Slideshow: Nelson Mandela: A revolutionary's life (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/31965573/displaymode/1247/?wbSlideShowId=31965573&wbSection=news)(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/_archive/News/_International%20News/Africa/ss-090717-Nelson-Mandela-NEW/ss-120601-mandela-tease.photoblog600.jpg) (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/31965573/displaymode/1247/?wbSlideShowId=31965573&wbSection=news) / View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.Launch slideshow By Rohit Kachroo, NBC NewsUpdated at 6:58 a.m. ET: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — As millions of South Africans reflect on how Nelson Mandela led them away from segregation, many others see the former president as a figure firmly rooted in the past with limited impact on their future.
"For my generation, the heroes are not political icons, as incredible as they are," said Gugu Ximiya as he boarded a minibus packed with Sowetans travelling to work in the rich, white neighborhoods in the country’s largest city. "We have our own problems and the political leaders do nothing.
"My icons are the sports stars, movie stars, people who make money. To me, they’re the people who have really made it," the 23-year-old security guard when he was asked about the former president. Mandela, 94, was admitted to hospital on Saturday to receive treatment for a lung infection.
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