"His greatness, I think, lies in his humility," says Sheila Sisulu, consul general of South Africa in New York. "I think it's not even conscious. He is a humble servant of his people."
After his election to the presidency in April 1994, Mandela established a commission to examine education in South Africa and ensure that people of all races received equal opportunities.
"He opened hospitals to the poor and made schooling more accessible," Sisulu says.
He established the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, emphasizing his commitment to their welfare.
"This reward will not be measured in money....It will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures," Mandela writes.
He also pursued an alliance with the United States. Under Mandela's presidency, Bill Clinton became the first American president to visit South Africa.
"You will be able to confirm that relations between our countries are growing by the day," Mandela writes. "These relations make it possible for us to create more resources to meet our people's basic needs: jobs, skills and schooling; a roof over their heads, healthcare."
Man or Myth?
While Mandela may have given the black community in South Africa its freedom, his government has failed to improve the lives of many.
The job market remains in a slump. The wealth is still concentrated in the upper, white classes.
His famous Reconstruction and Development program to give housing to black citizens has not been as successful as hoped.
"He has to balance retaining the confidence of those who own capital and making good on issues and equality," Bates says.
Lawrence blames the problems on Mandela's commitment to social policy over the economy.
"I don't think that he himself has put a strong emphasis on radical and reform economic policy," Lawrence says.
But Lawrence and Bates warn against strong criticism of Mandela and agree that the task of changing South Africa is not easy.
"South Africa has not created new jobs in 30 years. He inherited a difficult system," says Robert I. Rotberg, research associate at the Harvard International Institute of Development.
In December 1997, Mandela told his country that South Africa still has many reforms to make but pledged his commitment to democracy and equality.
"If these first three years of freedom meant the outpouring of national pride in the prowess of our sporting teams, in our new constitution and more, then this past year has been one in which slowly but surely we are all coming to better appreciate the difficulties of change, as well as the sweat and toil required to improve our lives and forge out our unity as a nation," Mandela said in his most recent New Year's address to the nation.
Mandela has brought incredible strength to the small African nation, but, as he says, he is only human and makes his share of mistakes. Perhaps, say his people, this is what makes him a great leader.
"He has such stature," says Sisulu, whose father worked on the ANC with Mandela. "He is world-renowned and world-respected and yet at a human level he is so human. You are constantly at two levels, in awe of the man, the leader, and yet made to feel so taken seriously and affirmed at his very basic level.