NELSON MANDELA

Early Life

In 1952 the ANC, under the inspiration of its younger members, including Mandela (now president of the Transvaal branch of the ANC), began a civil disobedience campaign against the Afrikaner government – which brought his arrest, a suspended sentence and official prohibition from further participation in political activities.  But his law practice (with Oliver Tambo) was inextricably connected to the defense of the rights of oppressed Blacks, and the prohibition was impossible to maintain, morally and emotionally.  In particular, he came to the defense of small Black farmers that were being removed from White areas to restricted Black "reserves" under the apartheid or segregation program of the National Party.

When the Sharpeville Massacre occurred in1960 (hundreds of protesting Blacks were killed and wounded by riot police) Mandela, who was still in trial on charges of conducting "communist" (anti-apartheid) activity, was detained.  The ANC was held responsible for the episode and banned as an illegal organization.  Thus the movement was forced to go underground in its operations.

As South Africa moved toward independence within the Commonwealth (by becoming a Republic under more complete Afrikaner direction), Black voices were unanimously opposed to the idea, though the Blacks themselves had no officially sanctioned way to give expression to their views.  At a general conference held in Pietermaritzburg during March 1961, Mandela stole the show by calling for a massive national strike if the government did not allow the Blacks to vote on this weighty matter.  The government answered his challenge by a massive military mobilization--which succeeded in intimidating most Blacks into staying away.  Meanwhile, Mandela was now a man living in hiding to escape State authorities.

In 1962 Mandela left the country (illegally – since this was the only way he could do so) to attend a Pan-African Congress, where there was much excitement about the current move of Africa to full independence.  From there he ventured to Algeria to make arrangements for training of his Umkhonto we Sizwe fighters.  Upon his return to South Africa, he was arrested for illegal exit from the country and for his connections with the African civil disobedience program.  In late 1962 he was sentenced to a 5-year prison term.

His imprisonment did not silence his voice nor change his determination to oppose apartheid at all costs.  Several attempts were made to negotiate his release from prison with the promise on his part that he would not pursue his anti-apartheid campaign.  But he chose to remain behind bars – where his situation served dramatically to accuse the South African policy before the court of world opinion.

In 1984 he was moved to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town.  In December 1988 he was again moved, to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl.  Here he remained until released by orders of State President de Klerk in early 1990.

Indeed, White South Africa was relieved to find him still commanding the vision of the South African Blacks – for there were many deeply hostile anti-White candidates for such leadership that might have emerged among the Blacks.

Another challenge he had to face was the bitter tribal rivalry betweend the Zulu's Inkatha political party ... and his own largely Xhosa ANC.

Indeed his award in 1993 of the Nobel Peace Prize – presented jointly with de Klerk, who also received the Prize – was a proper tribute to the efforts of South Africans, Black and White, to live to a higher vision.

And his election the next year (May 1994) as South Africa's new president – an election which allowed all South Africans to vote, White, Black, Indian, Coloured – was also a confirming tribute of the people of South Africa in this respect.  Mandela's noble stature in a potentially fratricidal land was now widely recognized in both South Africa and the world.

As South African president, Mandela worked tirelessly to heal the wounds created by decades of apartheid – and to bring the country together in a way that symbolized the hope of a multiracial world that all peoples could indeed live together in harmony.

But that task would not be easy.  Crime rate skyrocketed across the country ... and a mass exodus of skilled White workers began to take place.  At the same time a mass influx of millions of migrant Africans coming to South Africa looking for a new life only compounded the problem of poverty which still affected the country deeply.

Also as Mandela was so often abroad, meeting with heads of state across the world, his duties at home became increasingly assigned to ANC colleague Thabo Mbeki.  Then in 1997 Mandela stepped down as ANC head ... with Mbeki then elected to that position – despite the fact that Mandela had supported Jacob Zuma, a Zulu who had also served time on Robben Island, for the position. 

Then he announced that he would not be running for a second term as State President ... but simply wanted to retire from the world of politics.  Mbeki would then be elected to office as the country's new State President.  Nonetheless Mandela remained active in his travels and charity work (his Nelson Mandel Foundation).

Ultimately, in 2013, at age of 95, Mandela died of a respiratory infection.  President Zuma (who was elected State President after Mbeki served out two terms of office) ... his funeral becoming a massive international as well as local event.