Nelson Mandela
Freedom in the flesh...
As the world's most famous prisoner and now, his country's leader, he exemplifies a moral integrity that shines far beyond South Africa.
His political life began with the simple desire to be free. But under South Africa's laws of
apartheid, Nelson Mandela was guaranteed only oppression and persecution. For blacks
in South Africa, human dignity came with a sign which read "Whites Only." It was a life
Mandela would not lead.
Groomed for leadership as a royal member of the Thembu tribe of the Xhoha people of
South Africa, Mandela began his struggle early to win a voice in his nation's affairs. A
founding member of the African National Congress Youth League, he helped draft the
Programme of Action. Mass civil disobedience was the ANC youth's weapon of choice,
since the polite talks and constitutional ramblings of elder ANC statesmen had come to
nothing. It was time for action.
The ANC soon adopted the Programme as its official policy and launched its Campaign
for the Defiance of Unjust Laws in 1952. Mandela hit the streets as the National
Volunteer-in-Chief and enlisted grassroots support for a campaign against discriminatory
legislation. When he was tried for his actions, the government of South Africa forbid
Mandela from attending political gatherings and restricted him to Johannesburg.
Mandela's call for freedom, though, could not be contained. The M-Plan, named after
Mandela, quickly enabled local and regional ANC branches to move underground with a
common blueprint for seeking freedom. Meanwhile, Mandela and his longtime friend
Oliver Tambo (who later became chairman of the ANC) opened the country's first black
legal practice. The law, especially its cornerstones of Jeffersonian rights, would serve
Mandela for the remainder of his struggle.
Mandela's support of the ANC's Freedom Charter helped insure its adoption by the
Congress of the People in 1955 and solidified the goals of the struggle. Its key principle:
"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 all the people." For his part,
Mandela was charged with treason.< p> To staunch the wave of increasingly powerful
mass protests that followed, the South African government moved to crush the ANC: the
movement went underground after police killed 69 Africans at Sharpeville in 1960. When
the government declared a State of Emergency, banning the ANC, Mandela went into
hiding. "For my own part I have made my choice," he said. "I will not leave South Africa,
nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be
won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my
days."
Arrested in 1962 after 17 months on the run, Mandela was tried and sentenced to five
years hard labor. While imprisoned, he and eight co-defendants were charged with
sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. Standing in the courtroom and
facing a life sentence, Mandela announced that a democratic and free society "is an ideal
which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am
prepared to die." That conviction never wavered during the 27 years he would spend
behind bars.
As the years of his captivity wore on, Nelson Mandela became a symbol of the struggle
for freedom around the world. In South Africa, he was the embodiment of his people's
stubborn hopes -- locked away, biding his time, undefeated. Government authorities,
beginning to fear that the aging leader would die a martyr in captivity, offered to set him
free if he would only renounce violence. Mandela would not compromise: a chained man,
indeed an oppressed people, he insisted, must be free to negotiate. Finally, unable to bend
him and facing mounting pressure from the world community, the government relented.
Robbed of his youth, Mandela walked out of prison on February 11, 1990 at the age of
71. Met by an enormous cheering crowd, he began: "I greet you all in the name of peace,
democracy and freedom for all." Six years later, South Africa ratified a new constitution,
granting equality and freedom to all of its people, under the guidance of its new president:
Nelson Mandela. Its preamble must have been especially sweet for the leader who had
struggled so long to hear these simple words: "We, the people of South Africa," it began,
"recognize the injustices of our past; honor those who suffered for justice and freedom in
our land; respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe
that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity."
Links to other sites on the Web
Return to Front Page
The Mandela Page
Long Walk to Freedom Mandela's book.
The Nelson Mandela's Children Fund
Nelson Mandela's Inaugural Address to South Africa
The African National Congress Home Page
The Speeches and Writings of Nelson Mandela
© 1997 wendyt@ucla.edu
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