Building on the work of Gandhi, Chakrabarty, Young, and others, this paper explores the relation between activist anti-colonial resistance, and postcolonial writing and thought, by exploring the figure and achievement of Nelson Mandela. Drawing on his speeches, and reading instances of conflict and conflict resolution from across Madiba’s career, the paper will ask whether it is possible to read his by-any-standards remarkable successes as a revolutionary, anti-apartheid leader, and as first democratic president of South Africa, as a form of postcolonial theorizing-in-practice? Moreover, could his symbolic work as leader be seen as offering ethical insights for our globalized times? The paper will set aside the many hagiographical studies of Mandela which have appeared since the end of apartheid. Instead it will examine his skills as a revolutionary strategist; his astute, ‘postmodern’ manipulation of image and self-representation; his outstanding ability creatively to adapt his principles to match context and audience, sometimes but not always without significant compromise; and, most importantly, his relentless, pragmatic commitment to social justice.