Nelson Mandela
| Famous as | Anti-Apartheid Activist, President of ANC and Former President of South Africa |
| Born on | 18 July 1918 |
| Born in | Transkei, South Africa |
| Nationality | South Africa |
| Works & Achievements | Nobel Peace Prize (1993), Struggle Against the Apartheid Regime, Leadership of Civil Rights Movement In South Africa |
Childhood & Education
Nelson Mandela was born in the Transkei on the 18 July 1918. He
lost his father, who was a councilor- at the age of nine when he died of
tuberculosis. Hearing the elder’s stories of his ancestors’ bravery
during the wars in defense of their fatherland, he dreamed of making his
own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. He was the
first member of his family to attend a school and was given the English
name ‘Nelson’ by his teacher. After receiving primary education at a
local mission school, he enrolled at the University College of Forte
Hare for the Bachelor of Arts Degree where he met Oliver Tambo and the
two became lifelong friends.
At the end of the first year of the college Nelson became involved
in a boycott by the Students’ Representative Council against the
university policies, and was told to leave the college. Then he went to
Johannesburg to complete his BA via correspondence and entered politics
while studying there by joining African National Congress in 1942. After
completing his B.A. he started with his law studies at the University
of Witwatersrand. During this period Mandela lived in Alexandra
Township, north of Johannesburg. Later, when he was in prison, Mandela
studies for a Bachelor of Laws from the university of London external
programme. Mandela has honorary degrees from more than 50 international
universities and is chancellor of the University of the North.
Political Activities
Mandela’s approach was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. Nelson Mandela
was elected as the secretary to the youth leadership in 1947. The ANCYL
aimed at the attainment of full citizenship, direct parliamentary
representation for all South Africans. The policy making process paid
special attention to the redistribution of the land, trade union rights,
education and culture. Mandela as an important co – author of the
policy document aspired to free and compulsory education for all
children, as well as mass education for adults. When the ANC launched
its Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws in 1952, Mandela traveled
to places to discriminatory legislation
as Volunteer-in-Chief. Though Mandela had constantly advised their
followers to avoid violence, he was charged and brought to trial for his
role in the campaign.
Following which he was convicted of contravening the suppression of
communism act and given a suspended prison sentence. He was also
prohibited from attending gatherings and confined to Johannesburg for
six months. In 1952 Mandela and his followers prepared an organizational
plan that would enable the leadership of the movement to maintain
dynamic contact with its members without recourse to public meetings.
The plan was called M-Plan, which was named after him. Apart from it,
during early fifties Mandela played vital role in leading the resistance
to the Western Areas removal and to the introduction of Bantu
Education. In the late fifties he made efforts to curb the exploitation
of labour, the pass laws, the nascent Bantustan policy and the
segregation of the open universities.
In1961 Umkhonto we Sizwe(translated as Spear of the Nation, also
shortened as MK), was formed with Mandela as its commander in chief. He
coordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets,
and made plans for a possible guerilla war if sabotage failed to end
apartheid. He left the country unlawfully and traveled abroad addressing
the conferences and was warmly received by top leaders
of many countries. During this trip Mandela, anticipating an inevitable
armed struggle, began to arrange guerrilla training for members of
Umkhonto we Sizwe.
Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad, and arranged for
paramilitary training, visiting various African governments. Initially
committed to a non-violent mass struggle, Mandela explains the move to
embark on armed struggle as a last resort, when government left him no
choice. Increasing repression and violence from the state convinced him
that many years of non violent protest against apartheid had achieved
nothing. Soon after his return to South Africa he was arrested for
illegal exit from the country. Mandela decided to conduct his own
defense. He was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Life Imprisonment
He was convicted for crimes that occurred while he was spearheading
the struggle against apartheid. Mandela was sentenced to life
imprisonment and sent to the notorious Robben Island Prison, a maximum security prison
on a small island near Cape Town, where he spent nearly 18 years of his
27 years sentence. In April 1984 he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison
in Cape Town and later to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from
where he was eventually released. While in prison, throughout his life
sentence Mandela turned down offers for remission of sentence in
exchange for accepting the bantustan policy and renouncing violence.
Mandela refused the offer releasing a statement that he can not
accept personal freedom when the organization of the people remains
banned. He stood by his statement that Prisoners cannot enter into
contracts-Only free men can negotiate. During his years in prison he
gained acceptance as the most significant black leader in South Africa
and became a potent symbol of equality and freedom for his opposition to
apartheid, while the apartheid government and countries sympathetic to
it condemned him and ANC as terrorists and communists. He spent almost
27 years in jail for this with many of those years on Robben Island. He
flatly refused to compromise on his political position to obtain his
freedom.
Release and Presidency of South Africa
On 2 February 1990, State president F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on
the ANC announcing his release from prison.He was released on Feb 11,
1990, and the event was broadcast live all over the world. On the day of
his release Mandela made a speech to the nation in which he declared
his commitment to bring peace to the black majority and give them right
to vote in elections. He made clear that the armed struggle was yet not
over. Following his release, Mandela returned to the leadership of the
ANCF and between 1990 and 1994 his party multi-party negotiation led to
the first multi-racial elections.
In 1991, the ANC held its first national conference in South Africa
after its unbanning, in which Mandela was elected as the President of
the ANC. while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became
the organisation's National Chairperson. In 1994 he became the first
democratically elected state president of South Africa with the National
Party's de Klerk as his first Deputy and Thabo Mbeki as the second in
the Government of National Unity.
Family and Retirement
Mandela has been married three times, has fathered six children,
and has twenty grandchildren and a growing number of
great-grandchildren. His grandson is Chief Mandla Mandela. Mandela
became the oldest elected President of South Africa when he took charge
in 1994. He was 77 years old that time and decided not to contest for
the second time. Nelson Mandela took retirement from Public life in June
1999. He currently resides in his birth place - Qunu, Transkei
A life devoted to justice
Nelson Mandela has received more than hundred awards over the past
four decades for his struggle for democracy, equality and learning. He
never answered racism with racism. He won international respect for his
advocacy for reconciliation of white and black. Leading a life that
symbolizes the triumph of the human spirit over man’s inhumanity to man,
Nelson Mandela accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 on behalf of
South Africans who suffered and sacrificed so much to bring peace to the
world. His life is an inspiration to all oppressed and deprived and to
all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation. | ||||
Timeline: | ||||
1918- He was born at Qunu, near Umtata.
1944- He helped found the ANC Youth League.
1952- Mandela was elected national volunteer-in-chief of the 1952 Defiance Campaign.
1960- The ANC was banned after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, and he was detained until 1961 when he went underground to lead a campaign for a new national convention.
1960- Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC, came into existence.
1962- Mandela left the country for military training in Algeria and to arrange training for other members.
1962- On his return he was arrested for leaving the country illegally and was convicted and jailed for five years.
1990- He was released from the Robben Island prison.
1994- He became the first democratically elected State President of South Africa on 10 May 1994
1999- Nelson Mandela retired from Public life in June 1999. He currently resides in his birth place - Qunu, Transkei
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