Biography of Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela

 History of Nelson Mandela

Rolihlahla Mandela was born at Madiba in Mvezo village, Eastern Cape on 18 July 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Inkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela who was a senior adviser to the acting Thembu King Jongintaba. Dalindyebo. In 1930, at the age of 12, his father died and a young man named Rolihlahla became a member of Jongintaba ward in Great Place in Mqhekezweni.

Hearing the stories of the elders about the heroism of his ancestors during the wars of opposition, he dreamed of making his own contribution to the liberation struggle of his people.

She attended Qunu Primary School where her teacher, Miss Mdingane, nicknamed her Nelson, traditionally calling all school children "Christians".

He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a prestigious Wesley high school, where he is studying for his matric.

Mandela began his Bachelor of Arts studies at the University of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree as he was expelled for participating in a student protest.

On his return to the Great Depression the King was furious and said that if he did not return to Fort Hare he would arrange for his wives and cousin Justice. Instead they fled to Johannesburg, arriving there in 1941. There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, he was introduced to Lazer Sidelsky. He then wrote his articles for the law firm - Witkin, Eidelman and Sidelsky.

He completed his BA at the University of South Africa and returned to Fort Hare to graduate in 1943.

During that time, he began studying LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. Admittedly he was a poor student and left the university in 1952 without graduating. He even started studying at the University of London after his arrest in 1962 but did not complete his degree.

In 1989, during his final months in prison, he obtained an LLB from the University of South Africa. He graduated while he was away at a party in Cape Town.

Political entry

Mandela, while remaining involved in politics since 1942, joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).

In 1944 she married Walter Sisulu's cousin, Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two daughters, both named Makaziwe, the first to die as a child. He and his wife separated in 1958.

Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its efforts, the ANC adopted a mass-based policy, the Program of Action, in 1949.

In 1952 he was elected National Volunteer Campaign Volunteer with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of public disobedience against the six unjust laws was a joint initiative between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Communist Oppression Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months' hard labor, suspended for two years.

A two-year law diploma on his BA allowed Mandela to practice law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo founded South Africa's first black law firm in the 1950s, Mandela & Tambo.2

At the end of 1952 he was imprisoned for the first time. As a banned person he was only allowed to watch in private as the Freedom Charter was adopted in Kliptown on 26 June 1955.

Rebel Case

Mandela was arrested for police brutality across the country on December 5, 1956, which led to a 1956 coup trial. Men and women of all races found themselves in the dock at a race trial that ended when the last 28 suspects, including Mandela, were released on March 29, 1961.

On March 21, 1960, police killed 69 unarmed protesters in Sharpeville in protest of passport laws. This led to the country's first national emergency and the closure of the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) on April 8. Mandela and his colleagues at the Treason Trial were among the thousands arrested during the emergency.

At the trial Mandela married a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, on 14 June 1958. They had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in 1996.

In the days leading up to the end of the Treason Trial, Mandela traveled to Pietermaritzburg to address the All-in Africa Conference, which decided to write to Prime Minister Verwoerd requesting a national conference on a non-racial constitution, and to warn that if possible I would not accept a national strike. After he and his colleagues were released from the Treason Trial, Mandela went underground and began organizing a national strike on March 29, 30 and 31.

Due to state security concerns the strike was called off early. In June 1961 he was called to lead the armed struggle and helped to establish the National Spear (National Spear), which was launched on 16 December 1961 with a series of explosives.

On 11 January 1962, using the adoptive name David Motsamayi, Mandela secretly left South Africa. He traveled throughout Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle. He received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia and returned to South Africa in July 1962. He was detained at a police barracks outside Howick on August 5 on his way back from KwaZulu-Natal, where he had reported his trip to ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli.

He was charged with trespassing and inciting workers to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison and began serving a prison sentence in Pretoria. Less than a month later police raided Liliesleaf, a hideout in Rivonia, Johannesburg, used by the ANC.

On October 9, 1963, Mandela joined 10 others in the Rivonia Trial. While facing a death sentence his words in court at the end of his famous speech "Speech from the Dock" on April 20, 1964 expired:

“I fought against white supremacy, I fought against black supremacy. I have enjoyed the vision of a democratic and free society in which all people live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is a vision I hope to live up to and achieve. But if need be, it is a good thing I am willing to die for. ”

Statement from Nelson Mandela's Dock quote on 20 April 1964

On June 11, 1964, Mandela and seven other suspects, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni, were convicted and sentenced to life the next day. Goldberg was sent to a prison in Pretoria because he was white, and others went to Robben Island.

Mandela's mother died in 1968 and his eldest son, Thembi, in 1969. 

When he returned to prison in November 1985 after undergoing prostate cancer, Mandela was arrested alone. Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee visited him at the hospital. Mandela later began talks over the last meeting between the apartheid government and the ANC.

Prison release

On August 12, 1988, he was rushed to a hospital where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. After more than three months in two hospitals she was transferred on December 7, 1988 to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl where she spent the last 14 months in custody. He was released from its gates on Sunday 11 February 1990, nine days after the ban by the ANC and the PAC and about four months after the release of his remaining Rivonia comrades. At all times he was arrested and refused at least three counts of release.

Mandela plunged into formal negotiations to end white minority rule and in 1991 was elected ANC President in place of his ailing friend, Oliver Tambo. 

The president

On 10 May 1994 he was inaugurated as South Africa's first democratically elected President.

In line with his promise, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term in office. He continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund which he founded in 1995 and founded the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

"It's in your hands" - quotes Mandela Day

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In April 2007 his grandson, Mandla Mandela, was appointed head of the Mvezo Traditional Council at an event held at Mvezo Great Place.

Nelson Mandela did not waver in his commitment to democracy, equality and education. Despite her frustration, she did not respond to racial prejudice. His life is an inspiration to all the oppressed and downtrodden; and to all who oppose oppression and deprivation.

He died at his home in Johannesburg on December 5, 2013.

1. Nelson Mandela's father died in 1930 when Mandela was 12 years old and his mother died in 1968 while in prison. Although autobiography Long Walk to Freedom states that his father died at the age of nine, historical evidence suggests that it must have been later, about 1930. In fact, the first manuscript of the Long Walk to Freedom (written on Robben Island) states the year as 1930. 

2. found that there were at least 2 black law firms before Mandela and Tambo.