Icon, revolutionary, statesman and leader — Nelson Mandela donned many hats while spearheading South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. The man who spent 27 years in jail for demanding an end to the demeaning racialism drew tremendous respect and admiration across the world.
He became the first black President of South Africa in 1990, a triumph for his doctrine of peace, equality and non-discrimination. Mandela went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Since stepping down as President at the turn of the millennium, he had also been the face of many an international campaign against HIV/AIDS and in sports.
The man whose personality drew the world’s attention, whose words spoke a language without any sense of vengeance and whose commitment led hundreds of youths to die for the cause had been beset with health woes for the past couple of years.
Born into a small Thembu village, Madiba (his clan name) was destined for bigger things. He was given his English name by his schoolteacher. His father was counsellor to the Thembu royal family and passed away when Mandela was very young.
Mandela was 23 when he ran away to Johannesburg. He started studying law a couple of years later at the Witswaterand University, where most students were white. Exposure to people from all backgrounds and liberal and radical thoughts sowed the seeds of his political career and his beliefs against discrimination.
In 1943, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) and later co-founded the ANC Youth league. Mandela set up the country’s first black law firm with his partner, Oliver Tambo, to continue their fight against apartheid. Mandela was accused of treason 13 years later along with hundreds of others, but a trial spanning four years led to dropping of charges.
When the new Pass laws came into being, black people were even given certain areas to live and work. Opposition to apartheid became fierce and the ANC was banned in 1960. In nearly a decade, tensions and violence flared across the country while Mandela was forced underground.
The ANC leader was arrested for sabotage and a coup after his campaign of economic sabotage and he was given a life term in 1964. Even in court, his magnetism and conviction went across to South Africans and the world listened when he spoke in court. “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It 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.”
In the years that were to follow, Mandela lost his mother and eldest son but was not allowed out. He was shifted to Pollsmoor in 1982 after an 18-year stay on Robben Island. Outside, the killings continued unabated. However, over the years, international pressure on the minority apartheid Government grew as sanctions were tightened.
Tambo channelised the fight into freeing his partner. In a moving call for justice more than 70,000 voices joined to sing ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ at london’s Wembley Stadium in 1988. The event was telecast across the globe.
In 1990, President FW de Klerk succumbed and lift the embargo on ANC, paving the way for Mandela’s release from prison and dialogue on a multi-racial democracy. As President, he was credited with building a new image of South Africa, bringing in everything — from investment to the right to host a football World Cup.
Afflicted with repeated respiratory infections in recent years, Mandela nevertheless played a part in peace talks in several African nations. He retired from public life in 2004 to “reflect”.
Mandela’s first marriage lasted 14 years and he had four children from Evelyn Mase. He married Winnie Madikizela in 1958, who was to do much to free her husband from prison. He separated from her in 1992 on grounds of adultery. Mandela married Graca Machel when he was 80.
After his son died of AIDS, Mandela urged everyone to talk about it “to make it appear like a normal illness”.
His dream for an apartheid free world was realised five months after Mandela won the Nobel Prize, when all of South Africa’s races took part in democratic elections for the first time, ensuring his landslide victory.