Atlanta , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Freedom lovers everywhere over a certain age recall the thrilling news 20 years ago that Nelson Mandela had been released from a Cape Town , South Africa , jail . After 27 years of isolation and hard labor , the world 's most famous political prisoner emerged without bitterness , his humanity intact . When asked what he most missed while in prison , Mandela replied that it was hearing the sounds of children laughing . Now 92 and frail , Mandela has declined to participate in this week 's many celebrations in his honor except one : the opening of Parliament and the address to the nation by South African President Jacob Zuma . As with all things political in this young and often raucous democracy , politicians and pundits are debating whether Mandela should have skipped this event as well . Zuma 's last admission of personal misconduct , fathering his 20th child out of wedlock with the daughter of close friend , has become a national scandal and international embarrassment . Just two years ago , he confessed to having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive family friend , who then accused him of rape . In a country coping with one of the world 's highest incidence of HIV/AIDS , and with a strong official commitment to gender equality , many of Mandela 's most fervent admirers do n't want him seen anywhere near Zuma . But Mandela went to jail not to demonstrate personal virtue but in a commitment to freedom , equality and the rule of law , which his appearance in Parliament reaffirms . Zuma is the duly elected president of a nation defined by strict allegiance to a democratic constitution . Zuma has respected the rule of law and shows no inclination to use his huge parliamentary majority to rewrite the constitution for political advantage . When Mandela was president , he defied his political advisers and voluntarily appeared before a magistrate so a claim of defamation against him could be adjudicated under due process , available to all citizens . Mandela expects no less from his successors ; nor should we . Preventing abuses of power whether by a privileged minority or by an unrestrained majority is a growing challenge for South Africa 's fledgling democracy . The electorate is increasingly restive over policies that have failed to reduce chronic unemployment in excess of 25 percent , curb corruption or address extreme economic and social inequities . Nor have policies been able to adequately overcome the legacy of damage caused by apartheid to family and community values , education and other basic services . The nation is struggling with a lack of respect for authority and the rule of law , especially among a growing number of alienated youth . South Africa still has many advantages , including an economy larger than the combined gross domestic products of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa minus Nigeria , and it draws talent and strength from immigrants and political refugees who have created what Kenyan political scientist Ali Mazrui calls `` the world 's second global nation after the United States . '' At issue is whether South Africans can uphold the minimum of shared values necessary for sustaining peace and allowing a decent society to flourish . Mandela must continue to embody the roles for South Africans that Washington , Lincoln and King serve in protecting and advancing democracy in America . And like them , Mandela 's example inspires others and has become a global public good . President Obama recalls in `` Dreams from My Father '' how South Africa awakened his interest in politics as a young college student , provoking him to address a public rally for the first time and to describe events there as `` a struggle that demands we choose sides . Not between black and white . Not between rich and poor . No , it 's a harder choice ... between fairness and injustice . Between commitment and indifference , a choice between right and wrong ... '' Mandela rarely talks about his own character but in his autobiography , `` Long Walk to Freedom , '' says he credits any success he has achieved to a trait inherited from his father , `` a stubborn sense of fairness . '' It is an ideal few have upheld to Mandela 's standard -- but one we should all seek to emulate . The opinions in this commentary are solely those of John Stremlau .
John Anderson : 20 years ago today , Nelson Mandela was released from Cape Town jail . Anderson : After 27 years , Mandela emerged ` ` without bitterness , his humanity intact '' He maintains commitment to democracy , freedom and rule of law , he writes . Mandela is inspiration in troubled nation that desperately needs it , Stremlau says .