Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Mandela in 1994
Nelson Mandela
Born	Rolihlahla Mandela 18 07, 1918
Birthplace	Mvezo, South Africa
Died	Template:Death date and age Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality	South African
Occupation	Politician, activist, lawyer
Known for	Anti-apartheid activism, first Black president of South Africa
Education	University of Fort Hare; University of the Witwatersrand; University of South Africa (LL.B.)
Spouse(s)	Template:Plainlist
Children	6, including Makgatho, Maki, Zenani, and Zindziswa
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize (1993); Presidential Medal of Freedom; Bharat Ratna

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Template:IPAc-en; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, political leader, and statesman who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first Black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. Born into the Thembu royal family in the rural Eastern Cape, Mandela trained as a lawyer before devoting his life to the struggle against apartheid — the system of institutionalised racial segregation enforced by the National Party government from 1948. His political career spanned decades, from his early involvement in the African National Congress (ANC) and the formation of its Youth League in 1944, through the sabotage campaign he co-led as a founder of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), to his imprisonment for 27 years on charges of conspiring to overthrow the state. Released from prison in February 1990 amid mounting domestic and international pressure, Mandela led negotiations with President F. W. de Klerk that dismantled apartheid and culminated in South Africa's first multiracial general election in 1994. As president, he championed national reconciliation, established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and oversaw the promulgation of a new constitution. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, sharing the honour with de Klerk. After declining to seek a second term, Mandela devoted his later years to charitable work, particularly in the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty, before his death in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95.

Early Life

Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in the Transkei region of South Africa's Eastern Cape province. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief of the Thembu people and served as a counsellor to the Thembu royal house. The name "Rolihlahla" in the Xhosa language has been translated colloquially as "troublemaker." He received the English name "Nelson" from a teacher on his first day of school, a common practice in South African schools at the time.

Following the death of his father when Mandela was nine years old, the young boy was taken in by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the regent of the Thembu people, who raised him alongside his own children. Growing up in the royal household at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni, Mandela was exposed to the traditions and governance structures of Thembu society. He attended local mission schools and later enrolled at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school, where he completed his junior certificate.

The environment of Mandela's upbringing instilled in him an awareness of the injustices facing Black South Africans under colonial rule. The oral histories and leadership practices he observed in the Thembu court would later inform his political philosophy, particularly his emphasis on consensus-building and collective decision-making. Despite his relatively privileged position within Thembu society, Mandela's early experiences made clear the broader constraints imposed by racial discrimination in South Africa, shaping the trajectory of his subsequent political engagement.

Education

Mandela began his higher education at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape, one of the few institutions of higher learning available to Black students in South Africa at the time. He enrolled in 1939 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree. During his time at Fort Hare, Mandela became involved in student politics, which led to his suspension from the university following a dispute over student representation on the Students' Representative Council. He did not complete his degree at Fort Hare at that time.

After leaving Fort Hare, Mandela moved to Johannesburg, where he completed his BA degree through correspondence courses with the University of South Africa. He subsequently enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand to study law, becoming one of the few Black students at the institution. At Witwatersrand, Mandela encountered fellow students and activists who would become important figures in the anti-apartheid movement, including Joe Slovo and Ruth First. He later obtained his LL.B. degree from the University of London through a correspondence programme while imprisoned on Robben Island, completing it in 1989.

Career

Early Political Activism and the ANC

After moving to Johannesburg in the early 1940s, Mandela began working in a law firm while pursuing his legal studies. He joined the African National Congress in 1943, drawn to the organisation's mission of advancing the rights of Black South Africans. In 1944, Mandela, along with Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, and others, co-founded the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), which sought to inject a more assertive and militant approach into the ANC's strategy. The Youth League advocated for mass action, boycotts, strikes, and civil disobedience as tools for political change, moving away from the cautious petitioning that had characterised the ANC's earlier approach.

The election of the National Party in 1948 and its implementation of apartheid — a comprehensive system of racial segregation that entrenched white minority rule — galvanised Mandela and his colleagues. Apartheid legislation classified the population into racial groups, restricted movement, prohibited interracial marriages, and reserved the best land, jobs, and public services for white South Africans. Mandela rose to prominence within the ANC during the 1952 Defiance Campaign, a mass civil disobedience movement in which Black South Africans deliberately violated unjust apartheid laws. As a result of his leadership role, Mandela was appointed president of the ANC's Transvaal branch in December 1952.

Together with Oliver Tambo, Mandela established one of the first Black law firms in South Africa — Mandela and Tambo — which provided legal representation to Black South Africans who faced prosecution under apartheid laws. The firm operated in Johannesburg and became a focal point for those seeking justice within a legal system stacked against them.

Mandela played an active role in the 1955 Congress of the People, a landmark gathering of anti-apartheid organisations that adopted the Freedom Charter — a statement of principles calling for a non-racial, democratic South Africa. The apartheid government viewed such activities as seditious, and in 1956, Mandela was among 156 activists arrested and charged with high treason. The resulting Treason Trial dragged on for five years before all defendants were acquitted in 1961.

Turn to Armed Resistance and uMkhonto we Sizwe

By the early 1960s, after the Sharpeville massacre of March 1960 in which police killed 69 unarmed demonstrators and the subsequent banning of the ANC, Mandela concluded that non-violent resistance alone was insufficient to challenge the apartheid state. Influenced by Marxist thought, he had secretly joined the South African Communist Party (SACP), a fact confirmed by the SACP after his death.

In 1961, in association with the SACP, Mandela co-founded uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), translated as "Spear of the Nation," the armed wing of the ANC. MK launched a campaign of sabotage against government installations and infrastructure, targeting power lines, railway links, and government buildings while attempting to avoid civilian casualties. Mandela travelled abroad in early 1962 to seek support and military training for the movement, visiting several African and European countries.

On 5 August 1962, Mandela was arrested near Howick in Natal. Reports have indicated that the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States provided intelligence that assisted the South African security forces in locating him. He was convicted of leaving the country illegally and inciting strikes and sentenced to five years in prison.

The Rivonia Trial and Imprisonment

While Mandela was already serving his sentence, police raided the MK headquarters at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, near Johannesburg, in July 1963, capturing numerous documents and several senior ANC and SACP leaders. Mandela was brought to stand trial alongside them in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. The accused faced charges of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the state, charges that carried the possibility of the death penalty.

On 20 April 1964, from the dock of the Pretoria Supreme Court, Mandela delivered a statement that concluded with words that became among the most famous in the history of the anti-apartheid movement: "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." On 12 June 1964, Mandela and seven co-accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mandela spent the first 18 years of his imprisonment on Robben Island, the notorious maximum-security facility located off the coast of Cape Town. Conditions were harsh; Black prisoners received the least food and fewest privileges. Mandela was confined to a small cell and forced to perform hard labour in a limestone quarry. Despite these conditions, Robben Island became a crucible for political education, with Mandela and his fellow prisoners engaging in sustained discussion and debate about the future of South Africa.

In 1982, Mandela was transferred from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland near Cape Town, along with several other senior political prisoners including Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada. In December 1988, he was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, where he was housed in a cottage on the prison grounds — a significant change in his conditions of confinement that signalled the beginning of secret negotiations between him and the apartheid government.

Throughout his imprisonment, Mandela became the most prominent symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle. The international "Free Mandela" campaign gathered momentum through the 1980s, and his continued incarceration attracted condemnation from governments, organisations, and individuals worldwide.

Release and Negotiations

On 2 February 1990, President F. W. de Klerk announced the unbanning of the ANC, the SACP, and other previously prohibited organisations, and declared that Mandela would be released. On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison a free man after 27 years of incarceration. The event was broadcast live to a global television audience estimated in the hundreds of millions. In a speech delivered from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall on the day of his release, Mandela reaffirmed his commitment to peace and reconciliation while also declaring the ANC's struggle was not yet over.

The period between 1990 and 1994 was marked by complex, multiparty negotiations aimed at transitioning South Africa from apartheid to democracy. Mandela and de Klerk were the principal figures in these talks, which were conducted against a backdrop of continued political violence, particularly between supporters of the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal and the Witwatersrand region. Mandela was elected president of the ANC in July 1991, succeeding Oliver Tambo. In recognition of their efforts to end apartheid peacefully, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Presidency of South Africa

South Africa's first fully democratic election took place on 27 April 1994. The ANC won 62.65 percent of the vote, and on 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first Black president of South Africa in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world.

Mandela's presidency was defined by the imperative of national reconciliation. He formed a Government of National Unity that included members of the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party, signalling his commitment to inclusive governance. One of the most significant initiatives of his administration was the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which was tasked with investigating gross human rights violations committed during the apartheid era. The TRC provided a forum for victims and perpetrators alike to testify, offering amnesty to those who made full disclosure of politically motivated crimes.

Economically, the Mandela administration retained much of the market-oriented framework inherited from the previous government, despite Mandela's own socialist inclinations and the ANC's historical ties to the SACP. The government pursued the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which aimed to address the massive inequalities left by apartheid through land reform, housing construction, improved access to water and electricity, and the expansion of healthcare services. The administration also oversaw the drafting and adoption of a new constitution in 1996, which enshrined one of the most progressive bills of rights in the world, protecting against discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, and other grounds.

On the international stage, Mandela's presidency raised South Africa's profile and restored its standing in the global community after decades of isolation. He served as secretary-general of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999 and acted as a mediator in various international disputes, including efforts related to the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial. Mandela declined to seek a second presidential term, stepping down in June 1999 and handing power to his deputy and ANC successor, Thabo Mbeki.

Post-Presidency and Charitable Work

After leaving office, Mandela remained active in public life, focusing on charitable endeavours and advocacy. He established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and several other charitable organisations. One of his primary causes in retirement was the fight against HIV/AIDS, which had reached epidemic proportions in South Africa by the early 2000s. In a speech at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000, Mandela called for urgent action against the disease. He later made the cause deeply personal by publicly acknowledging in January 2005 that his son, Makgatho Mandela, had died of AIDS-related illness, breaking the stigma and silence that surrounded the disease in South Africa.

Mandela gradually withdrew from public life as his health declined. On 5 December 2013, he died at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95 from a respiratory infection. His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from leaders, citizens, and organisations around the world. A state funeral was held on 15 December 2013 in Qunu, his childhood village, where he was buried at the Mandela family graveyard.

Personal Life

Mandela was married three times. His first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, a nurse, on 5 October 1944. The couple had four children together before divorcing on 18 March 1958, with the marriage strained by Mandela's increasing political commitments and prolonged absences.

On 14 June 1958, Mandela married Winnie Madikizela, a social worker who became a prominent anti-apartheid activist in her own right during Mandela's imprisonment. Winnie Mandela endured harassment, banning orders, and imprisonment by the apartheid regime. The couple had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. However, their marriage did not survive the years of separation, and they divorced on 19 March 1996, during Mandela's presidency.

On his 80th birthday, 18 July 1998, Mandela married Graça Machel, the former first lady of Mozambique and a humanitarian activist. The couple remained together until Mandela's death in 2013.

Mandela had six children in total across his first two marriages, including Makgatho, Maki, Zenani, and Zindziswa. He was known for his personal warmth, his capacity for forgiveness, and his efforts to maintain relationships with both his former captors and his political opponents.

Mandela stood 1.93 metres (6 feet 4 inches) tall. He was buried at the Mandela family graveyard in Qunu, Eastern Cape.

Recognition

Nelson Mandela received numerous awards and honours over the course of his lifetime, reflecting his role in the struggle against apartheid and his contributions to reconciliation and democracy.

The most prominent of these was the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly to Mandela and F. W. de Klerk in 1993 for their work in negotiating the peaceful end of apartheid. Mandela also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States and the Bharat Ratna from India, among many other national and international honours.

In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly declared 18 July — Mandela's birthday — as "Nelson Mandela International Day," calling on individuals around the world to dedicate 67 minutes of their time to community service in honour of the 67 years Mandela spent in public service. Mandela's image appeared on South African banknotes, and numerous streets, buildings, and institutions worldwide were named in his honour.

The Rivonia Trial speech from the dock in 1964 remains one of the most quoted political statements of the twentieth century. His autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, published in 1995, became an international bestseller and has been translated into dozens of languages.

Mandela was the subject of extensive media coverage and numerous biographical films and documentaries. His life story has been studied in academic institutions worldwide, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation continues to preserve and make accessible the archival record of his life and the broader anti-apartheid struggle.

Legacy

Nelson Mandela's legacy is anchored in his central role in the dismantling of apartheid and the establishment of a democratic, multiracial South Africa. His willingness to negotiate with the apartheid government after 27 years of imprisonment, and his subsequent emphasis on reconciliation rather than retribution, set a course for South Africa's transition that avoided the large-scale racial conflict many had feared.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, while imperfect and subject to criticism from multiple perspectives, represented an innovative approach to transitional justice that influenced similar processes in other countries emerging from periods of conflict and authoritarian rule. Mandela's insistence on inclusive governance — embodied in the Government of National Unity — set a precedent for power-sharing arrangements in post-conflict societies.

Mandela's symbolic significance extended far beyond South Africa. He became a global emblem of resistance to oppression and of the possibility of reconciliation after deep injustice. The annual observance of Nelson Mandela International Day serves as a continuing reminder of his commitment to service and human rights.

At the same time, the South Africa Mandela left behind continued to face substantial challenges, including persistent economic inequality, high rates of unemployment, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Critics have noted that the structural economic inequities of the apartheid era were not fully addressed during Mandela's presidency, and that the compromises made during the transition to democracy left unresolved tensions in South African society.

Despite these complexities, Mandela's role in leading South Africa from apartheid to democracy, and his personal example of endurance and magnanimity, ensured that he remained a defining figure of the twentieth century. His life demonstrated both the costs of the struggle against institutionalised racism and the possibilities of political transformation through negotiation and moral leadership.