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

Nelson Mandela was the most significant black leader who stood against racism and apartheid
in South Africa, while many in the world were silent. He dreamt of a democratic and free
society in which people live together in harmony with equal opportunities. His words, ''the
struggle is my life'', give a glimpse of the determination he fought with against apartheid and
racism in South Africa, the goal he had set almost four decades back. Mandela has held
numerous positions in the ANC: ANCYL secretary (1948); ANCYL president (1950); ANC
Transvaal president (1952); Deputy national president (1952) and ANC president (1991).
Despites several roadblock and barriers in his path, Mandela succeeded in bringing quality and
justice to his people for which he was awarded the honorary Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

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 elders 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

Mandelas 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 mans 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.

Nelson MandelaTimeline:
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