In Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland, and in he was placed under house arrest on the grounds of a minimum-security correctional facility. The following year, newly elected president F. After attaining his freedom, Nelson Mandela led the ANC in its negotiations with the governing National Party and various other South African political organizations for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government.
Though fraught with tension and conducted against a backdrop of political instability, the talks earned Mandela and de Klerk the Nobel Peace Prize in December An overwhelming majority chose the ANC to lead the country, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as the first black president of South Africa, with de Klerk serving as his first deputy.
As president, Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights and political violations committed by both supporters and opponents of apartheid between and In Mandela presided over the enactment of a new South African constitution, which established a strong central government based on majority rule and prohibited discrimination against minorities, including whites.
His marriage to Winnie had ended in divorce in The following year, he retired from politics at the end of his first term as president and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki of the ANC. After leaving office, Nelson Mandela remained a devoted champion for peace and social justice in his own country and around the world. He established a number of organizations, including the influential Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Elders, an independent group of public figures committed to addressing global problems and easing human suffering.
In , Mandela became a vocal advocate of AIDS awareness and treatment programs in a culture where the epidemic had been cloaked in stigma and ignorance. The disease later claimed the life of his son Makgatho and is believed to affect more people in South Africa than in any other country. Treated for prostate cancer in and weakened by other health issues, Mandela grew increasingly frail in his later years and scaled back his schedule of public appearances.
Nelson Mandela died on December 5, from a recurring lung infection. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. After the National Party gained power in South Africa in , its all-white government immediately began enforcing Here is Mandela in his own words: excerpts from letters, For 20 years, Mandela directed peaceful, nonviolent acts of defiance against the South African government and its racist policies, including the Defiance Campaign and the Congress of the People.
He founded the law firm Mandela and Tambo, partnering with Oliver Tambo , a brilliant student he'd met while attending Fort Hare. The law firm provided free and low-cost legal counsel to unrepresented Black people. In , Mandela and others were arrested and charged with treason for their political advocacy they were eventually acquitted. Meanwhile, the ANC was being challenged by Africanists, a new breed of Black activists who believed that the pacifist method of the ANC was ineffective.
Africanists soon broke away to form the Pan-Africanist Congress, which negatively affected the ANC; by , the movement had lost much of its militant support. Mandela was married three times and had six children. He wed his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase, in The couple had four children together: Madiba Thembekile d.
The couple divorced in In , Mandela wed Winnie Madikizela. The couple had two daughters together, Zenani Argentina's South African ambassador and Zindziswa the South African ambassador to Denmark , before separating in Two years later, in , Mandela married Graca Machel, the first Education Minister of Mozambique, with whom he remained until his death in Formerly committed to nonviolent protest, Mandela began to believe that armed struggle was the only way to achieve change.
In , Mandela co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, also known as MK, an armed offshoot of the ANC dedicated to sabotage and use guerilla war tactics to end apartheid. In , Mandela orchestrated a three-day national workers' strike. He was arrested for leading the strike the following year and was sentenced to five years in prison. In , Mandela was brought to trial again.
This time, he and 10 other ANC leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment for political offenses, including sabotage. Mandela spent 27 years in prison, from November until February He was incarcerated on Robben Island for 18 of his 27 years in prison.
During this time, he contracted tuberculosis and, as a Black political prisoner, received the lowest level of treatment from prison workers. However, while incarcerated, Mandela was able to earn a Bachelor of Law degree through a University of London correspondence program. A memoir by South African intelligence agent Gordon Winter described a plot by the South African government to arrange for Mandela's escape so as to shoot him during the recapture; the plot was foiled by British intelligence.
Mandela continued to be such a potent symbol of Black resistance that a coordinated international campaign for his release was launched, and this international groundswell of support exemplified the power and esteem that Mandela had in the global political community. In , President P. Botha offered Mandela's release in exchange for renouncing armed struggle; the prisoner flatly rejected the offer.
With increasing local and international pressure for his release, the government participated in several talks with Mandela over the ensuing years, but no deal was made. It wasn't until Botha suffered a stroke and was replaced by Frederik Willem de Klerk that Mandela's release was finally announced, on February 11, De Klerk also lifted the ban on the ANC, removed restrictions on political groups and suspended executions.
Upon his release from prison, Mandela immediately urged foreign powers not to reduce their pressure on the South African government for constitutional reform. While he stated that he was committed to working toward peace, he declared that the ANC's armed struggle would continue until the Black majority received the right to vote.
In , Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress, with lifelong friend and colleague Oliver Tambo serving as national chairperson. White South Africans were willing to share power, but many Black South Africans wanted a complete transfer of power. The negotiations were often strained, and news of violent eruptions, including the assassination of ANC leader Chris Hani, continued throughout the country. Mandela had to keep a delicate balance of political pressure and intense negotiations amid the demonstrations and armed resistance.
Due in no small part to the work of Mandela and President de Klerk, negotiations between Black and white South Africans prevailed: On April 27, , South Africa held its first democratic elections. Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first Black president on May 10, , at the age of 77, with de Klerk as his first deputy. From until June , President Mandela worked to bring about the transition from minority rule and apartheid to Black majority rule.
He used the nation's enthusiasm for sports as a pivot point to promote reconciliation between white and Black people, encouraging Black South Africans to support the once-hated national rugby team. In , South Africa came to the world stage by hosting the Rugby World Cup, which brought further recognition and prestige to the young republic. That year Mandela was also awarded the Order of Merit. During his presidency, Mandela also worked to protect South Africa's economy from collapse.
Through his Reconstruction and Development Plan, the South African government funded the creation of jobs, housing and basic health care. In , Mandela signed into law a new constitution for the nation, establishing a strong central government based on majority rule, and guaranteeing both the rights of minorities and the freedom of expression. By the general election, Mandela had retired from active politics. He continued to maintain a busy schedule, however, raising money to build schools and clinics in South Africa's rural heartland through his foundation, and serving as a mediator in Burundi's civil war.
Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in Mandela rejected the offer. His youngest daughter, Zindzi Mandela, read his response at a mass rally in Soweto:. Mandela rejected this offer with powerful words. What freedom am I being offered when I may be arrested on a pass offence?
What freedom am I being offered to live my life as a family with my dear wife who remains in banishment in Brandfort? What freedom am I being offered when I must ask for permission to live in an urban area?
What freedom am I being offered when I need a stamp in my pass to seek work? What freedom am I being offered when my very South African citizenship is not respected? I will return. Mandela was committed to achieving freedom for all South Africans, not just for himself. In , he began to quietly reach out to the South African government to see if there was interest in negotiating an end to apartheid. Four years later, on February 11, , the most famous political prisoner in the world was released.
He was 71 years old, but there was still work to do. Throughout this period, political violence and civil war threatened to engulf the country. In , South Africa adopted an interim constitution. Mandela would dedicate the remaining years of his life to transforming his country.
He always acknowledged that there was still more to do — and that it was up to future generations to continue the struggle for freedom. South Africans lining up to vote, People waited for hours in lengthy lines for the opportunity to cast their ballot. Most had never before been permitted to vote.
Nelson Mandela voting, Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa at the age of The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed.
We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning. Photo: Graeme Williams. Share this Story Facebook - will open in a new tab Facebook Twitter - will open in a new tab Twitter. View image in fullscreen gallery. Photo: Getty Images, Jurgen Schadeberg. Why did Mandela go to prison? Photo: Getty Images, Bettmann. Photo: Peter Magubane.
Robben Island Prison. The struggle continues. Long road to freedom. Photo: Associated Press, Peters. Photo: Getty Images, Peter Turnley. Video: 27 minutes for 27 years. Poll: Mandela thought that each of us has the power to make change.
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