandela: "You
are young Madiba." Now he is coming to terms with the death of the
man he imitates and admires. "I couldn't believe it,"
he said last week in a voice spookily reminiscent of
the late president's own. "Mandela is a true hero of
the people. He fought black domination and white
domination. He's like Jesus Christ. Maybe after three days God can bring back Mandela." Should that not transpire, Mbatyothi will have to do.
"I'm going to be a reminder. People show their
children: 'That's Mandela.'" He has no known blood ties to Mandela but like him
is from the Xhosa people in Eastern Cape province.
He recalls that 20 years ago he was campaigning
for the African National Congress (ANC) and
carrying a picture of Mandela when the
resemblance became obvious. "People stopped me and said why do you look like that man?" In 1996 Mbatyothi, from a township in East London,
came face to face with the then president Mandela
himself. "They came to me and I shook the mighty
hand. I mimicked him. He said: 'He looks like me.
You are young Madiba.'" It has become Mbatyothi's trademark ever since.
He set up a company called Young Madiba
Productions which he says is involved in
advertising and supplying stationery to the
government. He has appeared in roadshows, a live
performance in Europe and a South African comedy film. When he attends an ANC rally and
his picture is projected on a big screen, the crowd
erupts. In 2001, he says, he read Mandela's celebrated
1964 speech from the dock at an audition for the
film adaptation of his autobiography Long Walk to
Freedom. Mbatyothi claims he won the audition and
remains upset that, when the film was finally made
a decade later, the lead role went to Britain's Idris Elba instead. "When you watch the Long Walk to Freedom
movie, anyone can see they need an African
person. Somebody who gets the poverty. You can't
go to America and play Obama." Mbatyothi also does charity work, citing Mandela
as his inspiration. "I became 'Ayanda and young
Madiba'. People respect me because of him. I'll
continue to follow in his footsteps. Every year I do
a Christmas party for the community. They come
and collect a food parcel and say: 'This is what young Madiba is doing for us.'" Over the years Mbatyothi has met Mandela's ex-
wife Winnie and their daughter Zindzi as well as the
South African president, Jacob Zuma. He says he
will be at the funeral in Qunu on Sunday. "It's
difficult to go and bury your twin. I've got all the
pictures of Mandela because I miss him." Among the Mandela doppelganger's biggest fans is
his manager, Xhobani Thole, who said: "He is a
replica of the man during the treason trial. He can
mimic him, he can smile like him. Not only does he
look just like Madiba, but his passion for the old
man you can't believe. He'll kill for the old man. "At the beginning of Long Walk to Freedom, he
could have played the part in a more genuine way.
I've said to him that now Mandela has died, there
may be more opportunities coming up. Madiba's
legacy will live forever."

he really does look like him

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God is Great!!!

I swear dis man resemble Madiba almost perfectly. Has anyone noticed dat Nelson Mandela in his youth days had a striking resemblance wiv Muhammed Ali?

Na wa