BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG
We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
THERE have been some great stories on NPR on the amazing life of Nelson Mandela. Here is the main page of their coverage, there are lots of links, click on them, and listen to the ones that offer that choice because there are both funny and moving and musical stories to be shared. And the Frontline show The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela is well worth watching http://video.pbs.org/video/2365135079/...
President Obama ordered that U.S. flags be flown
at half-staff until Monday — a symbolic gesture of a nation in
mourning. It's a tradition observed by countries around the world, one
that began as early as the 17th century.
It's worth pausing to consider not only the legacy and
achievements of former South African president Nelson Rolihlahla
Mandela, but also the rich musical associations of his life.
December 5, 2013 A Radio
Diaries documentary offers a window into South Africa's
half-century-long struggle for democracy through rare sound recordings
of freedom fighter Nelson Mandela — and those who fought with and
against him.
December 5, 2013 The South
African leader's life held special power for black Americans, who lost
many iconic civil rights leaders tragically early. Karen Grigsby Bates
reflects on Mandela's legacy.
Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Paul Simon performing South Africa's National Anthem, 1989. http://youtu.be/MFW7845XO3g
South African President Zuma on Mandela's death: 'Our people have lost a father'
The world remembers Nelson Mandela
South African President Jacob Zuma mourns the death of Nelson Mandela Thursday.
http://youtu.be/gnMq0tUOPsU
Former South African president Nelson Mandela dies Thursday at the age of 95.
Counting himself among the millions influenced by Mandela, President
Barack Obama on Thursday mourned the death of the anti-apartheid icon
with whom he shares the distinction of being his nation's first black
president.
"He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages," Obama said in a somber appearance at the White House.
South African President Jacob Zuma addressed a nation in mourning.
"We've lost our greatest son. Our nation has lost its greatest son.
Our people have lost a father," Zuma said. "Although we knew that this
day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and
enduring loss."
PBS NewsHour will continue to update this post as world leaders and
others from around the globe speak on the loss of the former South
African President and activist. President Obama speaks to the nation on the passing of Nelson Mandela:
GWEN IFILL: Nelson Mandela's death was formally announced late today by South Africa's current president, Jacob Zuma.
He expressed the country's love and sense of loss for their iconic
leader, often referred to, out of respect, by his clan name, Madiba.
PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA, South Africa: Our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation, has departed.
He passed on peacefully in the company of his family around 20:50 on
the 5th of December, 2013. He is now resting. He is now at peace.
Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.
Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our
sense of a profound and enduring loss. His tireless struggle for freedom
earned him the respect of the world.
His humility, his compassion, and his humanity earned him their love.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. Our thoughts are
with the South African people, who today mourn the loss of the one
person who, more than any other, came to embody their sense of a common
nationhood.
Our thoughts are with the millions of people across the
world who embraced Madiba as their own and who saw his cause as their
cause.
This is the moment of our deepest sorrow. Our nation has lost its greatest son.
Yet, what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.
As we gather, wherever we are in the country and wherever we are in
the world, let us recall the values for which Madiba fought. Let us
reaffirm his vision of a society in which none is exploited, oppressed
or dispossessed by another.
Let us commit ourselves to strive together -- sparing neither
strength nor courage -- to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist,
democratic and prosperous South Africa.
Let us express, each in our own way, the deep gratitude we feel for a
life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of
humanity.
That is indeed the moment of our deepest sorrow. Yet it must also be
the moment of our greatest determination, a determination to live as
Madiba has lived, to strive as Madiba has strived, and to not rest until
we have realized his vision of a truly united South Africa, a peaceful
and prosperous Africa, and a better world.
We will always love you, Madiba. May your soul rest in peace.
God bless Africa. JUDY WOODRUFF: That was South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma. UPDATED 6:20 EST: Message from The Nelson Mandela Foundation, The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation:
"It is with the deepest regret that we have learned of the passing
of our founder, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela - Madiba. The Presidency of
the Republic of South Africa will shortly make further official
announcements.
We want to express our sadness at this time. No words can adequately describe this enormous loss to our nation and to the world.
We give thanks for his life, his leadership, his devotion to humanity
and humanitarian causes. We salute our friend, colleague and comrade
and thank him for his sacrifices for our freedom. The three charitable
organisations that he created dedicate ourselves to continue promoting
his extraordinay legacy.
Hamba Kahle Madiba"
Nelson Mandela will be remembered by
the world for his peaceful pursuit of equal rights for all South
Africans and as the post-apartheid nation's first president. Former
NewsHour senior correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault looks back at the
activist and peacemaker's 27 years in prison and his victory over
decades of oppression.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And now to a personal retrospective on the life of Nelson Mandela from one of our own.
Former NewsHour senior correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault covered
the South African leader for more than a decade, and interviewed him on a
number of occasions, from the time he left prison to his election as
South Africa's president.
She prepared this remembrance. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: To my generation, the one
that came of age in the '60s, Nelson Mandela was a towering man of myth
and legend, of action and passion, of selfless sacrifice.
And before any of us ever dreamed, he became the embodiment of a
notorious decades-long struggling against white oppression. Many would
call that victory a miracle, Mandela the miracle maker.
These rare images from the book "Mandela: The Authorized Portrait" help us tell the story of Mandela's long walk to freedom.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in a
tiny rural village in the Transkei on South Africa's eastern coast. But
it was here in neighboring Qunu that the man who was to become a legend
was nurtured, spending some of the happiest years of his boyhood.
Qunu is a gentle place of rolling hills and farms, where children
still play Mandela did when he wasn't laboring in these fields as a herd
boy, looking after his mother few sheep and calves. In time, they would
call him Madiba, his Xhosa clan name for respect.
Here, Xhosa boys, even ones like Mandela, descended from royalty,
were shaped by Xhosa ritual and taboo, tradition that taught respect and
responsibility for others. As Mandela grew into manhood, the Xhosa
mantle of responsibility led him to fight against oppressive white
minority rule that deprived and demeaned Mandela and his fellow
Africans.
In 1948, oppression was legalized into a system known as apartheid.
As a young lawyer in the 1940s, Mandela joined the African National
Congress, an organization then dedicated to peacefully pursuing equal
rights for all South Africans.
Mandela emerged as one of its leaders, staging mass rallies, strikes
and campaigns of defiance against apartheid's unjust laws. But by 1960,
the harsh white government's resistance to the ANC's peaceful process
caused Mandela and his ANC colleagues to launch a military wing
operating underground.
Their armed resistance was called Umkhonto we Sizwe, Spear of the
Nation. The campaign was aimed at military industrial and civil
installations, and not soft or human targets. But in time, the ANC's
bombings and urban guerrilla warfare resulted in the deaths of more than
60 people, though exact figures aren't known. But their acts bore no
comparison to the thousands murdered and otherwise disappeared by the
regime. NELSON MANDELA: There are many people who feel that
it is useful and futile for us to continue talking peace and nonviolence
against a government whose reply is only savage attacks on an unarmed
and defenseless people. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: In 1962, a vicious crackdown by the apartheid state was unleashed, and Mandela was caught up in the regime's wide net.
As he sat in prison, his ANC colleagues were also rounded up at a
farm in an area outside of Johannesburg called Rivonia and jailed. In
1963, during what came to be called the Rivonia trial, the government
tried and convicted Mandela and seven of the top command of the ANC on
charges of sabotage aimed at fomenting violent revolution, a capital
offense.
In June 1964, the eight were sentenced to life in prison. Even from
his cell on Robben Island, the Alcatraz-like site of the country's
harshest, most remote prison, six miles off the coast of Cape Town,
Mandela was uncompromising, says Helen Suzman, then a particularly
representative who spoke out against apartheid. HELEN SUZMAN, former South African politician: He
had no hesitation. He rattled off all the complaints about the bad food,
the fact he was sleeping on sleeping rolls, not proper mattresses, the
fact that the visits were too few and far between, and mostly about the
behavior of a warden, yes, who has a tattoo on the back of his hand of
the swastika. And he said, this man really is very bad. He treats us
badly. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But even then, Mandela was ever the statesman. HELEN SUZMAN: His bearing, his self-confidence,
remarkably self-confident man. He was never making outrageous remarks
about the government. He was always thoughtful. And what he said was,
you know, in keeping with someone who wanted peace. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: And he used the captive
audience in prison to educate his young followers for the future he
envisioned. They even called it Mandela University.
Tokyo Sexwale was one of the students. TOKYO SEXWALE, African National Congress: And that's
where he was teaching of the spirit of reconciliation, studying
history, studying science, studying everything that we were supposed to
equip ourselves, economics, to prepare ourselves for the new South
Africa. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Mandela's life sentence
removed him physically from the fight against apartheid, but his spirit
was felt throughout the townships of South Africa.
The government pressed hard to retain control of a black population
that refused to be silenced. In 1985, I made my first trip to the land
of Mandela's birth to find out what was driving the country's people,
black and white, and also to determine how much of Mandela's spirit was
still alive.
What -- what are you singing about? Tell me, what is this about? What is the song about? GIRL: Mandela, Mandela. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Mandela? GIRL: Mandela. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Mandela and...
(CROSSTALK) WOMAN: We want Mandela to be released from jail. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Really? WOMAN: And those who are exile to come back. MAN: There's one man we all respect and we take him -- we call him our father, none other than Nelson Mandela.
If and only if that man can be released, and then we can see the direction of South Africa. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: From those otherwise dark days, a new direction was on the horizon, as pressure at home and abroad mounted on the regime.
The apartheid system was crumbling. Mandela, who had been moved to a
different prison, began four years of secret negotiations with the
government that would eventually lead to the release of many of the
political prisoners and the unbanning of the ANC. Change seemed
inevitable. And the South African foreign minister admitted as much in
an interview with me following my reporting on South Africa for NewsHour
in 1985. ROELOF FREDERIK "PIK" BOTHA, former South Africa Foreign Minister: I made my position clear. We have said that we have outgrown apartheid. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But Mandela's own release would not come for another five years, in 1990.
After 27 years, Nelson Mandela took his first steps as a free man. He
was 71 years old. And few had seen him or any up-to-date photograph of
him in all those years. At his side were now Winnie Mandela, his defiant
wife who had kept his name and his message alive, and other comrades
from the African National Congress. NELSON MANDELA: Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) NELSON MANDELA: I stand here, before you, not as a
prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people. Today, the majority
of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no
future.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) NELSON MANDELA: It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: I left for South Africa as
soon as I saw those pictures. And within a few days from his release
from prison, I found myself sitting with him in his backyard in the
black township of Soweto, where I soon gleaned insight into Mandela's
iron resolve, as well as his humility. NELSON MANDELA: We fought back. And as I -- I must stress again, I was not the only one who fought back. We all fought back. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: In what way? I mean, in what... NELSON MANDELA: And the amount of bravery, of
courage that was displayed was absolutely marvelous. And we had hunger
strikes and resisted doing anything which we considered to be
humiliating. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Were you aware of this
mythical character that was being built up in the outside world, through
portraits on television, movies, this sort of thing? And did that
concern you at all, or... NELSON MANDELA: Well, that worried me a bit. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Why? NELSON MANDELA: Because I wanted to be presented as I
am. And I'm an ordinary human being, with weaknesses. And you don't
want that to be built up into something that you are not. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Still, Nelson Mandela was
the man of the hour, and he wasted no time on efforts to dismantle the
apartheid regime, even before a full United Nations assembly in 1990. NELSON MANDELA: We know also that you harbor the
hope that we will not relent or falter in the pursuit of that common
vision, which should result in the transformation of South Africa into a
country of democracy, justice, and peace. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: In 1993, the year before
apartheid ended, Mandela shared his vision of a new South Africa as he
shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the man who had seen the handwriting
on the wall and acted, the last apartheid president, F.W. De Klerk. NELSON MANDELA: South Africa will be like a
microcosm of the new way that is striving to be born. This must be a
world of democracy and respect for human rights. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But, in South Africa, change was accompanied as the last gasp of the regime as it backed black-on-black violence.
Still, Mandela's way prevailed. And on the 27th of April, 1994, Mandela himself voted for the first time in his life, at age 75.
A few days before, Mandela and I sat down in Johannesburg, and I got a
rare glimpse into his steely side when I asked him about De Klerk's
assertion that a liberation movement wouldn't know how to govern and
that Mandela's presidency wouldn't be as powerful as his. NELSON MANDELA: My power of persuasion is sufficient.
I have wielded power as a prisoner, without occupying any position,
and Mr. De Klerk had to recognize that. We have taken decisions and
forced him to use his legal powers. The decision was taken by us.
Take, for example, how he dismissed two ministers. We gave him an
ultimatum that you must appoint a judicial commission to investigate the
question of violence. He must dismiss a certain two ministers. And he
came out and he said he would never do that.
We embarked on mass action. He was forced to do exactly what he said
he would never do. So, we have wielded power even before we assumed the
government of the country. And that is how the situation should be
examined. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela took another giant step on a journey that took him from prisoner to president. NELSON MANDELA: We enter into a covenant that we
shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and
white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts,
assured of their inalienable right to human dignity -- a rainbow nation
at peace with itself and the world. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Elements of the repressive
apartheid past remained, but Mandela and his young government rose above
them, insisting on forgiveness and reconciliation, which would become
the hallmark of his presidency. NELSON MANDELA: It is necessary for one to heal the wounds of the past if you're going to build your country and to have unity.
I am working with people who fought me very bitterly before the
elections. It was my responsibility, as the man who is leading the
majority party, my responsibility to heal the wounds of the past and to
work with people who were my opponents. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Mandela kept his part of the
bargain, enabling a forum offering amnesty in exchange for truth about
apartheid-era atrocities on all sides. It was called the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission.
Countless black victims came forward, but almost none of the whites
who had ordered or committed atrocities did or told the truth. But the
process is credited with averting a bloodbath as the government changed
from white to black hands. Moreover, Mandela's government put to rest
concerns that the ANC's past leftist rhetoric would lead to
nationalizing the economy. Instead, he told the world his country would
be a democratic, capitalist society, and kept his word.
Mandela's government also established principles of redress aimed at
bringing blacks into the economic mainstream, while building millions of
houses and providing basic services that didn't exist for the poor, not
enough and not fast enough for all, but enough to earn the gratitude of
millions and the patience of most of its long-suffering people.
But Mandela's own personal life suffered. The Mandelas divorced.
Mandela stepped down after serving only one term, setting a new standard
on a continent of presidents for life.
At the same time, Mandela had set the bar so high, it would be close
to impossible for anyone to fill his shoes or to think of South Africa
as anything but a miracle nation, a perception that would belie South
Africa's down-to-earth realities and create problems for anyone not the
icon Mandela had become, not least because the icon stayed in the
adoring public's eye.
On his 80th birthday, Mandela married his third wife, Graca Machel, widow of Mozambican President Samora Machel.
As his physical walk became more labored, Mandela announced his retirement from public life. NELSON MANDELA: Don't call me.
(LAUGHTER) NELSON MANDELA: I will call you.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But, even in his later
years, Mandela kept on walking, joined by his wife in their advocacy for
the world's children and boldly making up for the silence and
inattention on HIV and AIDS dating back to his own time in office.
Mandela had come to realize the disease was overwhelming the country
he loved and threatening the very future he sought to ensure, not least
taking the life of his one remaining son. Mandela took on AIDS as a
public crusade and spoke out forcefully about the need for others in
high positions to join him, though few did. NELSON MANDELA: I am alive because the people gave
me love and support. And that is why I am here today to deal with your
questions. So, there is no difference whatsoever between somebody who is
HIV-positive and myself. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Mandela was equally
passionate about children, the nation's, his own and Graca Machel's. And
in time, he even brought Winnie back into the family fold.
And that extended family will join a cast of millions who will honor
him from far and near as he becomes an ancestor, buried in the Mandela
family cemetery in his quiet village of Qunu, free at last from his epic
journey, free to take a moment of rest on his now long walk to
eternity. GWEN IFILL: That's Charlayne Hunter-Gault. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/july-dec13/obit_12-05.html
ANALYSIS AIR DATE: Dec. 5, 2013
Why the world aspires to live up to the legacy left by Mandela
SUMMARY
Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff reflect on
Nelson Mandela's life with Donald Gips, former U.S. ambassador to South
Africa, John Stremlau of the Carter Center, Gay McDougall, Independent
Electoral Commission of South Africa, and Douglas Foster, author of
"After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in Post-Apartheid South
Africa."
GWEN IFILL: For more on Nelson Mandela's
life and legacy, we turn to four people who knew him or watched South
Africa's emergence from apartheid.
Gay McDougall was a member the South African Election Commission,
which administered the country's first democratic non-racial elections
in 1994. Prior to that, she served as director of the Southern Africa
Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Douglas
Foster is the author of "After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in
Post-Apartheid South Africa." He's an associate professor at
Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Donald Gips
served as U.S. ambassador to South Africa from 2009 to 2013. And John
Stremlau is vice president for peace programs at the Carter Center. He
taught at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Welcome to you all.
Gay McDougall, what is your first reaction tonight on hearing of the loss of Nelson Mandela? GAY MCDOUGALL, Member, Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa: Well, I'm terribly sad.
Of course, we all expected it. We knew it was coming. But,
nevertheless, it is a shock. And it's quite saddening. I think, first
of all, of the people of South Africa who will be mourning in a very
special way. But I think of us all around the world have lost a hero, a
hero that we desperately needed when he came forward and gave us hope.
RELATED INFORMATION
Remembering activist and peacemaker Nelson Mandela
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, as we continue
this conversation, we want to -- we do want to say to local stations,
because of the special nature of tonight's program, that we are not
going to be taking a break tonight, so that we can continue to discuss
Nelson Mandela's life and legacy.
And I want to pick up with you, Professor John Stremlau.
You taught, as Gwen just said, in South Africa for a number of years
after Nelson Mandela was released. What did you see of the man? What
did he mean to his country? JOHN STREMLAU, Carter Center: Well, he means everything for his country.
And I think the challenge is to live up to the example he set, as
President Obama indicated. What was great about Mandela was his respect
for the rule of law. Think about it just for a moment -- 27 years in
jail under an illegitimate legal system, and to come and to defend the
rule of law above all else.
When he was asked to appear in court as a sitting president, his
advisers said, no, no, no, you can't do it. You can't appear in this
case on rugby and discrimination that he had asserted. It was a libel
suit of some sort. And he said, look, no man is above the law, and so I
will be there.
I think he inherited this stubborn sense of freedom -- fairness, as
he described himself once, from his father. It was that stubborn sense
of fairness which kept the process on track. And we Americans owe him
and the country of South Africa a great debt, because nothing would have
torn this country apart in the 1970s and perhaps into the '80s than a
race war in South Africa.
So, I -- all I want to do is to celebrate this wonderful, wonderful man. GWEN IFILL: I would actually like to pick up that,
Ambassador Gips, because, by the time you arrived in Johannesburg as
ambassador from the U.S., you had been appointed by an African-American
president.
You went -- you were there and saw the legacy, the real legacy, the
current-day legacy of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. And how did it
resonate? DONALD GIPS, Former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa: It resonated incredibly. His presence still drives the country.
You know, from people on the street to people in government, everyone
aspires to live up to the legacy he left. It is a difficult challenge
to live up to someone of his iconic nature, but he really inspired all
of us, I think, around the world.
And the message that he left for all of us is one that I think the
world needs, whether it's our Congress or people around the world, of
putting -- putting aside our differences to work for the greater good.
You know, I was so inspired -- my most inspiring moment in South
Africa was actually holding some of the letters that he wrote from
prison at the Center for Memory and reading about what he gave up to
fight for freedom and to fight for a better South Africa for everyone.
And I think if -- given what he gave up, we all need to take this moment and decide how we can make the world a better place. JUDY WOODRUFF: Douglas Foster, you got to know the Mandela family.
In the last decade, you moved to South Africa for a time to write a
book about what -- after Mandela, the struggle for freedom after his
time as president. What -- how did you experience this? What would you
add to this question of his effect on the country? DOUGLAS FOSTER, Author, "After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa": Sure.
I got to know the old man, as everybody calls him in South Africa,
through his grandchildren, primarily through his grandson Ndaba. And
the last time I saw him at his home in Johannesburg, he did this
typically puckish, mischievous thing.
As my son and I entered the room, he said, "Ah, it's nice that young
people still come to an old man who has nothing new to say."
I think one of the important legacies of Nelson Mandela is to have
given the challenge to the half of the population in South Africa that
is 24 and under and didn't have direct experience of conditions under
apartheid to understand that this is their moment and a time to shape
the freedom that was on in their names.
I think that the South African editor Ferial Haffajee wrote recently
that Mandela had prepared his people for his passing in an unusual way,
she said -- quote -- "like a good parent" -- unquote.
And I think that's worth marking on a day like this, that most
leaders attempt to assert indispensability. That's their sense of their
own role in life. I think one of Nelson Mandela's great gifts was to
live long enough and also to be conscious enough about what it means to
step away from power that he has given his people the gift of
dispensability. The great experiment in creating a non-racial,
non-sexist, non-homophobic and more egalitarian society at the Southern
Tip of Africa survives him. GWEN IFILL: Ambassador Gips, we know you have to
move on from us in a few moments, so I want to circle back to you for a
moment and just ask you a sense about whether Nelson Mandela's one term
as president of South Africa and his heroic status, whether that had an
effect on surrounding countries, on the region, on Africa as a
continent? DONALD GIPS: Oh, I think he inspires people around the continent and around the world.
I think -- I witnessed people coming to South Africa to pay tribute
to him during the World Cup and at other moments. There is no greater
figure in my lifetime. And I think, as President Obama said, he's his
inspiration. So, I think he has inspired people not just in South
Africa or in Africa, but around the world.
But, in the end, what he did in South Africa is an example that we all need to follow. GWEN IFILL: Gay McDougall, how do you explain the
essence of Nelson Mandela? What gave him that impossible-to-understand
strength that he had to come out of prison after 27 years and to go on
to be the great leader that he was? GAY MCDOUGALL: Well, he is quite a remarkable individual.
That's -- I don't think there's no question about that. He has a
certain regalness to him, but also a sort of down-home folksiness to him
as well, but I think the mixture of knowing how to handle and to deal
with power, yet seeing himself very much as a member of a collective of
decision-makers, as a member of a liberation movement, of a political
party, of South Africans as a whole.
I will never forget the really transcendent moment that I was
privileged to spend -- to share with him when he voted for the first
time in 1994. I was there as a member of the commission that ran the
elections then. And President Mandela had put my name forward to be on
the commission.
But it was a remarkable moment for him and for his nation. And, you
know, all of the suffering and struggle that had occurred before that
moment was now telescoped through him and into the future, as he dropped
his ballot into that box.
So he has been a manifestation of all of the hopes and dreams and
aspirations and -- of his country. And he's been able to articulate
that and to live a life that was worthy of that. GWEN IFILL: John Stremlau, I'm curious. In watching
Charlayne's piece, it was interesting to see his personality and his
political side as well. He talked about his own -- his own -- how much
he was convinced in the power of his own moral suasion.
Was that an essential part of his success and his -- his legacy as well? JOHN STREMLAU: Well, absolutely, Gwen.
The one error in the presentation, which is understandable, is when
he said he's just an ordinary man. This was certainly no ordinary man.
He had an appreciation of the humanity in all of us. He took an
inspiration from Dr. King. He understood what the civil rights struggle
was in this country.
And he understood what tolerance and justice is for all. He's helped
to make South Africa, which now celebrates next year 20 years of
democracy -- we are celebrating 50 years of a movement toward greater
racial justice in our own country -- what it meant to be part of a
global, truly global community. And he appreciated the interest and
support that he got from everywhere.
But he also was willing to sort of look at the individual in his own
country and say, you matter, and what you do really does count for
something.
And so, as a professor, the born free, so-called, now, the new
generation of kids coming along who didn't know apartheid, they have to
be reimbued with this Mandela ethic, as was said earlier in the -- in
the obituary. JUDY WOODRUFF: And Douglas Foster, pick up on that,
and talk about why he was the beacon that he was for the rest of the
world. People do amazing things and -- but -- but when you think about
him, I mean, he really stands apart. DOUGLAS FOSTER: Well, I think it's partly in the
context -- if you think about the idea of contingency in history, he
stitched together so many divergent parts of South African culture --
divergent parts of South African culture.
He grew up as a shoeless cowherd. He went to the city and made
something new of himself as a lawyer. But then he traded in that
privilege, that hard-earned privilege to become a figure who was
denounced as a terrorist in the United States and in South Africa,
endured those prison years, as Charlayne told us, and came out with a
singular vision of a different kind of society, and drove towards it so
relentlessly.
I think it's that commitment and consistency, the requirement of a
very disciplined mind and a very steely man, too. As -- as much as
we're tempted on a day like this to only sing praises about the soft and
warm side, he didn't succeed by being a pushover. He succeeded by
being very tough, very strategic, and -- and committed, absolutely
committed to a vision during periods where one wouldn't have guessed
that it would succeed. GWEN IFILL: Gay McDougall, here in Washington,
outside of the remodeled South African Embassy, there is a statue going
up in which Mandela has his fist in the air. And he's right across the
street from Winston Churchill, who has his victory sign in the air.
It's quite a place on Massachusetts Avenue.
It's tempting in moment like this to look at the past and -- and not
to look at the present and the future. So, as you think about Nelson
Mandela tonight, and you think legacy, how do you think about his effect
on the present and the future? GAY MCDOUGALL: Well, I think that he stands for the
importance of personal commitment, for being true to one's principles,
of working with people who share that kind of a vision, and of modeling a
new kind of leadership for the future.
I think these are all lessons that young people in the United States,
as well as throughout Africa, are going to continuously turn to. He is
a figure that is going to, in many ways, live forever. His lessons to
us will live forever.
And so while I think we all of course his passing, I feel that, you
know, very soon, we will be taken with how much of a gift his life has
been to all of us. JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Gay McDougall, we thank you.
We thank Professor Stremlau, John Stremlau, and Douglas Foster. We
also want to thank Ambassador Gips, who was with us for a few minutes.
We appreciate your joining us on this day. DOUGLAS FOSTER: Thank you. JUDY WOODRUFF: And PBS' special coverage of Mandela's death includes a FRONTLINE documentary, "The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela: An Intimate Portrait of One of the 20th Century's Greatest Leaders." You can watch that online at PBS.org. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/july-dec13/guests_12-05.html
NELSON MANDELA'S long struggle is over, he died today at his home in Johannesburg, South Africa. Godspeed Madiba, Godspeed. I remember going to a few protest at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. I drove into the city one day for a protest and I couldn't find anyplace to park. I saw a space on a side street off Massachusetts Ave, did a U turn right in front of an unmarked cop car and turned up the street, going the wrong way, did another U turn and then parked. The cops got out of their car and asked me what the hell I was doing and I told them I was going to the protest at the South African embassy and they just laughed and told me to be good and gave me the Black Power salute. There wasn't a ticket on my car when I left that evening. I remember that Sunday he was released from prison, I watched him leave prison and walk a free man and watched as he guided all South Africans through the transition to a free and democratic nation. Shortly after he was freed from prison he was scheduled to speak in D.C. and was staying at the Mayflower hotel. I went down to see him with my friends Steve and Russ and Mark, and it was just so cool to see him when he arrived and smiling, waved to the cheering crowd. I am glad his suffering from his long and lingering illness is over, but it feels strange knowing he is gone, I bet a lot of people who remember, supported and were involved in the struggle to end apartheid feel that too. Godspeed Madiba, and God Bless Africa...BY THE BY, I added a couple of videos of the Springboks singing the South African national anthem, the first one from the 1995 World Cup finals in Johannesburg when South Africa beat New Zealand and then a match with the Springboks playing in Scotland in 2013. Watch the Springboks, and you will see Madiba did good.....I have more on Nelson Mandela at N'Kosi Sikeleli iAfrika (Miriam Makeba,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Paul Simon) & Remembering activist and
peacemaker Nelson Mandela 5DEZ13
http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/nkosi-sikeleli-miriam-makeba-ladysmith.html
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=136590582&m=249074823
Nelson Mandela, who was born in a country that viewed him as a
second-class citizen, died Thursday as one of the most respected
statesmen in the world.
President Jacob Zuma announced the death in a televised speech.
From
his childhood as a herd boy, Mandela went on to lead the African
National Congress' struggle against the racially oppressive, apartheid
regime of South Africa. For his efforts, he spent 27 years behind bars
as a political prisoner. In 1994, after Mandela was elected president in
South Africa's first democratic elections, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
shook with elation as he welcomed Mandela to a rally in Cape Town.
"One
man inspires us all. One man inspires the whole world," Tutu said at
the time. "Ladies and gentlemen, friends, fellow South Africans, welcome
our brand new state president — out of the box: Nelson Mandela."
Mandela: An Audio History
In 2004, All Things Considered aired
a five-part series on South Africans' struggle against apartheid
through rare sound recordings of Mandela, as well as those who fought
with and against him.
Political Awakening
Mandela was born in
the Transkei, a region of rolling green hills near the southern tip of
the African continent. In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom,
he recalled his childhood as a simple, joyful time. He herded sheep and
cows near his mother's huts and played barefoot with other boys. He was
educated by British missionaries, got a law degree and eventually
opened the first black law firm in Johannesburg.
In the 1940s, Mandela became active with the Youth League of the African National Congress.
Tapping
into the culture of black resistance that was sweeping Johannesburg,
Mandela helped organize strikes and demonstrations against the country's
system of racial segregation.
Later, Mandela and other ANC
leaders decided that freedom songs and civil disobedience would never
topple the apartheid government, so they set up Umkhonto we Sizwe, the
armed wing of the ANC. As a result of Umkhonto we Sizwe's guerrilla
tactics, Mandela and seven other ANC leaders went on trial for sabotage
in 1963.
Against the advice of his lawyers, Mandela gave a
four-hour closing statement. He used the speech in what's known as the
"Rivonia trial" to attack the apartheid system. Despite facing the death
penalty, he defiantly told the court that his actions had been in
pursuit of the ideal of a free, democratic society with equal
opportunity for people of all races.
"It is an idea for which I
hope to live for and to see realized but my Lord, if it needs be, it is
an idea for which I am prepared to die," Mandela said at the time.
Mandela and his codefendants escaped the gallows but were sentenced to life in prison.
He
would spend the next 27 years behind bars, much of that time in the
maximum security prison on Robben Island. In prison he became a symbol
of the anti-apartheid movement and the focal point of international
campaigns to do away with racial segregation in South Africa. 'A War Of Attrition'
One
of Mandela's co-defendants at the Rivonia trial was Ahmed Kathrada, who
was one of Mandela's closest confidants inside and later outside
prison.
Related NPR Stories
In an interview with in 2004, Kathrada recalled Mandela playing a
chess game for three days against a young medical student who had
recently been incarcerated on the island.
"They played the
first day, and when it came to lockup time, the game had not finished
because Mandela calculates every move as he does in politics," Kathrada
said.
Mandela persuaded one of the guards to lock the board
away in an empty cell. At the end of the next day, the game was still
not finished and the guard had to lock it away again.
"In the
end, this young chap just gave up. He said, 'You win. I can't carry on
this way,' " Kathrada said. "That's Mandela; it's a war of attrition and
he won."
In Mandela's war of attrition against the apartheid
government, South African President F.W. de Klerk made several offers to
free him but Mandela would accept only an unconditional release.
In
1990, de Klerk did just that. Apartheid was on its final legs, and
Africa's largest economy was, for the first time in centuries, headed
for black majority rule. 'That Man Saved This Country'
The
four years between Mandela's release from prison and South Africa's
first democratic elections in 1994 were tumultuous, however.
Elements
within the white apartheid government were desperately trying to retain
power. Violent clashes between supporters of the Zulu-based Inkatha
Freedom Party and Mandela's ANC left many foreign observers predicting
that South Africa would disintegrate into a bloody civil war.
But
Mandela's paternal, grandfatherly presence had a calming effect across
the country. In 1993, he and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
After winning the 1994 election, Mandela reached out to South Africans
of all races to help build an equitable and prosperous country.
"We
place our vision of a new constitutional order for South Africa on the
table not as conquerors, prescribing to the conquered," Mandela said at
the time. "We speak as fellow citizens to heal the wounds of the past
with the intent of constructing a new order based on justice for all.
This is the challenge that faces all South Africans today, and it is one
to which I am certain we will all rise."
Possibly his greatest
political move was his decision to serve only one term as president.
This was partly because he was 80, but also because he said he wanted to
establish a tradition of contested, democratic elections.
During
the 2004 presidential elections in which Thabo Mbeki won a second term,
South Africans of all races stood in long lines to cast their ballots.
Before 1994, none of the black people in those lines would have been
allowed to vote. Mlongi Sitcholosa, a black schoolteacher waiting to
vote in the township of Soweto, credited one man with changing that:
Mandela.
"That man saved this country," Sitcholosa said. "If it
wasn't because of him this country would have gone to flame, but
because of his wisdom and his intelligence he saved this country." Personal Life
In his autobiography, Mandela notes that his struggle against apartheid took a toll on his personal life.
Toward
the end of the book Mandela says: "To be the father of a nation is a
great honor, but to be the father of a family is a greater joy. But it
is a joy I had far too little of."
He had four children with
his first wife, Evelyn Mase. Three of them died before him. Mandela's
son, Makgatho, died of an HIV-related illness in 2005.
His
marriage to Winnie Madikizela Mandela survived his incarceration but
disintegrated soon after he was released. He watched his daughters from
this second marriage grow up through the glass of prison visitor's
rooms.
But in his waning years, Mandela's home life finally
improved. Rumors that he was in love started to surface in 1996. Graca
Machel, the widow of Mozambican President Samora Machel, was seen
frequently in Mandela's presence. For his 80th birthday, the two got
married in a tiny, private ceremony.
Friends say that Machel
brought Mandela the joy that he felt he'd missed as he struggled for
decades to bring freedom to South Africa. http://www.npr.org/2013/12/05/136590582/nelson-mandela-inspiration-to-world-dies-at-95
This article is about a person who has recently died.
Some information, such as the circumstances of the person's death and
surrounding events, may change as more facts become known.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliːɬaɬa manˈdeːla]) (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South Africananti-apartheid revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.
A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the Afrikaner nationalists of the National Party came to power in 1948 and began implementing the policy of apartheid, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was elected President of the Transvaal ANC Branch and oversaw the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961 but was found not guilty. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the South African Communist Party he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a bombing campaign against government targets. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
Mandela served 27 years in prison, first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison.
An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in
1990 amid escalating civil strife. Becoming ANC President, Mandela
published his autobiography and led negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory. He was elected President and formed a Government of National Unity in an attempt to defuse ethnic tensions. As President, he promulgated a new constitution and initiated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. Continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration introduced measures to encourage land reform,
combat poverty, and expand healthcare services. Internationally, he
acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela subsequently became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life. Right-wing
critics denounced him as a terrorist and communist sympathiser. He
nevertheless gained international acclaim for his anti-colonial and
anti-apartheid stance, having received more than 250 honours, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as "the father of the nation". Mandela died following a long illness on 5 December 2013 at his home in Johannesburg.
Early life
Childhood: 1918–1936
Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtatu, then a part of South Africa's Cape Province.[1] Given the forename Rolihlahla, a Xhosa term colloquially meaning "troublemaker",[1] in later years he became known by his clan name, Madiba.[2] His patrilineal great-grandfather, Ngubengcuka, was ruler of the Thembu people in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's modern Eastern Cape province.[3] One of this king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname.[4] Because Mandela was only the king's child by a wife of the Ixhiba clan, a so-called "Left-Hand House", the descendants of his cadet branch of the royal family were morganatic, ineligible to inherit the throne but recognized as hereditary royal councillors.[4] Nonetheless, his father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a local chief
and councillor to the monarch; he had been appointed to the position in
1915, after his predecessor was accused of corruption by a governing
white magistrate.[5]
In 1926, Gadla, too, was sacked for corruption, but Nelson would be
told that he had lost his job for standing up to the magistrate's
unreasonable demands.[6] A devotee of the god Qamata,[7] Gadla was a polygamist,
having four wives, four sons and nine daughters, who lived in different
villages. Nelson's mother was Gadla's third wife, Nosekeni Fanny, who
was daughter of Nkedama of the Right Hand House and a member of the
amaMpemvu clan of Xhosa.[8]
"No one in my family had ever attended school [...] On the first day
of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name.
This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due
to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me
that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea."
Later stating that his early life was dominated by "custom, ritual and taboo",[10] Mandela grew up with two sisters in his mother's kraal in the village of Qunu, where he tended herds as a cattle-boy, spending much time outside with other boys.[11] Both his parents were illiterate, but being a devout Christian, his mother sent him to a local Methodist school when he was about seven. Baptised a Methodist, Mandela was given the English forename of "Nelson" by his teacher.[12]
When Mandela was about nine, his father came to stay at Qunu, where he
died of an undiagnosed ailment which Mandela believed to be lung
disease.[13] Feeling "cut adrift", he later said that he inherited his father's "proud rebelliousness" and "stubborn sense of fairness".[14]
His mother took Mandela to the "Great Place" palace at Mqhekezweni, where he was entrusted under the guardianship of Thembu regent,
Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Although he would not see his mother again
for many years, Mandela felt that Jongintaba and his wife Noengland
treated him as their own child, raising him alongside their son Justice
and daughter Nomafu.[15] As Mandela attended church services every Sunday with his guardians, Christianity became a significant part of his life.[16] He attended a Methodist mission school located next to the palace, studying English, Xhosa, history and geography.[17]
He developed a love of African history, listening to the tales told by
elderly visitors to the palace, and becoming influenced by the
anti-imperialist rhetoric of Chief Joyi.[18] At the time he nevertheless considered the European colonialists as benefactors, not oppressors.[19] Aged 16, he, Justice and several other boys travelled to Tyhalarha to undergo the circumcision ritual that symbolically marked their transition from boys to men; the rite over, he was given the name "Dalibunga".[20]
Clarkebury, Healdtown and Fort Hare: 1936–1940
Mandela, around 1937
Intending to gain skills needed to become a privy councillor for the
Thembu royal house, Mandela began his secondary education at Clarkebury
Boarding Institute in Engcobo, a Western-style institution that was the largest school for black Africans in Thembuland.[21]
Made to socialise with other students on an equal basis, he claimed
that he lost his "stuck up" attitude, becoming best friends with a girl
for the first time; he began playing sports and developed his lifelong
love of gardening.[22] Completing his Junior Certificate in two years,[23] in 1937 he moved to Healdtown, the Methodist college in Fort Beaufort attended by most Thembu royalty, including Justice.[24]
The headmaster emphasised the superiority of English culture and
government, but Mandela became increasingly interested in native African
culture, making his first non-Xhosa friend, a Sotho language-speaker, and coming under the influence of one of his favourite teachers, a Xhosa who broke taboo by marrying a Sotho.[25] Spending much of his spare time long-distance running and boxing, in his second year Mandela became a prefect.[26]
With Jongintaba's backing, Mandela began work on a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree at the University of Fort Hare, an elite black institution in Alice, Eastern Cape with around 150 students. There he studied English, anthropology, politics, native administration and Roman Dutch law in his first year, desiring to become an interpreter or clerk in the Native Affairs Department.[27] Mandela stayed in the Wesley House dormitory, befriending Oliver Tambo and his own kinsman, K.D. Matanzima.[28] Continuing his interest in sport, Mandela took up ballroom dancing,[29] and performed in a drama society play about Abraham Lincoln.[30] A member of the Students Christian Association, he gave Bible classes in the local community,[31] and became a vocal supporter of the British war effort when the Second World War broke out.[32] Although having friends connected to the African National Congress (ANC) and the anti-imperialist movement, Mandela avoided any involvement.[33] Helping found a first-year students' House Committee which challenged the dominance of the second-years,[34] at the end of his first year he became involved in a Students' Representative Council
(SRC) boycott against the quality of food, for which he was temporarily
suspended from the university; he left without receiving a degree.[35]
Arriving in Johannesburg: 1941–1943
Returning to Mqhekezweni in December 1940, Mandela found that Jongintaba had arranged marriages for him and Justice; dismayed, they fled to Johannesburg via Queenstown, arriving in April 1941.[36]
Mandela found work as a night watchman at Crown Mines, his "first sight
of South African capitalism in action", but was fired when the induna (headman) discovered he was a runaway.[37] Staying with a cousin in George Goch Township, Mandela was introduced to the realtor and ANC activist Walter Sisulu, who secured him a job as an articled clerk
at law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman. The company was run by a
liberal Jew, Lazar Sidelsky, who was sympathetic to the ANC's cause.[38] At the firm, Mandela befriended Gaur Redebe, a Xhosa member of the ANC and Communist Party, as well as Nat Bregman, a Jewish communist who became his first white friend.[39] Attending communist talks and parties, Mandela was impressed that Europeans, Africans, Indians and Coloureds
were mixing as equals. However, he stated later that he did not join
the Party because its atheism conflicted with his Christian faith, and
because he saw the South African struggle as being racially based rather
than class warfare.[40] Becoming increasingly politicised, in August 1943 Mandela marched in support of a successful bus boycott to reverse fare rises.[41] Continuing his higher education, Mandela signed up to a University of South Africa correspondence course, working on his bachelor's degree at night.[42]
Earning a small wage, Mandela rented a room in the house of the Xhoma family in the Alexandra township; although rife with poverty, crime and pollution, Alexandra always remained "a treasured place" for him.[43] Although embarrassed by his poverty, he briefly courted a Swazi woman before unsuccessfully courting his landlord's daughter.[44] In order to save money and be closer to downtown Johannesburg, Mandela moved into the compound of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association,
living among miners of various tribes; as the compound was a "way
station for visiting chiefs", he once met the Queen Regent of Basutoland.[45]
In late 1941, Jongintaba visited, forgiving Mandela for running away.
On returning to Thembuland, the regent died in winter 1942; Mandela and
Justice arrived a day late for the funeral.[46]
After passing his BA exams in early 1943, Mandela returned to
Johannesburg to follow a political path as a lawyer rather than become a
privy councillor in Thembuland.[47] He later stated that he experienced no epiphany, but that he "simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise."[48]
Revolutionary activity
Law studies and the ANC Youth League: 1943–1949
Beginning law studies at the University of Witwatersrand,
Mandela was the only native African student, and though facing racism,
he befriended a number of liberal and communist European, Jewish, and
Indian students, among them Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First.[49] Joining the ANC, Mandela was increasingly influenced by Sisulu, spending much time with other activists at Sisulu's Orlando house, including old friend Oliver Tambo.[50] In 1943, Mandela met Anton Lembede, an African nationalist virulently opposed to a racially united front against colonialism and imperialism or to an alliance with the communists.[51]
Despite his friendships with non-blacks and communists, Mandela
supported Lembede's views, believing that black Africans should be
entirely independent in their struggle for political self-determination.[52]
Deciding on the need for a youth wing to mass mobilise Africans in
opposition to their subjugation, Mandela was among a delegation that
approached ANC President Alfred Bitini Xuma on the subject at his home in Sophiatown; the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was founded on Easter Sunday 1944 in the Bantu Men's Social Centre in Eloff Street, with Lembede as President and Mandela as a member of the executive committee.[53]
Mandela and Evelyn in 1944
At Sisulu's house, Mandela met Evelyn Mase, an ANC activist from Engcobo, Transkei,
who was training at the time to become a nurse. Married on 5 October
1944, after initially living with her relatives, they rented House no.
8115 in Orlando from early 1946.[54]
Their first child, Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile, was born in February
1946, while a daughter named Makaziwe was born in 1947, dying nine
months later of meningitis.[55] Mandela enjoyed home life, welcoming his mother and sister Leabie to stay with him.[56]
In early 1947, his three years of articles ended at Witkin, Sidelsky
and Eidelman, and he decided to become a full-time student, subsisting
on loans from the Bantu Welfare Trust.[57]
In July 1947, Mandela rushed Lembede to hospital, where he died; he
was succeeded as ANCYL president by the more moderate Peter Mda, who
agreed to co-operate with communists and non-blacks, appointing Mandela
ANCYL secretary.[58]
Mandela disagreed with Mda's approach, in December 1947 supporting an
unsuccessful measure to expel communists from the ANCYL, considering
their ideology un-African.[59]
In 1947, Mandela was elected to the executive committee of the
Transvaal ANC, serving under regional president C.S. Ramohanoe. When
Ramohanoe acted against the wishes of the Transvaal Executive Committee
by co-operating with Indians and communists, Mandela was one of those
who forced his resignation.[60]
In the South African general election, 1948, in which only whites were permitted to vote, the Afrikaner-dominated Herenigde Nasionale Party under Daniel François Malan took power, soon uniting with the Afrikaner Party to form the National Party. Openly racialist, the party codified and expanded racial segregation with the new apartheid legislation.[61]
Gaining increasing influence in the ANC, Mandela and his cadres began
advocating direct action against apartheid, such as boycotts and
strikes, influenced by the tactics of South Africa's Indian community.
Xuma did not support these measures and was removed from the presidency
in a vote of no confidence, replaced by James Moroka
and a more militant cabinet containing Sisulu, Mda, Tambo and Godfrey
Pitje; Mandela later related that "We had now guided the ANC to a more
radical and revolutionary path."[62]
Having devoted his time to politics, Mandela failed his final year at
Witwatersrand three times; he was ultimately denied his degree in
December 1949.[63]
Defiance Campaign and Transvaal ANC Presidency: 1950–1954
The tri-colour flag of the African National Congress
Mandela took Xuma's place on the ANC National Executive in March 1950.[64]
That month, the Defend Free Speech Convention was held in Johannesburg,
bringing together African, Indian and communist activists to call an
anti-apartheid general strike. Mandela opposed the strike because it was
not ANC-led, but a majority of black workers took part, resulting in
increased police repression and the introduction of the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, affecting the actions of all protest groups.[65]
In 1950, Mandela was elected national president of the ANCYL; at the
ANC national conference of December 1951, he continued arguing against a
racially united front, but was outvoted.[66] Thenceforth, he altered his entire perspective, embracing such an approach; influenced by friends like Moses Kotane and by the Soviet Union's support for wars of independence, Mandela's mistrust of communism also broke down. He became influenced by the texts of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, and embraced dialectical materialism.[67] In April 1952, Mandela began work at the H.M. Basner law firm,[68] though his increasing commitment to work and activism meant he spent less time with his family.[69]
In 1952, the ANC began preparation for a joint Defiance Campaign
against apartheid with Indian and communist groups, founding a National
Voluntary Board to recruit volunteers. Deciding on a path of nonviolent resistance influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, some considered it the ethical option, but Mandela instead considered it pragmatic.[70] At a Durban
rally on 22 June, Mandela addressed an assembled crowd of 10,000,
initiating the campaign protests, for which he was arrested and briefly
interned in Marshall Square prison.[71]
With further protests, the ANC's membership grew from 20,000 to
100,000; the government responded with mass arrests, introducing the Public Safety Act, 1953 to permit martial law.[72] In May, authorities banned Transvaal ANU President J. B. Marks
from making public appearances; unable to maintain his position, he
recommended Mandela as his successor. Although the ultra-Africanist
Bafabegiya group opposed his candidacy, Mandela was elected regional
president in October.[73]
In the early 1950s, Mandela was influenced by left-wing, anti-colonialist thought, including figures like Karl Marx (pictured).
On 30 July 1952, Mandela was arrested under the Suppression of
Communism Act and stood trial as a part of the 21 accused – among them
Moroka, Sisulu and Dadoo – in Johannesburg. Found guilty of "statutory
communism", their sentence of nine months' hard labour was suspended for two years.[74]
In December, Mandela was given a six-month ban from attending meetings
or talking to more than one individual at a time, making his Transvaal
ANU presidency impractical. The Defiance Campaign meanwhile petered out.[75]
In September 1953, Andrew Kunene read out Mandela's "No Easy Walk to
Freedom" speech at a Transvaal ANC meeting; the title was taken from a
quote by Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru,
a seminal influence on Mandela's thought. The speech laid out a
contingency plan for a scenario in which the ANC was banned. This
Mandela Plan, or M-Plan, involved dividing the organisation into a cell structure with a more centralised leadership.[76]
Mandela obtained work as an attorney for the firm Terblanche and
Briggish, before moving to the liberal-run Helman and Michel, passing
qualification exams to become a full-fledged attorney.[77] In August 1953, Mandela and Oliver Tambo opened their own law firm, Mandela and Tambo,
operating in downtown Johannesburg. The only African-run law firm in
the country, it was popular with aggrieved blacks, often dealing with
cases of police brutality. Disliked by the authorities, the firm was
forced to relocate to a remote location after their office permit was
removed under the Group Areas Act; as a result, their custom dwindled.[78]
Though a second daughter, Makaziwe Phumia, was born in May 1954,
Mandela's relationship with Evelyn became strained, and she accused him
of adultery. Evidence has emerged indicating that he was having affairs
with ANC member Lillian Ngoyi
and secretary Ruth Mompati; persistent but unproven claims assert that
the latter bore Mandela a child. Disgusted by her son's behaviour,
Nosekeni returned to Transkei, while Evelyn embraced the Jehovah's Witnesses and rejected Mandela's obsession with politics.[79]
Congress of the People and the Treason Trial: 1955–1961
"We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:
That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and
that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the
will of the people."
Mandela came to the opinion that the ANC "had no alternative to armed
and violent resistance" after taking part in the unsuccessful protest
to prevent the demolition of the all-black Sophiatown suburb of
Johannesburg in February 1955.[81]
He advised Sisulu to request weaponry from the People's Republic of
China, but while supporting the anti-apartheid struggle, China's
government believed the movement insufficiently prepared for guerilla warfare.[82] With the involvement of the South African Indian Congress, the Coloured People's Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions and the Congress of Democrats, the ANC planned a Congress of the People,
calling on all South Africans to send in proposals for a post-apartheid
era. Based on the responses, a Freedom Charter was drafted by Rusty Bernstein, calling for the creation of a democratic, non-racialist state with the nationalisation of major industry. When the charter was adopted at a June 1955 conference in Kliptown attended by 3000 delegates, police cracked down on the event, but it remained a key part of Mandela's ideology.[83]
Following the end of a second ban in September 1955, Mandela went on a
working holiday to Transkei to discuss the implications of the Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 with local tribal leaders, also visiting his mother and Noengland before proceeding to Cape Town.[84]
In March 1956 he received his third ban on public appearances,
restricting him to Johannesburg for five years, but he often defied it.[85]
His marriage broke down as Evelyn left Mandela, taking their children
to live with her brother. Initiating divorce proceedings in May 1956,
she claimed that Mandela had physically abused her; he denied the
allegations, and fought for custody of their children. She withdrew her
petition of separation in November, but Mandela filed for divorce in
January 1958; the divorce was finalised in March, with the children
placed in Evelyn's care.[86] During the divorce proceedings, he began courting and politicising a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, who he married in Bizana on 14 June 1958. She later became involved in ANC activities, spending several weeks imprisoned.[87]
The apartheid system pervaded all areas of life.
On 5 December 1956, Mandela was arrested alongside most of the ANC
Executive for "high treason" against the state. Held in Johannesburg
Prison amid mass protests, they underwent a preparatory examination in
Drill Hall on 19 December, before being granted bail.[88] The defence's refutation began on 9 January 1957, overseen by defence lawyer Vernon Berrangé, and continued until adjourning in September. In January 1958, judge Oswald Pirow
was appointed to the case, and in February he ruled that there was
"sufficient reason" for the defendants to go on trial in the Transvaal
Supreme Court.[89] The formal Treason Trial began in Pretoria
in August 1958, with the defendants successfully applying to have the
three judges – all linked to the governing National Party – replaced. In
August, one charge was dropped, and in October the prosecution withdrew
its indictment, submitting a reformulated version in November which
argued that the ANC leadership committed high treason by advocating
violent revolution, a charge the defendants denied.[90]
In April 1959, militant Africanists dissatisfied with the ANC's united front approach founded the Pan-African Congress (PAC); Mandela's friend Robert Sobukwe was elected president, though Mandela thought the group "immature".[91]
Both parties campaigned for an anti-pass campaign in May 1960, in which
Africans burned the passes that they were legally obliged to carry. One
of the PAC-organized demonstrations was fired upon by police, resulting
in the deaths of 69 protesters in the Sharpeville massacre.
In solidarity, Mandela publicly burned his pass as rioting broke out
across South Africa, leading the government to proclaim martial law.[92]
Under the State of Emergency measures, Mandela and other activists were
arrested on 30 March, imprisoned without charge in the unsanitary
conditions of the Pretoria Local prison, while the ANC and PAC were
banned in April.[93]
This made it difficult for their lawyers to reach them, and it was
agreed that the defence team for the Treason Trial should withdraw in
protest. Representing themselves in court, the accused were freed from
prison when the state of emergency was lifted in late August.[94] Mandela used his free time to organise an All-In African Conference near Pietermaritzburg, Natal,
in March, at which 1,400 anti-apartheid delegates met, agreeing on a
stay-at home protest to mark 31 May, the day South Africa became a
republic.[95] On 29 March 1961, after a six-year trial, the judges produced a verdict of not guilty, embarrassing the government.[96]
Umkhonto we Sizwe and African tour: 1961–1962
The thatched room at Liliesleaf Farm, where Mandela hid
Disguising himself as a chauffeur, Mandela travelled the country
incognito, organising the ANC's new cell structure and a mass
stay-at-home strike for 29 May. Referred to as the "Black Pimpernel" in
the press – a reference to Emma Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel – the police put out a warrant for his arrest.[97]
Mandela held secret meetings with reporters, and after the government
failed to prevent the strike, he warned them that many anti-apartheid
activists would soon resort to violence through groups like the PAC's Poqo.[98] He believed that the ANC should form an armed group to channel some of this violence, convincing both ANC leader Albert Luthuli – who was morally opposed to violence – and allied activist groups of its necessity.[99]
Inspired by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the Cuban Revolution, in 1961 Mandela co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation", abbreviated MK)
with Sisulu and the communist Joe Slovo. Becoming chairman of the
militant group, he gained ideas from illegal literature on guerilla
warfare by Mao and Che Guevara. Officially separate from the ANC, in later years MK became the group's armed wing.[100] Most early MK members were white communists; after hiding in communist Wolfie Kodesh's flat in Berea, Mandela moved to the communist-owned Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, there joined by Raymond Mhlaba, Slovo and Bernstein, who put together the MK constitution.[101]
Although Mandela himself denied ever being a Communist Party member,
historical research has suggested that he might have been for a short
period, starting from the late 1950s or early 1960s.[102]
Operating through a cell structure, the MK agreed to acts of sabotage
to exert maximum pressure on the government with minimum casualties,
bombing military installations, power plants, telephone lines and
transport links at night, when civilians were not present. Mandela noted
that should these tactics fail, MK would resort to "guerilla warfare
and terrorism."[103] Soon after ANC leader Luthuli was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the MK publicly announced its existence with 57 bombings on Dingane's Day (16 December) 1961, followed by further attacks on New Year's Eve.[104]
The ANC agreed to send Mandela as a delegate to the February 1962
Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and Southern Africa
(PAFMECSA) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[105] Traveling there in secret, Mandela met with Emperor Haile Selassie I, and gave his speech after Selaisse's at the conference.[106] After the conference, he travelled to Cairo, Egypt, admiring the political reforms of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and then went to Tunis, Tunisia, where President Habib Bourguiba
gave him £5000 for weaponry. He proceeded to Morocco, Mali, Guinea,
Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal, receiving funds from Liberian
President William Tubman and Guinean President Ahmed Sékou Touré.[107] Leaving Africa for London, England, he met anti-apartheid activists, reporters and prominent leftist politicians.[108]
Returning to Ethiopia, he began a six-month course in guerrilla
warfare, but completed only two months before being recalled to South
Africa.[109]
Imprisonment
Arrest and Rivonia trial: 1962–1964
Monument erected in 1996 marking the site where Mandela was arrested near Howick, KwaZulu-Natal
On 5 August 1962, police captured Mandela along with Cecil Williams near Howick.[110]
Jailed in Johannesburg's Marshall Square prison, he was charged with
inciting workers' strikes and leaving the country without permission.
Representing himself with Slovo as legal advisor, Mandela intended to
use the trial to showcase "the ANC's moral opposition to racism" while
supporters demonstrated outside the court.[111] Moved to Pretoria, where Winnie could visit him, in his cell he began correspondence studies for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of London.[112] His hearing began on 15 October, but he disrupted proceedings by wearing a traditional kaross,
refusing to call any witnesses, and turning his plea of mitigation into
a political speech. Found guilty, he was sentenced to five years'
imprisonment; as he left the courtroom, supporters sang Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika.[113]
"In a way I had never quite comprehended before, I realized the role I
could play in court and the possibilities before me as a defendant. I
was the symbol of justice in the court of the oppressor, the
representative of the great ideals of freedom, fairness and democracy in
a society that dishonoured those virtues. I realized then and there
that I could carry on the fight even in the fortress of the enemy."
On 11 July 1963, police raided Liliesleaf Farm, arresting those they
found there and uncovering paperwork documenting MK's activities, some
of which mentioned Mandela. The subsequent Rivonia Trial began at Pretoria Supreme Court
on 9 October, with Mandela and his comrades charged with four counts of
sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government. Their
chief prosecutor was Percy Yutar, who called for them to receive the death penalty.[115] Judge Quartus de Wet
soon threw out the prosecution's case for insufficient evidence, but
Yutar reformulated the charges, presenting his new case from December
until February 1964, calling 173 witnesses and bringing thousands of
documents and photographs to the trial.[116]
With the exception of James Kantor,
who was innocent of all charges, Mandela and the accused admitted
sabotage but denied that they had ever agreed to initiate guerilla war
against the government. They used the trial to highlight their political
cause; one of Mandela's speeches – inspired by Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech – was widely reported in the press despite official censorship.[117]
The trial gained international attention, with global calls for the
release of the accused from such institutions as the United Nations and World Peace Council. The University of London Union voted Mandela to its presidency, and nightly vigils for him were held in St. Paul's Cathedral, London.[118]
However, deeming them to be violent communist agitators, South Africa's
government ignored all calls for clemency, and on 12 June 1964 de Wet
found Mandela and two of his co-accused guilty on all four charges,
sentencing them to life imprisonment rather than death.[119]
Robben Island: 1962–1982
The lime quarry at Robben Island
Mandela and his co-accused were transferred from Pretoria to the prison on Robben Island, remaining there for the next 18 years.[120]
Isolated from non-political prisoners in Section B, Mandela was
imprisoned in a damp concrete cell measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) by 7 feet
(2.1 m), with a straw mat on which to sleep.[121]
Verbally and physically harassed by several white prison wardens, the
Rivonia Trial prisoners spent their days breaking rocks into gravel,
until being reassigned in January 1965 to work in a lime quarry. Mandela
was initially forbidden to wear sunglasses, and the glare from the lime
permanently damaged his eyesight.[122] At night, he worked on his LLB degree, but newspapers were forbidden, and he was locked in solitary confinement on several occasions for possessing smuggled news clippings.[123]
Classified as the lowest grade of prisoner, Class D, he was permitted
one visit and one letter every six months, although all mail was heavily
censored.[124]
The political prisoners took part in work and hunger strikes
– the latter considered largely ineffective by Mandela – to improve
prison conditions, viewing this as a microcosm of the anti-apartheid
struggle.[125] ANC prisoners elected him to their four-man "High Organ" along with Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Raymond Mhlaba,
while he also involved himself in a group representing all political
prisoners on the island, Ulundi, through which he forged links with PAC
and Yu Chi Chan Club members.[126]
Initiating the "University of Robben Island," whereby prisoners
lectured on their own areas of expertise, he debated topics such as
homosexuality and politics with his comrades, getting into fierce
arguments on the latter with Marxists like Mbeki and Harry Gwala.[127] Though attending Christian Sunday services, Mandela studied Islam.[128] He also studied Afrikaans, hoping to build a mutual respect with the warders and convert them to his cause.[129] Various official visitors met with Mandela; most significant was the liberal parliamentary representative Helen Suzman of the Progressive Party, who championed Mandela's cause outside prison.[130] In September 1970 he met British Labour PartyMPDennis Healey.[131] South African Minister of Justice Jimmy Kruger visited in December 1974, but he and Mandela did not get on.[132]
His mother visited in 1968, dying shortly after, and his firstborn son
Thembi died in a car accident the following year; Mandela was forbidden
from attending either funeral.[133]
His wife was rarely able to visit, being regularly imprisoned for
political activity, while his daughters first visited in December 1975;
Winnie got out of prison in 1977 but was forcibly settled in Brandfort, still unable to visit him.[134]
Mandela's cell and the prison yard at Robben Island, where he was imprisoned
From 1967, prison conditions improved, with black prisoners given
trousers rather than shorts, games being permitted, and food quality
improving.[135]
In 1969, an escape plan for Mandela was developed by Gordon Bruce, but
it was abandoned after being infiltrated by an agent of the South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS), who hoped to see Mandela shot during the escape.[136]
In 1970, Commander Piet Badenhorst became commanding officer. Mandela,
seeing an increase in the physical and mental abuse of prisoners,
complained to visiting judges, who had Badenhorst reassigned.[137]
He was replaced by Commander Willie Willemse, who developed a
co-operative relationship with Mandela and was keen to improve prison
standards.[138] By 1975, Mandela had become a Class A prisoner,[139] allowing greater numbers of visits and letters; he corresponded with anti-apartheid activists like Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Desmond Tutu.[140]
That year, he began his autobiography, which was smuggled to London,
but remained unpublished at the time; prison authorities discovered
several pages, and his study privileges were stopped for four years.[141] Instead he devoted his spare time to gardening and reading until he resumed his LLB degree studies in 1980.[142]
By the late 1960s, Mandela's fame had been eclipsed by Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). Seeing the ANC as ineffectual, the BCM called for militant action, but following the Soweto uprising of 1976, many BCM activists were imprisoned on Robben Island.[143]
Mandela tried to build a relationship with these young radicals,
although he was critical of their racialism and contempt for white
anti-apartheid activists.[144] Renewed international interest in his plight came in July 1978, when he celebrated his 60th birthday.[145] He was awarded an honorary doctorate in Lesotho, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in India in 1979, and the Freedom of the City of Glasgow, Scotland in 1981.[146][147][148] In March 1980 the slogan "Free Mandela!" was developed by journalist Percy Qoboza, sparking an international campaign that led the UN Security Council to call for his release.[149] Despite increasing foreign pressure, the government refused, relying on powerful foreign Cold War allies in US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Thatcher considered Mandela a communist terrorist and supported the suppression of the ANC.[150]
Pollsmoor Prison: 1982–1988
In April 1982 Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town along with senior ANC leaders Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond Mhlaba; they believed that they were being isolated to remove their influence on younger activists.[151] Conditions at Pollsmoor were better than at Robben Island, although Mandela missed the camaraderie and scenery of the island.[152] Getting on well with Pollsmoor's commanding officer, Brigadier Munro, Mandela was permitted to create a roof garden,[153] also reading voraciously and corresponding widely, now permitted 52 letters a year.[154] He was appointed patron of the multi-racial United Democratic Front (UDF), founded to combat reforms implemented by South African President P.W. Botha.
Botha's National Party government had permitted Coloured and Indian
citizens to vote for their own parliaments which would have control over
education, health, and housing, but black Africans were excluded from
the system; like Mandela, the UDF saw this as an attempt to divide the
anti-apartheid movement on racial lines.[155]
Violence across the country escalated, with many fearing civil war.
Under pressure from an international lobby, multinational banks stopped
investing in South Africa, resulting in economic stagnation. Numerous
banks and Thatcher asked Botha to release Mandela – then at the height
of his international fame – to defuse the volatile situation.[156] Although considering Mandela a dangerous "arch-Marxist",[157]
in February 1985 Botha offered him a release from prison on condition
that he '"unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon".
Mandela spurned the offer, releasing a statement through his daughter
Zindzi stating "What freedom am I being offered while the organisation
of the people [ANC] remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A
prisoner cannot enter into contracts."[158]
In 1985 Mandela underwent surgery on an enlarged prostate gland, before being given new solitary quarters on the ground floor.[159]
He was met by "seven eminent persons", an international delegation sent
to negotiate a settlement, but Botha's government refused to
co-operate, in June calling a state of emergency and initiating a police
crackdown on unrest. The anti-apartheid resistance fought back, with
the ANC committing 231 attacks in 1986 and 235 in 1987. Utilising the
army and right-wing paramilitaries to combat the resistance, the
government secretly funded Zulu nationalist movement Inkatha to attack ANC members, furthering the violence.[160] Mandela requested talks with Botha but was denied, instead secretly meeting with Minister of Justice Kobie Coetsee
in 1987, having a further 11 meetings over 3 years. Coetsee organised
negotiations between Mandela and a team of four government figures
starting in May 1988; the team agreed to the release of political
prisoners and the legalisation of the ANC on the condition that they
permanently renounce violence, break links with the Communist Party and
not insist on majority rule.
Mandela rejected these conditions, insisting that the ANC would only
end the armed struggle when the government renounced violence.[161]
Mandela's 70th birthday in July 1988 attracted international attention, with the BBC organising the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute music gig at London's Wembley Stadium.[162]
Although presented globally as a heroic figure, he faced personal
problems when ANC leaders informed him that Winnie had set herself up as
head of a criminal gang, the "Mandela United Football Club", who had
been responsible for torturing and killing opponents – including
children – in Soweto. Though some encouraged him to divorce her, he
decided to remain loyal until she was found guilty by trial.[163]
Victor Verster Prison and release: 1988–1990
Mandela on a 1988 Soviet commemorative stamp
Recovering from tuberculosis caused by dank conditions in his cell,[164] in December 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl.
Here, he was housed in the relative comfort of a warders house with a
personal cook, using the time to complete his LLB degree.[165] Allowed many visitors, Mandela organised secret communications with exiled ANC leader Oliver Tambo.[166]
In 1989, Botha suffered a stroke, retaining the state presidency but
stepping down as leader of the National Party, to be replaced by the
conservative F. W. de Klerk.[167] In a surprise move, Botha invited Mandela to a meeting over tea in July 1989, an invitation Mandela considered genial.[168]
Botha was replaced as state president by de Klerk six weeks later; the
new president believed that apartheid was unsustainable and
unconditionally released all ANC prisoners except Mandela.[169] Following the fall of the Berlin Wall
in November 1989, de Klerk called his cabinet together to debate
legalising the ANC and freeing Mandela. Although some were deeply
opposed to his plans, de Klerk met with Mandela in December to discuss
the situation, a meeting both men considered friendly, before releasing
Mandela unconditionally and legalising all formerly banned political
parties on 2 February 1990.[170]
The government published a photograph of Mandela meeting with de Klerk
in Cape Town, the first photograph of Mandela published in over 20
years.[171][172][173]
Leaving Victor Verster on 11 February, Mandela held Winnie's hand in
front of amassed crowds and press; the event was broadcast live across
the world.[174] Driven to Cape Town's City Hall
through crowds, he gave a speech declaring his commitment to peace and
reconciliation with the white minority, but made it clear that the ANC's
armed struggle was not over, and would continue as "a purely defensive
action against the violence of apartheid." He expressed hope that the
government would agree to negotiations, so that "there may no longer be
the need for the armed struggle", and insisted that his main focus was
to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in
national and local elections.[175] Staying at the home of Desmond Tutu, in the following days, Mandela met with friends, activists, and press, giving a speech to 100,000 people at Johannesburg's Soccer City.[176]
Shell House in Johannesburg, which became ANC headquarters in 1991
Mandela proceeded on an African tour, meeting supporters and
politicians in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Libya and Algeria, continuing
to Sweden where he was reunited with Tambo, and then London, where he
appeared at the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert in Wembley Stadium.[177] Encouraging foreign countries to support sanctions against the apartheid government, in France he was welcomed by President François Mitterrand, in the Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, and in England he met Margaret Thatcher. In the United States, he met President George H.W. Bush, addressed both Houses of Congress and visited eight cities, being particularly popular among the African-American community.[178] In Cuba he met President Fidel Castro, whom he had long emulated, with the two becoming friends.[179] In Asia he met President R. Venkataraman in India, President Suharto in Indonesia and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia, before visiting Australia to meet Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Japan; he notably did not visit the Soviet Union, a longtime ANC supporter.[180]
In May 1990, Mandela led a multiracial ANC delegation into
preliminary negotiations with a government delegation of 11 Afrikaner
men. Mandela impressed them with his discussions of Afrikaner history,
and the negotiations led to the Groot Schuur Minute, in which the
government lifted the state of emergency. In August Mandela –
recognising the ANC's severe military disadvantage – offered a
ceasefire, the Pretoria Minute, for which he was widely criticised by MK
activists.[181]
He spent much time trying to unify and build the ANC, appearing at a
Johannesburg conference in December attended by 1600 delegates, many of
whom found him more moderate than expected.[182]
At the ANC's July 1991 national conference in Durban, Mandela admitted
the party's faults and announced his aim in building a "strong and
well-oiled task force" for securing majority rule. At the conference, he
was elected ANC President, replacing the ailing Tambo, while a
50-strong multiracial, multi-gendered national executive was elected.[183]
Mandela was given an office in the newly purchased ANC headquarters at Shell House, central Johannesburg, while moving with Winnie to her large Soweto home.[184] Their marriage was increasingly strained as he learned of her affair with Dali Mpofu, but he supported her during her trial for kidnap and assault. He gained funding for her defence from the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa and from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,
but in June 1991 she was found guilty and sentenced to six years,
reduced to two on appeal. On 13 April 1992, Mandela publicly announced
his separation from Winnie, while the ANC forced her to step down from
the national executive for misappropriating ANC funds; Mandela moved
into the mostly white Johannesburg suburb of Houghton.[185]
Mandela's reputation was further damaged by the increase in
"black-on-black" violence, particularly between ANC and Inkatha
supporters in KwaZulu-Natal,
in which thousands died. Mandela met with Inkatha leader Buthelezi, but
the ANC prevented further negotiations on the issue. Mandela recognised
that there was a "third force"
within the state intelligence services fuelling the "slaughter of the
people" and openly blamed de Klerk – whom he increasingly distrusted –
for the Sebokeng massacre.[186]
In September 1991 a national peace conference was held in Johannesburg
in which Mandela, Buthelezi and de Klerk signed a peace accord, though
the violence continued.[187]
The CODESA talks: 1991–1992
The Convention for a Democratic South Africa
(CODESA) began in December 1991 at the Johannesburg World Trade Center,
attended by 228 delegates from 19 political parties. Although Cyril Ramaphosa
led the ANC's delegation, Mandela remained a key figure, and after de
Klerk used the closing speech to condemn the ANC's violence, he took to
the stage to denounce him as "head of an illegitimate, discredited
minority regime". Dominated by the National Party and ANC, little
negotiation was achieved.[188] CODESA 2 was held in May 1992, in which de Klerk insisted that post-apartheid South Africa must use a federal system with a rotating presidency to ensure the protection of ethnic minorities; Mandela opposed this, demanding a unitary system governed by majority rule.[189] Following the Boipatong massacre of ANC activists by government-aided Inkatha militants, Mandela called off the negotiations, before attending a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Senegal, at which he called for a special session of the UN Security Council and proposed that a UN peacekeeping force be stationed in South Africa to prevent "state terrorism". The UN subsequently sent special envoy Cyrus Vance to the country to aid negotiations.[190]
Calling for domestic mass action, in August the ANC organised the
largest-ever strike in South African history, while supporters marched
on Pretoria.[191]
De Klerk and Mandela shake hands at the World Economic Forum, 1992
Following the Bisho massacre, in which 28 ANC supporters and one soldier were shot dead by the Ciskei Defence Force
during a protest march, Mandela realised that mass action was leading
to further violence and resumed negotiations in September. He agreed to
do so on the conditions that all political prisoners be released, that
Zulu traditional weapons be banned, and that Zulu hostels would be
fenced off, the latter two measures to prevent further Inkatha attacks;
under increasing pressure, de Klerk reluctantly agreed. The negotiations
agreed that a multiracial general election would be held, resulting in a
five-year coalition government of national unity
and a constitutional assembly that gave the National Party continuing
influence. The ANC also conceded to safeguarding the jobs of white civil
servants; such concessions brought fierce internal criticism.[192] The duo agreed on an interim constitution, guaranteeing separation of powers, creating a constitutional court, and including a US-style bill of rights;
it also divided the country into nine provinces, each with its own
premier and civil service, a concession between de Klerk's desire for federalism and Mandela's for unitary government.[193]
The democratic process was threatened by the Concerned South Africans
Group (COSAG), an alliance of far-right Afrikaner parties and black
ethnic-secessionist groups like Inkatha; in June 1993 the white
supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) attacked the Kempton Park World Trade Centre.[194] Following the murder of ANC leader Chris Hani,
Mandela made a publicised speech to calm rioting, soon after appearing
at a mass funeral in Soweto for Tambo, who had died from a stroke.[195] In July 1993, both Mandela and de Klerk visited the US, independently meeting President Bill Clinton and each receiving the Liberty Medal.[196] Soon after, they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.[197] Influenced by young ANC leader Thabo Mbeki,
Mandela began meeting with big business figures, and played down his
support for nationalisation, fearing that he would scare away
much-needed foreign investment. Although criticised by socialist ANC
members, he was encouraged to embrace private enterprise by members of
the Chinese and Vietnamese Communist parties at the January 1992 World Economic Forum in Switzerland.[198] Mandela also made a cameo appearance as a schoolteacher reciting one of Malcolm X's speeches in the final scene of the 1992 film Malcolm X.[199]
With the election set for 27 April 1994, the ANC began campaigning, opening 100 election offices and hiring advisor Stanley Greenberg.
Greenberg orchestrated the foundation of People's Forums across the
country, at which Mandela could appear; though a poor public speaker, he
was a popular figure with great status among black South Africans.[200] The ANC campaigned on a Reconstruction and Development Programme
(RDP) to build a million houses in five years, introduce universal free
education and extend access to water and electricity. The party's
slogan was "a better life for all", although it was not explained how
this development would be funded.[201] With the exception of the Weekly Mail and the New Nation, South Africa's press opposed Mandela's election, fearing continued ethnic strife, instead supporting the National or Democratic Party.[202]
Mandela devoted much time to fundraising for the ANC, touring North
America, Europe and Asia to meet wealthy donors, including former
supporters of the apartheid regime.[203] He also urged a reduction in the voting age from 18 to 14; rejected by the ANC, this policy became the subject of ridicule.[204]
Concerned that COSAG would undermine the election, particularly in the wake of the Battle of Bop and Shell House Massacre
– incidents of violence involving the AWB and Inkatha, respectively –
Mandela met with Afrikaner politicians and generals, including P.W.
Botha, Pik Botha and Constand Viljoen,
persuading many to work within the democratic system, and with de Klerk
convinced Inkatha's Buthelezi to enter the elections rather than launch
a war of secession.[205]
As leaders of the two major parties, de Klerk and Mandela appeared on a
televised debate; although de Klerk was widely considered the better
speaker at the event, Mandela's offer to shake his hand surprised him,
leading some commentators to consider it a victory for Mandela.[206] The election went ahead with little violence, although an AWB cell killed 20 with car bombs. Mandela voted at the Ohlange High School
in Durban, and though he was elected President, he publicly accepted
that the election had been marred by instances of fraud and sabotage.[207]
Having taken 62% of the national vote, the ANC was just short of the
two-thirds majority needed to unilaterally change the constitution. The
ANC was also victorious in 7 provinces, with Inkatha and the National
Party each taking another.[208]
Mandela's inauguration took place in Pretoria on 10 May 1994,
televised to a billion viewers globally. The event was attended by 4000
guests, including world leaders from disparate backgrounds.[209] South Africa's first black President, Mandela became head of a Government of National Unity
dominated by the ANC – which alone had no experience of governance –
but containing representatives from the National Party and Inkatha. In
keeping with earlier agreements, de Klerk became first Deputy President, while Thabo Mbeki was selected as second.[210]
Although Mbeki had not been his first choice for the job, Mandela would
grow to rely heavily on him throughout his presidency, allowing him to
organise policy details.[211] Moving into the presidential office at Tuynhuys in Cape Town, Mandela allowed de Klerk to retain the presidential residence in the Groote Schuur estate, instead settling into the nearby Westbrooke manor, which he renamed "Genadendal", meaning "Valley of Mercy" in Afrikaans.[212]
Retaining his Houghton home, he also had a house built in his home
village of Qunu, which he visited regularly, walking around the area,
meeting with locals, and judging tribal disputes.[213]
Mandela moved into the Presidential Office of Tuynhuys, Cape Town.
Aged 76, he faced various ailments, and although exhibiting continued energy, he felt isolated and lonely.[214] He often entertained celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and the Spice Girls, and befriended a number of ultra-rich businessman, like Harry Oppenheimer of Anglo-American, as well as British monarch Elizabeth II on her March 1995 state visit to South Africa, resulting in strong criticism from ANC anti-capitalists.[215] Despite his opulent surroundings, Mandela lived simply, donating a third of his 552,000 rand annual income to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, which he had founded in 1995.[216] Although speaking out in favour of freedom of the press
and befriending many journalists, Mandela was critical of much of the
country's media, noting that it was overwhelmingly owned and run by
middle-class whites and believing that it focused too much on
scaremongering around crime.[217] Changing clothes several times a day, after assuming the presidency, one of Mandela's trademarks was his use of Batik shirts, known as "Madiba shirts", even on formal occasions.[218]
In December 1994, Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, was finally published.[219] In late 1994 he attended the 49th conference of the ANC in Bloemfontein,
at which a more militant National Executive was elected, among them
Winnie Mandela; although she expressed an interest in reconciling,
Nelson initiated divorce proceedings in August 1995.[220] By 1995 he had entered into a relationship with Graça Machel, a Mozambican political activist 27 years his junior who was the widow of former president Samora Machel.
They had first met in July 1990, when she was still in mourning, but
their friendship grew into a partnership, with Machel accompanying him
on many of his foreign visits. She turned down Mandela's first marriage
proposal, wanting to retain some independence and dividing her time
between Mozambique and Johannesburg.[221]
National reconciliation
Presiding over the transition from apartheid minority rule to a
multicultural democracy, Mandela saw national reconciliation as the
primary task of his presidency.[222]
Having seen other post-colonial African economies damaged by the
departure of white elites, Mandela worked to reassure South Africa's
white population that they were protected and represented in "the Rainbow Nation".[223]
Mandela attempted to create the broadest possible coalition in his
cabinet, with de Klerk as first Deputy President while other National
Party officials became ministers for Agriculture, Energy, Environment,
and Minerals and Energy, and Buthelezi was named Minister for Home
Affairs.[224] The other cabinet positions were taken by ANC members, many of whom – like Joe Modise, Alfred Nzo, Joe Slovo, Mac Maharaj and Dullah Omar – had long been comrades, although others, such as Tito Mboweni and Jeff Radebe, were much younger.[225]
Mandela's relationship with de Klerk was strained; Mandela thought that
de Klerk was intentionally provocative, while de Klerk felt that he was
being intentionally humiliated by the president. In January 1995,
Mandela heavily chastised him for awarding amnesty to 3,500 police just
before the election, and later criticised him for defending former
Minister of Defence Magnus Malan when the latter was charged with murder.[226]
Flag of South Africa, adopted April 1994
Mandela personally met with senior figures of the apartheid regime, including Hendrik Verwoerd's
widow Betsie Schoombie and the lawyer Percy Yutar; emphasising personal
forgiveness and reconciliation, he announced that "courageous people do
not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace."[227] He encouraged black South Africans to get behind the previously hated national rugby team, the Springboks, as South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After the Springboks won an epic final over New Zealand, Mandela presented the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar,
an Afrikaner, wearing a Springbok shirt with Pienaar's own number 6 on
the back. This was widely seen as a major step in the reconciliation of
white and black South Africans; as de Klerk later put it, "Mandela won
the hearts of millions of white rugby fans."[228]
Uploaded on Jul 4, 2010
The National Anthem of South Africa
Looking back at the 1995 win of the Rugby World Cup. Revisited during
this 2010 World Cup of Football.
Anthems - South Africa vs Scotland (Spring Tours June 15 2013)
http://youtu.be/mt8MKat2j-E
Mandela's efforts at reconciliation assuaged the fears of whites, but
also drew criticism from more militant blacks. His estranged wife,
Winnie, accused the ANC of being more interested in appeasing whites
than in helping blacks.[229]
More controversially, Mandela oversaw the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
to investigate crimes committed under apartheid by both the government
and the ANC, appointing Desmond Tutu as its chair. To prevent the
creation of martyrs, the Commission granted individual amnesties in
exchange for testimony of crimes committed during the apartheid era.
Dedicated in February 1996, it held two years of hearings detailing
rapes, torture, bombings, and assassinations, before issuing its final
report in October 1998. Both de Klerk and Mbeki appealed to have parts
of the report suppressed, though only de Klerk's appeal was successful.[230]
Mandela praised the Commission's work, stating that it "had helped us
move away from the past to concentrate on the present and the future".[231]
Domestic programs
Mandela on a visit to Brazil in 1998
Mandela's administration inherited a country with a huge disparity in
wealth and services between white and black communities. Of a
population of 40 million, around 23 million lacked electricity or
adequate sanitation, 12 million lacked clean water supplies, with 2
million children not in school and a third of the population illiterate.
There was 33% unemployment, and just under half of the population lived
below the poverty line.[232]
Government financial reserves were nearly depleted, with a fifth of the
national budget being spent on debt repayment, meaning that the extent
of the promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was
scaled back, with none of the proposed nationalisation or job creation.[233] Instead, the government adopted liberal economic policies designed to promote foreign investment, adhering to the "Washington consensus" advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.[234]
Under Mandela's presidency, welfare spending increased by 13% in 1996/97, 13% in 1997/98, and 7% in 1998/99.[235]
The government introduced parity in grants for communities, including
disability grants, child maintenance grants, and old-age pensions, which
had previously been set at different levels for South Africa's
different racial groups.[235]
In 1994, free healthcare was introduced for children under six and
pregnant women, a provision extended to all those using primary level
public sector health care services in 1996.[236]
By the 1999 election, the ANC could boast that due to their policies, 3
million people were connected to telephone lines, 1.5 million children
were brought into the education system, 500 clinics were upgraded or
constructed, 2 million people were connected to the electricity grid,
water access was extended to 3 million people, and 750,000 houses were
constructed, housing nearly 3 million people.[237]
The Land Restitution Act of 1994 enabled people who had lost their property as a result of the Natives Land Act, 1913 to claim back their land, leading to the settlement of tens of thousands of land claims.[238]
The Land Reform Act 3 of 1996 safeguarded the rights of labour tenants
who live and grow crops or graze livestock on farms. This legislation
ensured that such tenants could not be evicted without a court order or
if they were over the age of sixty-five.[239]
The Skills Development Act of 1998 provided for the establishment of
mechanisms to finance and promote skills development at the workplace.[240]
The Labour Relations Act of 1995 promoted workplace democracy, orderly
collective bargaining, and the effective resolution of labour disputes.[241]
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 improved enforcement
mechanisms while extending a "floor" of rights to all workers,[241]
while the Employment Equity Act of 1998 was passed to put an end to
unfair discrimination and ensure the implementation of affirmative
action in the workplace.[241]
Many domestic problems however remained. Critics like Edwin Cameron
accused Mandela's government of doing little to stem the HIV/AIDS
pandemic in the country; by 1999, 10% of South Africa's population were
HIV positive. Mandela later admitted that he had personally neglected
the issue, leaving it for Mbeki to deal with.[242]
Mandela also received criticism for failing to sufficiently combat
crime, South Africa having one of the world's highest crime rates; this
was a key reason cited by the 750,000 whites who emigrated in the late
1990s.[243] Mandela's administration was mired in corruption scandals, with Mandela being perceived as "soft" on corruption and greed.[244]
Foreign affairs
Mandela with US President Bill Clinton. Though publicly criticising him on several occasions, Mandela liked Clinton, and personally supported him during his impeachment proceedings.[245]
Following the South African example, Mandela encouraged other nations to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and reconciliation.[246] He echoed Mbeki's calls for an "African Renaissance", and was greatly concerned with issues on the continent; he took a soft diplomatic approach to removing Sani Abacha's
military junta in Nigeria but later became a leading figure in calling
for sanctions when Abacha's regime increased human rights violations.[247] In 1996 he was appointed Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and initiated unsuccessful negotiations to end the First Congo War in Zaire.[248] In South Africa's first post-apartheid military operation, Mandela ordered troops into Lesotho in September 1998 to protect the government of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili after a disputed election prompted opposition uprisings.[249]
In September 1998, Mandela was appointed Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement,
who held their annual conference in Durban. He used the event to
criticise the "narrow, chauvinistic interests" of the Israeli government
in stalling negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urged India and Pakistan to negotiate to end the Kashmir conflict, for which he was criticised by both Israel and India.[250]
Inspired by the region's economic boom, Mandela sought greater economic
relations with East Asia, in particular with Malaysia, although this
was scuppered by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[251]
He attracted controversy for his close relationship with Indonesian
President Suharto, whose regime was responsible for mass human rights
abuses, although privately urged him to withdraw from the occupation of
East Timor.[252]
Mandela faced similar criticism from the west for his personal
friendships with Fidel Castro and Muammar Gaddafi. Castro visited in
1998, to widespread popular acclaim, while Mandela met Gaddafi in Libya
to award him the Order of Good Hope.[253] When western governments and media criticised these visits, Mandela lambasted the criticisms as having racist undertones.[254] Mandela hoped to resolve the long-running dispute between Libya and the US and Britain over bringing to trial the two Libyans, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, who were indicted in November 1991 and accused of sabotaging Pan Am Flight 103. Mandela proposed that they be tried in a third country, which was agreed to by all parties; governed by Scots law, the trial was held at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in April 1999, and found one of the two men guilty.[255]
Withdrawing from politics
The new Constitution of South Africa
was agreed upon by parliament in May 1996, enshrining a series of
institutions to check political and administrative authority within a
constitutional democracy.[256] De Klerk however opposed the implementation of this constitution, withdrawing from the coalition government in protest.[257] The ANC took over the cabinet positions formerly held by the National Party, with Mbeki becoming sole Deputy President.[258]
When both Mandela and Mbeki were out of the country in one occasion,
Buthelezi was appointed "Acting President", marking an improvement in
his relationship with Mandela.[259]
Mandela stepped down as ANC President at the December 1997
conference, and although hoping that Ramaphosa would replace him, the
ANC elected Mbeki to the position; Mandela admitted that by then, Mbeki
had become "de facto President of the country". Replacing Mbeki as Deputy President, Mandela and the Executive supported the candidacy of Jacob Zuma,
a Zulu who had been imprisoned on Robben Island, but he was challenged
by Winnie, whose populist rhetoric had gained her a strong following
within the party; Zuma defeated her in a landslide victory vote at the
election.[260]
Mandela's relationship with Machel had intensified; in February 1998
he publicly stated that "I'm in love with a remarkable lady", and under
pressure from his friend Desmond Tutu, who urged him to set an example
for young people, he set a wedding for his 80th birthday, in July.[261] The following day he held a grand party with many foreign dignitaries.[262]
Mandela had never planned on standing for a second term in office, and
gave his farewell speech on 29 March 1999, after which he retired.[263]
Retiring in June 1999, Mandela sought a quiet family life, to be
divided between Johannesburg and Qunu. He set about authoring a sequel
to his first autobiography, to be titled The Presidential Years, but it was abandoned before publication.[264]
Finding such seclusion difficult, he reverted to a busy public life
with a daily programme of tasks, meeting with world leaders and
celebrities, and when in Johannesburg worked with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, founded in 1999 to focus on combating HIV/AIDS, rural development and school construction.[265]
Although he had been heavily criticised for failing to do enough to
fight the pandemic during his presidency, he devoted much of his time to
the issue following his retirement, describing it as "a war" that had
killed more than "all previous wars", and urged Mbeki's government to
ensure that HIV+ South Africans had access to retrovirals.[266] In 2000, the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament was founded, hosted by Gary Player.[267] Mandela was successfully treated for prostate cancer in July 2001.[268]
In 2002, Mandela inaugurated the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, and in 2003 the Mandela Rhodes Foundation was created at Rhodes House, University of Oxford,
to provide postgraduate scholarships to African students. These
projects were followed by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the 46664 campaign against HIV/AIDS.[269] He gave the closing address at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000,[270] and in 2004, spoke at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.[271]
Publicly, Mandela became more vocal in criticising Western powers. He strongly opposed the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo and called it an attempt by the world's powerful nations to police the entire world.[272] In 2003 he spoke out against the plans for the US and UK to launch the War in Iraq, describing it as "a tragedy" and lambasting US President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
for undermining the UN. He attacked the US more generally, asserting
that it had committed more "unspeakable atrocities" across the world
than any other nation, citing the atomic bombing of Japan; this attracted international controversy, although he would subsequently reconcile his relationship with Blair.[273] Retaining an interest in Libyan-UK relations, he visited Megrahi in Barlinnie prison, and spoke out against the conditions of his treatment, referring to them as "psychological persecution."[274]
"Retiring from retirement", illness: 2004–2013
Nelson Mandela and President George W. Bush in the Oval Office, May 2005
In June 2004, aged 85 and amid failing health, Mandela announced that
he was "retiring from retirement" and retreating from public life,
remarking "Don't call me, I will call you."[275]
Although continuing to meet with close friends and family, the
Foundation discouraged invitations for him to appear at public events
and denied most interview requests.[276]
He retained some involvement in international affairs. In 2005, he founded the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust,[277] travelling to the U.S., to speak before the Brookings Institute and NAACP on the need for economic assistance to Africa.[277][278] He spoke with U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and President George W. Bush and first met then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama.[278] Mandela also encouraged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
to resign over growing human rights abuses in the country. When this
proved ineffective, he spoke out publicly against Mugabe in 2007, asking
him to step down "with residual respect and a modicum of dignity."[279]
That year, Mandela, Machel, and Desmond Tutu convened a group of world
leaders in Johannesburg to contribute their wisdom and independent
leadership to some of the world's toughest problems. Mandela announced
the formation of this new group, The Elders, in a speech delivered on his 89th birthday.[280]
Mandela's 90th birthday was marked across the country on 18 July 2008, with the main celebrations held at Qunu,[281] and a concert in his honour in Hyde Park, London.[282] In a speech marking the event, Mandela called for the rich to help the poor across the world.[281]
Throughout Mbeki's presidency, Mandela continued to support the ANC,
although usually overshadowed Mbeki at any public events that the two
attended. Mandela was more at ease with Mbeki's successor Jacob Zuma, although the Nelson Mandela Foundation were upset when his grandson, Mandla Mandela, flew him out to the Eastern Cape to attend a pro-Zuma rally in the midst of a storm in 2009.[283]
Since 2004, Mandela had successfully campaigned for South Africa to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup,
declaring that there would be "few better gifts for us in the year"
marking a decade since the fall of apartheid. Despite maintaining a
low-profile during the event, Mandela made a rare public appearance
during the closing ceremony, where he received a "rapturous reception".[284]
Between 2005 and 2013, Mandela, and later his family, were embroiled in
a series of legal disputes regarding money held in family trusts for
the benefit of his descendants.[285]
In mid-2013, as Mandela was hospitalised for a lung infection in
Pretoria, his descendants were involved in intra-family legal dispute
relating to the burial place of Mandela's deceased children, and
ultimately Mandela himself.[286][287][288]
Senator Barack Obama meets for the first time with Nelson Mandela, 17 May 2005
In February 2011, he was briefly hospitalised with a respiratory infection, attracting international attention,[289] before being re-hospitalised for a lung infection and gallstone removal in December 2012.[290] After a successful medical procedure in early March 2013,[291] his lung infection recurred, and he was briefly hospitalised in Pretoria.[292] On 8 June 2013, his lung infection worsened, and he was rehospitalised in Pretoria in a serious condition.[293] After four days, it was reported that he had stabilised and remained in a "serious, but stable condition".[294] En route to the hospital, his ambulance
broke down and was stranded on the roadside for 40 minutes. The
government was criticised for the incident, but Zuma countered that
throughout, Mandela was given "expert medical care."[295]
On 22 June 2013, CBS News
stated that he had not opened his eyes in days and was unresponsive,
and the family was discussing how much medical intervention should be
given.[296]
Former bodyguard Shaun van Heerden, described by CBS News as "Mandela's
constant companion for the last 12 years", had publicly asked the
family to "set him free" a week prior.[297] On 23 June 2013, Zuma announced that Mandela's condition had become "critical".[298][299][300] Zuma, accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met Mandela's wife Graça Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.[301] On 25 June Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Graça Machel Mandela "at this hard time of watching and waiting".[302] The next day, Zuma visited Mandela in the hospital and canceled a visit scheduled for the next day to Mozambique.[303] A relative of Mandela told The Daily Telegraph newspaper he was on life support.[304]
On 4 July it was reported that David Smith, a lawyer acting on behalf
of Mandela family members, claimed in court on 26 June that Mandela was
in a permanent vegetative state and life support should be shut off.[305][306][307] The South African Presidency stated that the doctors treating Mandela denied that he was in a vegetative state.[308][309] On 10 July, Zuma's office announced that Mandela remained in critical but stable condition, and was responding to treatment.[310]
On 1 September 2013, Mandela was discharged from hospital[311] although his condition remained unstable.[312]
Death
Mandela died on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95, at home and surrounded by his family.[313] His death was announced by President Jacob Zuma.[313][314][315][316]
Personal and public life
Image
Across the world, Mandela came to be seen as "a moral authority" with a great "concern for truth".[317] Considered friendly and welcoming, Mandela exhibited a "relaxed charm" when talking to others, including his opponents.[318] Although often befriending millionaires and dignitaries, he enjoyed talking with their staff when at official functions.[319]
In later life, he was known for looking for the best in everyone, even
defending political opponents to his allies, though some thought him too
trusting of others.[320] He was renowned for his stubbornness and loyalty,[321]
and exhibited a "hot temper" which could flare up in anger in certain
situations, also being "moody and dejected" away from the public eye.[322] He also had a mischievous sense of humour.[323]
Very conscious of his image, throughout his life he sought fine
quality clothes, carrying himself in a "regal style" stemming from his
childhood in the Thembu royal house, and during his presidency was often
compared to a constitutional monarch.[324]
Considered a "master of imagery and performance", he excelled at
presenting himself well in press photographs and producing soundbites.[325]
Political ideology
A "Free Mandela" protest in Berlin, 1986
Mandela was an African nationalist, an ideological position he held since joining the ANC,[326] also being "a democrat, and a socialist".[327]
Although he presented himself in an autocratic manner in several
speeches, Mandela was a devout believer in democracy and would abide by
majority decisions even when deeply disagreeing with them.[328] He held a conviction that "inclusivity, accountability and freedom of speech" were the fundamentals of democracy,[329] and was driven by a belief in natural and human rights.[330] This belief drove him to not only pursue racial equality but also to promote gay rights as part of the post-apartheid reforms.[331]
A democratic socialist, Mandela was "openly opposed to capitalism, private land-ownership and the power of big money".[332] Influenced by Marxism, during the revolution Mandela advocated scientific socialism,[333] although he denied being a communist during the Treason Trial.[334]
Biographer David James Smith thought this untrue, stating that Mandela
"embraced communism and communists" in the late 1950s and early 1960s,
though was a "fellow traveller" rather than a party member.[335]
In the 1955 Freedom Charter, which Mandela had helped create, it called
for the nationalisation of banks, gold mines, and land, believing it
necessary to ensure equal distribution of wealth.[336]
Despite these beliefs, Mandela nationalised nothing during his
presidency, fearing that this would scare away foreign investors. This
decision was in part influenced by the fall of the socialist states in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc during the early 1990s.[337]
Family
Mandela Family Museum, Soweto
Mandela was married three times, fathered six children, had 17 grandchildren[338] and a growing number of great-grandchildren.[339] He could be stern and demanding of his children, although he was more affectionate with his grandchildren.[340]
Mandela's first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, who was also from the Transkei, although they met in Johannesburg before being married in October 1944.[54]
The couple broke up in 1957 after 13 years, divorcing under the
multiple strains of his adultery and constant absences, devotion to
revolutionary agitation, and the fact that she was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion requiring political neutrality.[86] The couple had two sons, Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile (1946–1969) and Makgatho Mandela (1950–2005), and two daughters, both named Makaziwe Mandela
(known as Maki; born 1947 and 1953). Their first daughter died aged
nine months, and they named their second daughter in her honour.[citation needed] Mase died in 2004, and Mandela attended her funeral.[341] Makgatho's son, Mandla Mandela, became chief of the Mvezo tribal council in 2007.[342]
Mandela's second wife, Winnie
Madikizela-Mandela, also came from the Transkei area, although they,
too, met in Johannesburg, where she was the city's first black social
worker.[343] They had two daughters, Zenani (Zeni), born 4 February 1958, and Zindziswa (Zindzi) Mandela-Hlongwane, born 1960.[343]
Zindzi was only 18 months old when her father was sent to Robben
island. Later, Winnie would be deeply torn by family discord which
mirrored the country's political strife; separation (April 1992) and
divorce (March 1996), fueled by political estrangement.[344] Mandela was still in prison when his daughter Zenani was married in 1973 to Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini, a brother of both King Mswati III of Swaziland[345] and of Queen Mantfombi of the Zulus.[346]
Although she had vivid memories of her father, from the age of four up
until sixteen, South African authorities did not permit her to visit
him.[347]
In July 2012, Zenani was appointed ambassador to Argentina, becoming
the first of Mandela's three remaining children to enter public life.[348]
Mandela remarried on his 80th birthday in 1998, to his third wife, Graça Machel (née Simbine), widow of Samora Machel, the former Mozambican president and ANC ally who was killed in an air crash 12 years earlier.[349]
Within South Africa, Mandela was widely considered to be "the father of the nation",[352] and "the founding father of democracy",[353] being seen as "the national liberator, the saviour, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one".[354] In 2004, Johannesburg granted Mandela the freedom of the city,[355] and the Sandton Square shopping centre was renamed Nelson Mandela Square, after a Mandela statue was installed there.[356] In 2008, another Mandela statue was unveiled at Groot Drakenstein Correctional Centre, formerly Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town, standing on the spot where Mandela was released from the prison.[357]
He has also received international acclaim. In 1993, he received the joint Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk.[358] In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed Mandela's birthday, 18 July, as "Mandela Day",
marking his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle. It called on
individuals to donate 67 minutes to doing something for others,
commemorating the 67 years that Mandela had been a part of the movement.[359]
Awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom,[360] and the Order of Canada,[361] he was the first living person to be made an honorary Canadian citizen.[362] The last reciprocent of the Soviet Union's Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union,[363] and first reciprocent of the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights,[364] in 1990 he received the Bharat Ratna Award from the government of India,[365] and in 1992 received Pakistan's Nishan-e-Pakistan.[366]
In 1992 he was awarded the Atatürk Peace Award by Turkey. He refused
the award, citing human rights violations committed by Turkey at the
time,[367] but later accepted the award in 1999.[363] Elizabeth II awarded him the Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St. John and the Order of Merit.[368]
Jump up ^Burns, John F. (11 February 1990). "South Africa's new era; Mandela to go free today; De Klerk proclaims ending of 'chapter' after 27 years". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
"ordinary South Africans have not heard his voice in a generation.
Until tonight, when the Government released a photograph of him meeting
on Friday with Mr. de Klerk, they had not even seen what Mr. Mandela
looked like since the last published photograph was taken in a prison
garden in 1968."
Jump up ^Cunningham, Matthew (3 June 2004). "Creme cameos". The Guardian (London). Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
Jump up ^"Mandela in Pakistan". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). 3 October 1992. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
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Herbst,
Jeffrey (2003). "The Nature of South African Democracy: Political
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Suleiman. The Making and Unmaking of Democracy: Lessons from History and World Politics. London: Routledge. pp. 206–224. ISBN978-0415933810.
Houston,
Gregory; Muthien, Yvonne (2000). "Democracy and Governance in
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Kalumba, Kibujjo M. (1995). "The Political Philosophy of Nelson Mandela: A Primer". Journal of Social Philosophy26 (3): 161–171. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9833.1995.tb00092.x.
Mandela, Nelson (1994). Long Walk to Freedom Volume I: 1918–1962. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN978-0754087236.
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