My meeting Nelson Mandela is a slightly amusing one; we crossed paths on the way to a hotel bathroom. It was approx. 1995-96 and the ANC were having a conference at a Durban luxury hotel. I was there attending a Microsoft Road Show in one of the adjacent conference rooms. My colleague and I got up during a break and made our way to the gents. When leaving the gents we were met by security officials who gave us the once over. We did not think too much about this as we knew the ANC conference was next door and there was security all over the place. To my surprise as we were walking down the staircase to the conference area walking up towards us in Mr Mandela gently holding onto the railing for support and surrounded by security guards. We sort-of bumped into each other and not knowing what to do or say I put out my hand to shake his. This of course drew attention from the security officials. He stopped and shook my hand asking what we were there for. I mentioned we were into IT and attending the Microsoft function and he said, “Computers! That’s the way of the future “ . We exchanged brief smiles and pleasantries and a few dour looks from the security guards and moved out of the way. To this day I treasure the brief few minutes I spent in his presence. Wesley Robertson