Mu'ammar Gaddafi da Nelson Mandela suna da abokantaka ta kud-da-kud mai dorewa bisa ra'ayi na kin jinin mulkin mallaka da hadin kan kasashen Afirka, duk da bambance-bambance masu yawa a cikin salon shugabancinsu da sukar kasashen duniya. Gaddafi na Libya ya ba da tallafin kudi da na soji ga kungiyar African National Congress (ANC) ta Mandela a lokacin gwagwarmayar yaki da wariyar launin fata.
A lokacin mulkin wariyar launin fata, lokacin da yawancin kasashen yammacin duniya suka goyi bayan gwamnatin wariyar launin fata ta Afirka ta Kudu tare da bayyana Mandela a matsayin dan ta'adda, Gaddafi ya bai wa ANC taimakon soji da na kudi. Mandela bai manta da wannan tallafi ba, inda sau da yawa yana cewa, "A cikin mafi duhun lokutan gwagwarmayarmu, lokacin da bayanmu ke jikin bango, Muammar Gaddafi ya tsaya tare da mu".
Bayan an sake shi daga kurkuku a 1990, ɗaya daga cikin ziyarar farko da Mandela ya yi a ƙasashen waje ita ce, zuwa ƙasar Libiya don gode wa Gaddafi da kansa. Ya kira Gaddafi a matsayin "shugaba dan uwansa".
Mandela ya yi tsayuwar daka wajen kare alakarsa da Gaddafi, duk da kakkausar murya daga Amurka da sauran kasashen yammacin duniya, wadanda suka dauki Gaddafi a matsayin dan kama-karya da kuma cewa, gwamnatinsa na daukar nauyin ta'addanci. Ga masu suka, Mandela ya mayar da martani: "Wadanda jiya makiyanmu ne, a yau suna da ra'ayin cewa kada in ziyarci dan uwana Gaddafi.
A shekarar 1997, a matsayin shugaban kasar Afirka ta Kudu, Mandela ya ba wa Gaddafi “Order of Good Hope,” lambar yabo mafi girma a Afirka ta Kudu a lokacin, ga Gaddafi, saboda nuna goyon bayansa ga gwagwarmayar ‘yantar da kasar.
A taƙaice dai, dangantakarsu ta kasance ne ta hanyar godiya da sadaukar da kai ga haɗin kan Afirka maimakon yarjejeniya ta akida, wanda ke nuna kin amincewa da Mandela ya yi watsi da waɗanda suka taimaka wa al'ummarsa a fafutukar neman 'yanci.