A Tribute to Nelson Mandela

To residents, Nelson Mandela is much more than an international icon and the first President of a democratic South Africa. He is Madiba, son of this area, who was born and spent his formative years on the rolling green hills of the Eastern Cape.

“I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”. (Nelson Mandela).

Rolihalahla Mandela was born on July 18th, 1918 in the small village of Mvezo,on the Mbashe River, district of Umatata in Transkei, South Africa. His father named him Rolihalahla, which means "pulling the branch of the tree", or more colloquially "troublemaker". Nelson Mandela was the son of the third wife, Noqaphi Nosekeni and was one of 13 children. As a member of the Madiba clan, he was raised amongst Xhosa royalty

His life was first affected by white culture in school, when his teacher, on the first day of class changed his name to Nelson, so he would not stand out so much in the white presence. Mandela's father died when he was 9 years, but his guardian, the tribal king, ensured he received the best education and he was trained for leadership.

Mandela`s childhood in the Transkei had sheltered him from racial discrimination. In Johannesburg, however, in1930s, he began to look as himself as a black man in a white society.

Mandela matriculated from Clarkbury Missionary School. Four years later he graduated from Heldtown, a strict Methodist collage, and left to pursure higher education at the universty of Fort Hare (South Africa`s first University collage for black Africans). Nelson Mandela was expelled from Fort Hare in 1940 for political activism. Briefly returning to Transkei, Mandela discovered that his guardian had arranged a marriage for him. He fled towards Johannesburg where he obtained work as a night-watch on a gold mine.

Upon returning from Algiers in 1963 after military training, he was arrested and charged with attempting to overthrow the Apartheid Government. Convicted of sabotage and treason, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island (South Africa’s Alcatraz), where he remained for the next eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison. On the island, he and others performed hard labour in a lime quarry. Prison conditions were very basic. Prisoners were segregated by race, with black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. Political prisoners were kept separate from ordinary criminals and received fewer privileges. Mandela describes how, as a D-group prisoner (the lowest classification) he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. Letters, when they came, were often delayed for long periods and made unreadable by the prison censors.

Whilst in prison Mandela undertook study with the University of London by correspondence through its External Programme and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was subsequently nominated for the position of Chancellor of the University of London in the 1981 election, but lost to Princess Anne.

On 2 February 1990, State President F.W. de Klerk unbanned the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations, and announced that Mandela would shortly be released from prison. Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl on 11 February 1990. On the day of his release, Mandela made a speech to the nation. He declared his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the country's white minority, but made it clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not yet over: The South African President, FW de Klerk, instigated a national referendum requesting all South Africans to recognise this need for new democratic rule, to which South Africans responded overwhelmingly.

Nelson Mandela and South African President FW de Klerk jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 in recognition for their combined efforts towards reconciliation and peace in this country.

On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa.

He retired from public life in June 1999, and is currently residing in Houghton, Johannesburg, with his wife, Graca Machel. They exchanged vows on his 80^th birthday in 1998. He regularly visits his birthplace, annually hosting children to a Christmas party.

Nelson Mandela remains South Africa’s best known and best loved hero. He is the world’s icon of peace and reconciliation, personifying a spirit of freedom internationally.

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