'My Followers Heeded My Call'

AS THE VOTES WERE counted, Nelson Mandela spoke one-on-one with NEWSWEEK'S Joseph Contreras. Excerpts:

On whether Mandela considers himself a socialist-or a capitalist:

I am neither. I have never advocated socialist views. There is a clause in the Freedom Charter which says that the wealth beneath the soil shall be the property of the people. That is the principle which we find in places like Canada and Australia. It is true that we advocated some form of nationalization because we said we'd nationalize the banks, we'd nationalize monopolies. That was ideological. But because of the criticism we got, we shifted our position.

On his proposal to lower the voting age to 14:

When our country was facing the most ruthless form of racial oppression, children of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 left the country for military training so they could come back and fight for their country. They have got a better sense of judgment, a better commitment to their country than those who supported a minority regime in 14 different elections. But it is for the people of South Africa to decide.

On controlling more militant ANC followers in the townships: