Morris mayor says Mandela influenced the way he runs town

The mayor of Morris, Man. says the way Nelson Mandela approached adversity has influenced the way he leads his town.

Gavin van der Linde lives in Manitoba, but is originally from South Africa.

He said watching Mandela come out from27 years of imprisonment and being elected the first black president of democratic South Africaleft an impression on him.

The Town of Morris has had to deal with issues surrounding what some perceive as racism.

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"In South Africa, I was confronted with racism and so when I've been faced with issues in town, I have no tolerance for that, I don't have to think about it, I don't have to wonder if something is good or bad, I know what I think," said van der Linde.

"When I see people being discriminated against and this can be in any form whatsoever, can be racially, can be bullying issues at school, we don't need to be tolerating that in any part in our culture," said Van Der Linde.

Nelson Mandela will be buried in his ancestral home of Qunu, a small village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa on Dec. 15.