Mandela, Nelson: Father of Modern South Africa

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

(1918 – 2013)

The South African politician and activist was born in the Madiba clan to a Thembu royal family, in the village of Mvezo, in the East of Cape, on 18 July 1918. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father passed away and Mandela became the ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni (African Village, Pronounced: Maa key zee when ee). He received his early education from primary school in Qunu, where according to the school's custom, he was given Christian name 'Nelson'. Later, he went to Clarkebury Boarding Institute to complete his Junior Certificate then to Healdtown to complete his matriculation. When he was studying  Bachelor of Arts from the University College of Fort Hare he was expelled because of joining student protest. 

When he returned to the Great Place of  Mqhekezweni, the King was in anger and said if he and his cousin would not come back to the Fort the King will arrange wives for them. Instead of going to the Great place, they both ran to Johannesburg in 1941. He completed his BA from the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943.

In 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), while he was increasingly politically involved from 1942 joined the African National Congress. He married Walter Sisulu’s cousin, Evelyn Mase, in 1944. The couple had two sons, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of them died in infancy. Both of them divorced in 1958. He was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy, in 1952. A short two-year diploma in law of his BA allowed Mandela to practice law, in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black-owned law firm in the 1950s. In1956, he faced Treason Trial, after being caught in Nationwide Police swoop. Thousands of men and women faced the Marathon Trials which ended when Mandela with 28 others was acquitted, on 29 March 1961. 

He escaped from South Africa on 11 January 1962 using g a fake name 'David Motsamayi', He traveled all around Africa and went to England to gain support for the armed struggle. He acquired military training in Morocco & Ethiopia, returned to South Africa in July 1962. On 5 August 1962,  when he was returning from KwaZulu-Natal, he was arrested by the police at a roadblock near Howick. He was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment, charged with leaving the country without a permit and encouraging workers to strike. At first, he was sent to the Pretoria Local Prison then on 27 May 1963, he was transferred to Robben Island and returned to Pretoria on 12 June. Within a month of police raids, other comrades of ANC were also arrested and sentenced. On 11 June 1964, Mandela and seven other accused, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Goldberg was sent to Pretoria Prison because he was white, while the others went to Robben Island. 

In 1968 Mandela's mother and his eldest passed away but he was not allowed to attend the funerals. In 1982 Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. In November 1985 after prostate surgery, he was held alone. Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee visited him in hospital. Mandela got engaged himself in official talks to end the white rule and in 1991 was elected ANC President replacing his friend, Oliver Tambo. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize and on 27 April 1994, he voted for the first time in his life. 

On April 27, 1994, he was made the first President of South Africa elected in a fully represented democratic election. Mandela was also the first black President of his country, South Africa. His government focused on throwing out the legacy of apartheid by ending racism, poverty, and inequality, and on improving racial understanding in South Africa. Politically a believer in socialism, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997 and adopted the new Constitution of South Africa in 1996 that prohibits all discrimination, based on language, religion, handicap, sexual orientation, not only on racism. Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999. On his 80th birthday in 1998, he married Graça Machel, his third wife.

Mandela was sick for several years during his retirement. He was hospitalized in the late summer of 2013 from a continuous lung infection. Mandela died on 5 December 2013 in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg from a respiratory tract infection. While he was 95 years old.

Mandela received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata (Father). Mandela was described as a hero, and his actions gave thousands of people hope. 

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