Mandela, Nelson

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Nelson Mandela

BORN: July 18, 1918 • Transkei, South Africa

South African social activist, politician

Nelson Mandela is a South African political leader and lawyer who emerged as a national voice in the fight against apartheid. Apartheid is an official policy of racial separation and discrimination that literally means "separateness." In his struggle against racial discrimination, Mandela became a leader in the African National Congress and cofounder of the African Youth League. He was also a cofounder and leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). His political activities resulted in a long imprisonment that made him an international symbol of the conflict in South Africa. Mandela's prison number, 46664, has been immortalized in song and film in recognition of his role as a cultural icon (familiar symbol) of freedom and equality worldwide.

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society…. 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."

From 1994 until 1999, Mandela presided over South Africa as the first president to be elected in a multi-racial democratic election. Faced with a deeply divided nation, he received global praise for his diplomacy in bringing South Africa into the twenty-first century and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In South Africa, he is respectfully known as Madiba, an honorary title descending from his elders, who ruled in the eighteenth century.

Rolihlahla: The troublemaker

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, South Africa. He is the son of Nosekeni Fanny and Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, appointed chief of Mvezo by the Thembu tribal king. The village is located in the district of Umtata, capital of the Transkei, which is situated 800 miles east of Cape Town and over 500 miles south of Johannesburg. Transkei is home to the Thembu, who belong to the Xhosa nation and speak the Xhosa language. Gadla named his son Rolihlahla, which literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but whose meaning would more accurately translate as "troublemaker." Gadla was an advisor to the king of the Thembu people and a historian of the Xhosa nation. Each Xhosa belongs to a clan that is named after a male ancestor. Mandela belongs to the Madiba clan, named after a Thembu chief who ruled in the eighteenth century.

When Mandela was seven years old, he became the first member of his family to attend school. His mother Fanny was a Christian and sent him to a nearby Methodist mission school where he would receive an English education. On his first day of school, his teacher, Miss Mdingane, told him his new English name was Nelson. Two years later, Gadla died and Mandela was informally adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, reigning king of the Thembu people. He would be Mandela's guardian and benefactor (one who assists another) for the next ten years. Mandela transferred to a Methodist school next door to the palace and received all the benefits and advantages provided to the king's other children. At the age of sixteen, Mandela participated in the Xhosa ceremony, which marked his passage to manhood. He received the name Dalibunga, meaning "Founder of the Bungha." Bungha is the traditional ruling body of the Transkei.

A continuing education

As a member of the royal household, Mandela was being prepared to counsel (officially advise) the rulers of the tribe, just as his father had done before him. In order for that to happen, it was necessary that Mandela continue his education. In 1937, nineteen-year-old Mandela traveled to Healdtown to attend the Methodist College at Fort Beaufort. He received a liberal arts education. He also developed an interest in long-distance running and boxing as well. An excellent student, Mandela finished his courses with such high marks that he was enrolled in the South African Native College at Fort Hare to begin work on his bachelor of arts degree.

The College at Fort Hare was the only residential center of higher education for blacks in South Africa. Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches combined their resources to establish the college. It drew scholars from all over Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa. To receive a degree from the college ensured personal advancement in any career then open to black Africans. Mandela arrived in 1938 wearing his first suit, an outfit given to him by Jongintaba to celebrate the occasion. During Mandela's second year at Fort Hare, he reacted to university policies he found objectionable. He participated in a boycott (to stop buying a certain product until demands are met) of the Students' Representative Council and was asked to leave the institution. Upon his return home, King Jongintaba announced that he had arranged marriages for both his son Justice and for Mandela, according to Thembu law and custom. Both young men were displeased with the selections made for them. They agreed that their best option was to escape. They departed for Johannesburg.

Life under apartheid

Mandela managed to find work as a clerk in a law firm in Johannesburg. With ambitions of becoming a lawyer, he registered at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and completed his degree by correspondence course (method of schooling where study materials and tests are mailed between instructor and student) in 1942. Early in 1943, Mandela enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand to work on a bachelor of laws degree, or LL.B. Witwatersrand, also located in Johannesburg, was one of only four English-speaking universities in South Africa that allowed blacks to attend courses in specialized fields. For the first time, he attended classes with white students. It was a new experience for Mandela as well as for the university because he was the only black student. His law professor was not especially encouraging, as he held the view that neither women nor Africans were meant to be lawyers. He believed they all lacked the discipline to master the fine points of the law.

Keenly aware of the racist laws that separated whites from nonwhites in South Africa, Mandela chose to dedicate himself to the liberation of his people. In 1943, he and other young members of the African National Congress (ANC) formed the African Youth League (AYL) to work for social change in their country. In 1944, Mandela married Evelyn Mase. They had four children together.

The AYL advocated non-cooperation with the ruling political party by encouraging strikes and boycotts (to stop using a certain service or buying a certain product). Racial tensions were high in South Africa as World War II (1939–45) came to an end. The Nationalist Party (NP) proposed a system of government called apartheid (a policy of racial separation and discrimination). The NP won the general election in 1948 and immediately began putting laws in place to impose apartheid in South Africa.

That same year, Mandela was admitted to the bar. He and a partner set up the country's first black legal practice. His law firm provided affordable legal counsel to many blacks who were caught up in the increasing discrimination of the apartheid system but had no other means to fight back.

Mandela continued in an active role with the ANC, and when it launched the Defiance Campaign in 1952, he was the national organizer. For his part, Mandela was arrested and given a nine-month suspended sentence. Under the national Suppression of Communism Act, Mandela's name was added to the list of those who were banned from public meetings and had their movements and activities severely restricted. Mandela used some of his newfound free time to renew his interest in the sport of boxing.

In 1955, South Africa's nonwhite population formed the Congress of the People to oppose the policies and practices of apartheid. They met outside of Johannesburg that year and adopted the Freedom Charter, a formal declaration of freedom. The NP responded by arresting 156 individuals and charging them with treason (attempting to overthrow the government). The Treason Trials lasted until 1961, with all of the accused being acquitted (found not guilty). Mandela's marriage to Evelyn ended in divorce in 1957 and the following year he married Winnie Nomzano. They had two children together.

Spear of the Nation

The Treason Trials had served to focus the world's attention on South Africa and its racial policies by the time they ended in March 1961. Continuing oppression and escalating violence within the country resulted in the NP banning the ANC in the spring of 1960. Lacking a political outlet for liberating his people, Mandela no longer focused on nonviolent methods. He joined other ANC leaders in forming Umkhonto we Sizwe, meaning the "Spear of the Nation," in November 1961. Mandela was chosen as their leader. The fight was taken underground (secretly conducted) with a campaign of sabotage. The movement targeted government offices used to administer apartheid and military bases used to enforce it.

Mandela began a life on the run from the authorities. He secretly left the country and met with African leaders in Algeria and elsewhere in January 1962. He returned at the end of summer and was arrested, charged with incitement (urging civil disobedience), and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1964, this became a life sentence when Mandela was convicted with other prominent ANC leaders at the Rivonia Trial. Charges involved sabotage and crimes of treason. Mandela was moved to a high-security prison on Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town, to serve out his life sentence. While at Robben Island, a movement began to secure Mandela's release, with Winnie Mandela campaigning constantly on behalf of her husband. Mandela's name became closely associated with anti-apartheid campaigns. Global interest grew in the future political actions of South Africa.

Stephen Biko

Stephen Biko became a prominent opponent to apartheid while a student at the University of Natal Medical School. Convinced that nonwhites in South Africa needed an organization of their own, he cofounded the South African Students' Organization (SASO) in 1969 and was elected its first president. The SASO urged blacks to reject their physical and mental subjection. Biko encouraged all races, not just blacks, to work together toward that end. In 1972, Biko began working full time for the Black Community Programmes (BCP). He also submitted articles to the SASO newsletter under the pen-name (a name used by an author other than their real name) Frank Talk. The BCP's purpose was to draw the black community's attention to its own oppression and to encourage a sense of pride with the slogan of black consciousness. His efforts resulted in the influential Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), with Biko as a leading voice.

Biko was banned by the apartheid government in 1973, which meant he could neither talk to more than one person at a time nor make speeches. His movements were restricted to his home town of King William's Town. The popular young activist was arrested four times between 1975 and 1977 for organizing protests against laws of discrimination. Biko was arrested under the Terrorism Act following the Soweto Riots of 1977 and suffered fatal injuries while in police custody. His death caused outrage in South Africa and international condemnation against the apartheid government. Biko was seen as a martyr by a generation of black students. In 1987, his story was told in Richard Attenborough's film Cry Freedom.

International condemnation of South Africa increased in the aftermath of the Soweto Riots in 1976. The rioting occurred between black youth and government authorities when Stephen Biko (see box), the popular young anti-apartheid leader, died in police custody. Biko became an immediate worldwide symbol, second only to Mandela, in the struggle against apartheid. From prison, Mandela called for continuing pressure by the people to crush apartheid in order to create a democratic and free society. After eighteen years in his tiny cell at Robben Island, Mandela was moved to a prison on the mainland called Pollsmoor because of his ill health. His refusal to make a political deal to secure his own release in 1985 gave him almost mythical status to black South Africans. It also resulted in an outpouring of honors and tributes from around the world.

Rise to the presidency

Mandela was finally released in February 1990, after twenty-eight years in prison. South African president F. W. de Klerk (1936–) called for the release of political prisoners and officially ended apartheid's forty-two-year rule in South Africa. The ban on the ANC was lifted and Nelson Mandela became its president. His triumph was somewhat marred in 1991 when Winnie Mandela was sentenced to six years in prison on four counts of kidnapping a fourteen-year-old black activist who was eventually murdered. Her sentence was suspended and a fine was imposed. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996 on grounds of Winnie's adultery (extramarital affairs).

The laws of apartheid took years to unravel, but the last whites-only vote was held in 1992. The government negotiated a multi-racial government and a new constitution for South Africa. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in promoting a new democratic nation. General elections in 1994 resulted in a win for the ANC, and Mandela became the new president of South Africa.

From 1994 until 1999, Mandela presided over South Africa's transition while faced with a devastated economy and ecology. He was praised for his international diplomacy and his ability to heal the wounds of apartheid while bringing the nation into the twenty-first century. Mandela personally promoted racial harmony by publicly embracing former enemies and proponents of apartheid. He invited his prosecutor from the Rivonia trials to lunch as an example of the spirit of tolerance required to heal the divided nation. In 1998, Mandela married Graca Machel, widow of Samora Machel, former president of Mozambique.

Nelson Mandela's political success was tempered by the ruinous HIV/AIDS epidemic that devastated South Africa at the end of the twentieth century. Mandela and his administration were severely criticized for their ineffectiveness in dealing with the disease that took many lives. Following his time in office, Mandela sought every opportunity to bring attention to the tragedy in his country in order to educate and promote research internationally. In 2003, his prison number was used in the 46664 AIDS fund-raising campaign. Despite declining health, Mandela spoke at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok in the summer of 2004. His eldest son died of the disease in January 2005. Mandela continued to lend his voice to educational organizations of all kinds that promote the ideals of international understanding and peace.

For More Information

BOOKS

Benson, Mary. Nelson Mandela: The Man and the Movement. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1986.

DeLuca, Anthony R. Gandhi, Mao, Mandela, and Gorbachev: Studies in Personality, Power, and Politics. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2000.

Juckes, Tim J. Opposition in South Africa: The Leadership of Z. K. Matthews, Nelson Mandela, and Stephen Biko. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995.

Mandela, Nelson R. Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.

Meredith, Martin. Nelson Mandela: A Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.