MONDAYSPECIAL MONTHLYMonday EDITION Monthly December 22013 Newspaper of the University of Hamba kahle, Madiba

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 05 December 2013)

Photo by Louise Gubb 2 Monday Monthly TRIBUTE December 2013 Filling the shoes of the fi sherman… A tribute to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

BY CHAIR OF COUNCIL ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS NJONGONKULU NDUNGANE

often say that Maximum Security Prison was the university of the world in which I majored in humanities. There I learnt about the indomitable human spirit, empowered by the Spirit of the Living God. It was also there that I felt the hand of God upon me and the call to be his priest. For Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela it was the place where he displayed the mark of leadership that, nearly three decades later, would have him presiding over an established constitutional democracy that also allowed for academicI freedom and freedom of speech. We shared a solidar- ity through our shared vision of a better life for all South Africans. We had an unshakeable faith in the God of Freedom, the God of Justice, the God of Hope, who touched our world of sad oppres- sion with his healing breath. Einstein said that coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous. I would like to share with you a montage of coinci-

dences, with the year 1963 as the common denominator. Benny Gool In 1963, a time when the world was experiencing the con- Leadership trio: UCT’s Chair of Council Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane (left) with Nobel Laureates Archbisop Emeritus sequences of the Cold War and the fear of a nuclear holocaust, Desmond Tutu (right) and , who received an honorary doctorate from UCT in 1990. Australian novelist and playwright Morris West wrote the prophetic book The Shoes of the Fisherman, about a protagonist unexpect- Mandela’s story centres around inequality in South Africa where In February 1990, more than 50,000 people gathered on edly set free after 20 years in a Siberian labour camp who goes the majority of its ‘citizens’ were constrained by the infl exible laws of the the in Cape Town to witness the newly-released on to be elected Pope. Literary critics said that the story lacked a apartheid government, and the world admired him for his willingness to Mkhulu as he stepped onto the balcony of the City Hall and major plotline, yet even at its darkest, the book maintained faith in carry our burden. addressed the crowds: “I stand before you not as a prophet humanity. The 1968 award-winning fi lm The Shoes of the Fisherman was but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and In the same year, a time when South Africa was experiencing based on Morris West’s epic novel. The main character in the fi lm heroic sacrifi ces have made it possible for me to be here today. intensifi ed forms of militant struggle and urban uprisings based bears remarkably strong similarities to the real character of Mandela. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands… on an uncompromising demand for universal franchise, Nelson The fi nale portrays the pontiff (Anthony Quinn) standing on the balcony I am convinced that your pain and suffering was far greater than Mandela was arrested and tried for 221 acts of sabotage in what of the Vatican in front of a crowd of thousands on St Peter’s Square. He my own… The fabric of family life of millions of my people has became known as the Rivonia Trial, a trial that would last for two removes his mitre and says: “I stand before you bare-headed because been shattered. Millions are homeless and unemployed. We call years and seal his fate as a political prisoner for 27 years. Yet even I am your servant. We are in a time of crisis. I cannot change the world. on our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South at the trial’s darkest hour, Mandela maintained his faith in justice: “I I cannot change what history has already written. I can only change Africa… We call on the international community to continue have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which myself, and begin with unsure hands to write a new chapter… I am the campaign to isolate the apartheid regime…” The crowds all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.” the custodian of the wealth of the Church. I pledge now all our money, cheered and chanted ”Amandla!” and there was great jubilation. West’s story centres around the Catholic Church, and in all our holdings in land, buildings, and great works of art for the relief Pope John XXIII died on the same day that Morris West’s particular, the Papacy. He sees the pontiff as an earnest human of our hungry brothers… I beg the great of the world and the small of book was published. The Shoes of the Fisherman became the being constrained by the infl exible traditions and bureaucracy of the world to share out their abundance with those who have nothing.” best-selling novel in the US in 1963. Ten years after the release the Vatican, and the reader admires him for his willingness to carry The scene ends with resounding applause from the crowds amid loud of the fi lm in 1968, a cardinal from a Marxist-dominated country the burden. chanting and waving of fl ags. was elected as Pope. It was also the year that Martin Luther King

Observes as the Congress of the People at Kliptown launches the Freedom Charter Graduates with 1955 BA from Fort Hare; enrols for Elected President of the an LLB at Wits ANCYL Attends primary University Enrols at the University school near Qunu Become the ward Divorces Evelyn College of Fort Hare, in 1951 (receives the name of Paramount 1943 Alice Mase; marries ‘Nelson’ from a Chief Jongintaba Arrested and joins Winnie teacher) Dalindyebo 155 others on trial 1939 Elected national Madikizela. Escapes an arranged marriage; becomes a for treason. All are They have two mine night watchman; starts articles at the secretary of the 1925 1927 ANCYL acquitted by 29 daughters: Zenani law fi rm Witkin, Sidelsky & Eidelman March 1961 (1959) and Zindzi 1948 (1960) 1941 1956 1958

1953 Devises the M-Plan for the ANC’s 1942 future underground operations 1918 1934 Starts to informally 18 July: Born Undergoes initiation; attend African at Mvezo in the attends Clarkebury National Congress 1952 Transkei Boarding Institute in (ANC) meetings Defi ance Campaign Engcobo informally begins; arrested and charged for violating the Suppression of 1942 Communism Act; Completes BA elected Transvaal ANC through the 1944 President; convicted University of South with JS Moroka, Walter Sisulu and 17 others Africa (UNISA) Co-founds the ANC Youth League (ANCYL); marries under the Suppression of Communism Act; Evelyn Ntoko Mase. sentenced to nine months imprisonment with They have four children: hard labour; suspended for two years; elected Thembekile (1945); Makaziwe fi rst of ANC deputy presidents; opens South (Timeline and biography courtesy of the (1947 – who dies at nine Africa’s fi rst black law fi rm with Oliver Tambo Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.) months old); Makgatho (1950); Makaziwe (1954) December 2013 TRIBUTE Monday Monthly 3

was assassinated. Coincidence, or fate? Chance, or my travels abroad during the time of the Free Mandela destiny? campaign. I was addressing young 11- and 12-year-olds at A message from the On 21 August 1963, I spent my fi rst night as a con- a primary school in Switzerland, and I asked them: “Who victed inmate refl ecting on the words that Mangaliso Rob- can tell me the fi rst name of Mandela?” To which they all Vice-Chancellor ert Sobukwe had underlined as the basis for the greatest responded proudly in unison: “Release!”. Such was the cause on earth, the liberation of humanity: SERVICE. fervour of the campaign internationally! UCT mourns Madiba’s passing SACRIFICE. SUFFERING. I recall a time during his presidency when I was invited The next day I was transported to the country’s to Germany to meet with representatives of the church, ogether with everyone in the country – and across the world – the maximum security prison, Robben Island, and thus began industry and politics. I was staying at a convent just outside is deeply saddened by the loss of Nelson my education for life, in leg irons, handcuffed. My claim Bonn, and though the sisters were hospitable, I was not Mandela. to fame is that, on Robben Island, I built the cell in which spared from sharing in their very frugal domestic lifestyle. Madiba taught us all about what it means to be humane in an Mandela would later be incarcerated. He was a father At the end of the busy days I longed to relax with a glass of often inhumane world. His courage and tenacity in fi ghting for de- fi gure, a leader, to many, many of the prisoners on Rob- the nectar of the vine, but none was forthcoming in the cold mocracy during his earlier years, the triumph of his spirit during his ben Island; a towering presence, a rock against whom the convent. Until one day I was called to the telephone, and I longT incarceration, his astute and dignifi ed leadership, and his wise counsel have others leaned. His own service, sacrifi ce and suffering in revealed to my hosts that the caller was from South Africa, all exemplifi ed a way of being in the world that we should revere and emulate. his unfl inching commitment to justice inspired younger and was none other than Madiba himself. “If this man is Our thoughts are with the UCT Chancellor, Mrs Graça Machel, and the Man- generations in terms of nobility, fi ghting for basic human receiving calls from Nelson Mandela, then he must be very dela family. rights; and in terms of tenacity, not succumbing to the important!” – and immediately the sisters’ hospitality turned Dr Max Price, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town dehumanising efforts of the prison warders. into kindness. How quickly the warmth raced through the Born in Mvezo alongside the meandering Mbashe corridors of the convent! River, Mandela grew up in a royal Xhosa household and Mandela embodied a quasi-religious ‘prophetic’ leader- Sincerely, attended the elite Methodist school Healdtown, which was ship that in 1994 eventually freed his people from the bond- modelled on the English education system. He was part age of apartheid. The Prophet, political or religious, is a of that long line of intellectuals and distinguished leaders revolutionary – that is, one who prophesises a better future, who attended the mission schools and infl uenced history the attainment of which requires the radical transformation and political life profoundly. As Professor André Odendaal of the present. The Prophet is a political agent, but is also D r Max Price articulated in his seminal book The Founders, “These a moral agent – a political-religious man. Mandela’s strug- Vice-Chancellor examples are proof of the depth and resilience of the gle for South Africa’s liberation embraced this defi nition of political and intellectual traditions attached to the earliest prophetic rule, as the charismatic icon of the ANC liberation activists, who laid the foundations for the freedom strug- movement was able to build up and maintain a devoted fol- gle in South Africa. These traditions, together with the ac- lowing even through he was almost three decades in jail. companying intellectual capital, survived for generations Mandela’s presidency between 1994 and 1999 could in durable and deep-rooted networks, through multiple also be seen in prophetic terms, as he sought to recon- transitions and adaptations, to impact on the present.” cile a deeply divided society and to point his 48 million Mandela is one of my most revered heroes. We disciples to a better future. His rule represented prophetic shared a commitment to the role of civil society in hold- nation-building. An example of his insightfulness was when ing governments accountable to fulfi l commitments on he stepped onto the fi eld at Ellis Park in 1995 wearing the democratic governance and to deliver on pledges on aid, No. 6 Springbok jersey, and said: “The Boks belong to trade and development. We were both deeply commit- all of us now.” He used sport as a catalyst to unite blacks ted to public service, to which we dedicated our lives. and whites, and in return he was rewarded with the Rugby We have both spoken out on issues, of HIV and AIDS, World Cup that year. gender discrimination, and reconciliation and forgive- Nelson Mandela is the most well-known historical ness. As coincidence would have it, Mandela was the fi rst fi gure in African history. He has countless books, documen- elected President and I was the fi rst elected Archbishop taries and monuments devoted to him, and universities and in the new dispensation, and so we would collaborate streets named after him. He sought peaceful means for in addressing the challenges and deepening our new confl ict resolution and regional co-operation and integra- democracy. On occasion he would phone me and ask: tion. “Njongonkulu, my leader, what are you doing for breakfast Nelson Mandela is an icon and globally recognised tomorrow?” and then we would talk about issues. There symbol of his country’s freedom. It is critical that his pro- was always an openness to engage and work together. phetic legacy is preserved. At one of our breakfast meetings I shared a story of Lala ngoxolo noloyiso Tata. AH Dalibhunga!!!

Goes underground; Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) is formed

1961 Admitted to Hospital and is Marries Graça Arrested near Howick diagnosed with tuberculosis; admitted Machel on his 80th in KwaZulu-Natal; birthday sentenced to fi ve years to Thembekile is killed MediClinic; moved to for incitement and 1998 leaving the country in a car accident Victor Verster Prison Awarded the

illegally and spends the last Nobel Peace Divorces Winnie Steps down after 1969 14 months of his Prize with FW Mandela one term as 1962 Has prostate imprisonment there de Klerk surgery President 1996 1988 1993 1985 1999

turn over

1994 1963 1985 Votes for the fi rst time 2004 Sent to Robben Rejects South 1990 in his life; elected Announces that he 1960 Island; returned to African President by Parliament as will be stepping down Sharpeville Massacre; Pretoria after two PW Botha’s offer fi rst President of the from public life a State of Emergency is weeks; charged to release him if he Republic of South Africa; imposed and Mandela with sabotage in the renounces violence inaugurated as President detained; the ANC is Rivonia Trial, with of democratic South Africa banned nine others ANC is unbanned; Mandela released; elected ANC deputy 2001 president Diagnosed with prostate cancer 1982 Mandela, Sisulu, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni and, later, Ahmed Kathrada are sent to 4 Monday Monthly TRIBUTE December 2013 Mandela’s visits always a special occasion

elson Mandela was proud to be speaking at such an visited the Uni- important ceremony. versity of Cape “The installation of a university vice- Town at pivotal chancellor is always an occasion of times – both in great moment. At an institution like the the country’s University of Cape Town – our oldest history and in university and a world-renowned centre the life of the of learning and science – it evokes both university – bringing with him mes- the enduring character of the university sagesN of peace, reconciliation and the and the constant renewal of scholarship need for transformation. and scientifi c inquiry.” In November 1990, shortly after Madiba also used the public plat- he was released from prison, South form to speak out about the transforma- Africa’s iconic leader stepped onto tion of universities. He challenged UCT the UCT rugby fi eld to the roar of the to look at its research tasks, given the crowd, to receive an honorary doctorate different needs and priorities in a new in law. The university’s Jameson Hall, democratic South Africa. where the ceremonies are normally Showing a keen interest in all held, simply could not contain the num- aspects of the life of the university, ber of people who wanted to be part of Mandela also visited Fuller Hall, where the historic event. Graça Machel’s daughter, Josina, Madiba, who had stood for justice would later reside during her UCT stud- his whole life, said he was deeply hon- ies. Josina went on to graduate with a oured to receive the degree of Doctor Bachelor of Social Science in 1998, a of Laws. Mirroring his famous wave from the Cape Town City Hall balcony following his release from prison ten months year before her mother was installed as “Through this action you have the Chancellor of UCT. earlier, Nelson Mandela acknowledges the hundreds of guests attending his honorary graduation on November chosen to identify with those commit- In the summer of 1999, South 30, 1990 on the UCT rugby fi elds. ted to the cause of peace and justice in Africa’s treasured icon returned to UCT, this country,” he told students, faculty, who galvanised their institution into op- Madiba’s visit to UCT in 1990 came “The university’s admission and this time to witness the installation of staff and members of the public on 30 posing the fi rst State of Emergency and at a momentous and diffi cult time for exclusive policies also require recasting his wife, Graça Machel, as UCT’s fi fth November, 1990. the passage of the 90-day detention the country. While many people were to increase access to this institution Chancellor. It was a proud moment for Mandela also commended the laws.” celebrating the unbanning of the ANC, for those who are deprived. We should the former statesman, who celebrated university and its students for their He also spoke of how UCT stu- Pan Africanist Congress and the South arrive at a point where both the faculty the day with Graça, and Ramphele, activism and said the ties between the dents had supported him and his fellow African Communist Party, the spate and student body are refl ective of the who was still Vice-Chancellor at the student body and those who had stood prisoners during many dark days on of political killings in Kwazulu-Natal demographic make-up of our country.” time. in the vanguard of the struggle for Robben Island. and other parts of the country was By the time he visited the univer- Keeping ever close to his ideals for freedom stretched back over a number “Those of us who spent the latter extremely worrying. sity again in 1996, Nelson Mandela equality and transformation, Madiba of decades. part of that decade in the gloomy cells Mandela used the opportunity in his was President of the country and UCT returned to the university in Septem- “During the 1950s when the ruling of Robben Island will forever hold dear address to call for an end to violence. was about to install its fi rst ever black ber 2004 to deliver the 5th Steve Biko Nationalist Party embarked on one of the memory of the young men and “We want to appeal to all South woman Vice-Chancellor, Dr Mamphela Lecture. The lectures were introduced the most sinister aspects of apartheid women of the University of Cape Town Africans to join us in calling for an end Ramphele. by the Steve Biko Foundation to honour policy, the destruction of academic free- who raised funds to provide us with to violence. We invite all our compatri- Staff and students welcomed him the values that the struggle hero lived dom and the imposition of university books for study, collected their own ots – of whatever political persuasion with open arms when he arrived at UCT and died for. apartheid, it was your student body that textbooks and donated these for our and irrespective of race – to join us in to speak at Ramphele’s installation as To view footage of Nelson Mandela led the entire university community in use. In various other ways they kept building a national consensus around Vice-Chancellor on 11 October 1996. receiving his honorary degree and to mounting consistent and determined our hope alive by clear demonstrations the need for peace.” Referring to the incoming VC as ‘a see an excerpt from his Steve Biko resistance. In the following decade, it that the prison walls had not deleted He also focused on transformation daughter and friend to me’ he said she lecture, visit the UCT homepage at was once again the students of UCT our names from the collective memory.” at UCT. was a ‘powerful role model’ and that he www.uct.ac.za.

Mandela’s great- granddaughter Zenani is killed in a car accident

2010 Madiba Attends the passes away funeral of Is visited at home by at his home his great- Witnesses the American First Lady in Houghton, granddaughter, installation of his Turns 90 years old, Michelle Obama Celebrates his Johannesburg. Zenani grandson Mandla as asks the emerging and her daughters, 94th birthday The world chief of the Mvezo generation to Makes a surprise Sasha and Malia with his family in begins mourning 2010 Traditional Council continue the fi ght appearance at 2011 Qunu this great loss for social justice the Final of the 2012 2013 2007 Fifa World Cup Votes in the 2008 in Soweto local government elections 2010 2011

2010 2010 2011 Is formally presented Meets the South with the Fifa World Is offi cially African and American counted in 2005 Cup trophy before it football teams that Mandela announces embarks on a tour of South Africa’s participated in the Census 2011 that his second son, South Africa; turns Mandela Challenge Makgatho has died 92 match of complications from 2011 AIDS 2009 2010 His book, Votes for the fourth time in his His second book Nelson Mandela life; attends the inauguration of Nelson Mandela: By Himself: The President Jacob Zuma on 9 May Conversations with Authorised Book and witnesses Zuma’s fi rst State Myself, is released of Quotations, is of the Nation address; turns 91 released December 2013 TRIBUTE Monday Monthly 5 Memories of Madiba

On 30 November 1990, a few months after being released from prison, Nelson Mandela stepped onto the UCT Rugby Field to receive Honorary Doctorate an honorary doctorate in Law. The university’s Jameson Hall, where these ceremonies are usually held, could not contain the masses who wanted to be part of the historic event.

Accompanied by the then Vice-Chancellor, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Nelson Mandela toured campus in 1996. Students and staff wel- comed him with open arms. The visit included a stop at Fuller Hall, where Graça Machel’s daughter, Josina, would later reside during A visit to Fuller Hall her UCT studies. Josina went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Social Science in 1998, a year before her mother was installed as UCT Chancellor.

Graça Machel’s installation In 1999, Graça Machel was elected as UCT’s fi fth chancellor. She celebrated her installation with her husband and Dr Mamphela Ramphele, then serving as UCT vice-chancellor. This marked the fi rst time in UCT’s history that its two as Chancellor most senior executive positions were held by black women.

Steve Biko Memorial Lecture Mandela Rhodes Scholarship

UCT has been hosting the InI February 2005, annual Steve Biko Memo- MadibaM and Graça rial Lecture since the es- MachelM were on hand tablishment of the series in tot congratulate the 2000. In 2002, Mandela at- recipientsr of the inau- tended the third Steve Biko guralg Mandela Lecture, delivered Scholarships.S They by the late Nigerian writer includedi three UCT and scholar Professor studentss – Sirika Pillay Chinua Achebe. Achebe’s (back,( far left), Julia lecture was titled Fight- CloeteC (second from ing Apartheid with Words. left)l and Alex Salo (far Two years later, marking right).r ten years of democracy in South Africa, Madiba would deliver the 5th memorial lecture. 6 Monday Monthly TRIBUTE December 2013 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Early years

olihlahla Mandela was born in where he matriculated. He then months I had asked her to marry me, Their chief contention was that RMvezo, a village near Mthatha enrolled at the University College and she accepted.” They married in the political tactics of the ‘old guard’ in the Transkei, on 18 July 1918, of Fort Hare for the Bachelor of Arts a civil ceremony at the Native Com- leadership of the ANC, reared in the to Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Henry degree, where he was elected onto missioner’s Court in Johannesburg, tradition of constitutionalism and Mgadla Mandela. His father was the Students Representative Council. “for we could not afford a traditional polite petitioning of the government the principal councillor to the Acting He was suspended from college for wedding or feast”. Mase and Man- of the day, were proving inadequate Paramount Chief of the Thembu. joining in a protest boycott, along dela went on to have four children: to the tasks of national emancipa- Rolihlahla literally means “pulling the with Oliver Tambo. Thembikile (1946), Makaziwe (1947), tion. In opposition to the old guard, branch of a tree”. After his father’s He and his cousin Justice ran who died at nine months, Makgatho Lembede and his colleagues es- death in 1927, the young Rolihlahla away to Johannesburg to avoid (1951) and Makaziwe (1954). The poused a radical African nationalism became the ward of Jongintaba arranged marriages, and for a couple divorced in 1958. grounded in the principle of national Dalindyebo, the Paramount Chief, to short period he worked as a mine At the height of the Second self-determination. In September be groomed to assume high offi ce. policeman. Mandela was introduced World War, in 1944, a small group of 1944 they came together to found Hearing the elders’ stories of his to Walter Sisulu in 1941 and it was young Africans who were members the African National Congress Youth ancestors’ valour during the wars Sisulu who arranged for him to do of the African National Congress, League (ANCYL). of resistance, he dreamed also of his articles at Lazar Sidelsky’s law banded together under the leader- Mandela soon impressed his making his own contribution to the fi rm. Completing his BA through the ship of Anton Lembede. Among them peers by his disciplined work and freedom struggle of his people. University of South Africa (UNISA) Despite his increasing political were William Nkomo, Sisulu, Oliver consistent effort and was elected After receiving a primary educa- in 1942, he commenced study for awareness and activities, Mandela R Tambo, Ashby P Mda and Man- as the league’s National Secre- tion at a local mission school, where his LLB shortly afterwards (though also had time for other things. “It was dela. Starting out with 60 members, tary in 1948. By painstaking work, he was given the name Nelson, he he left the University of the Wit- in the lounge of the Sisulu’s home all of whom were residing around the campaigning at the grassroots and was sent to the Clarkebury Board- watersrand without graduating, in that I met Evelyn Mase … She was a Witwatersrand, these young people through its mouthpiece Inyaniso ing Institute for his Junior Certifi cate 1948). He entered politics in earnest quiet, pretty girl from the countryside set themselves the formidable task (Truth) the ANCYL was able to can- and then to Healdtown, a Wesleyan while studying and joined the African who did not seem overawed by the of transforming the ANC into a more vass support for its policies among secondary school of some repute, National Congress in 1943. comings and goings … Within a few radical mass movement. the ANC membership. Emerging as a leader t the 1949 Annual Conference ing been banned again for two years Athe Programme of Action – in 1953, neither Mandela nor Sisulu inspired by the Youth League, which were able to attend but “we found a advocated the weapons of boycott, place at the edge of the crowd where strike, civil disobedience and non-co- we could observe without mixing in or operation – was accepted as offi cial being seen”. ANC policy. Spurred on by National During the whole of the ‘50s, Party winning the 1948 all-white elec- Mandela was the victim of various tions on the platform of apartheid, forms of repression. He was banned, The Programme of Action had arrested and imprisoned. A fi ve-year been drawn up by a sub-committee banning order was enforced against of the ANCYL composed of David him in March 1956. “[But] this time Bopape, Mda, Mr Mandela, James my attitude towards my bans had Njongwe, Sisulu and Tambo. To changed radically. When I was fi rst ensure its implementation, the mem- banned, I abided by the rules and bership replaced older leaders with regulations of my persecutors. I had a number of younger men. Sisulu, now developed contempt for these a founding member of the Youth restrictions … To allow my activities League, was elected secretary-gen- to be circumscribed by my opponent eral. The conservative Dr AB Xuma was a form of defeat, and I resolved lost the presidency to Dr JS Moroka, not to become my own jailer.” a man with a reputation for greater Although Mandela and Mase militancy. In December, Mandela had effectively separated in 1955, it himself was elected to the NEC at the wasn’t until 1958 that they formally National Conference. divorced – and shortly afterwards, in When the ANC launched its Cam- June, he was married to Nomzamo paign for the Defi ance of Unjust Laws Winnie Mandela. Their fi rst date was in 1952, Mandela, by then President of contravening the Suppression of I often made sweeping gestures and that would enable the leadership of at an Indian restaurant near Man- of the Youth League, was elected Communism Act and given a sus- used high-fl own language… (and) the movement to maintain dynamic dela’s offi ce and he recalls that she National Volunteer-in-Chief. The Defi - pended prison sentence. Shortly after used unorthodox tactics with wit- contact with its membership without was “dazzling, and even the fact that ance Campaign was conceived as the campaign ended, he was also nesses.” recourse to public meetings. The ob- she had never before tasted curry a mass civil disobedience campaign prohibited from attending gatherings Their professional status didn’t jective was to prepare for the possibil- and drank glass after glass of water that would snowball from a core of and confi ned to Johannesburg for six earn Mandela and Tambo any ity that the ANC, like the Communist to cool her palate only added to her selected volunteers to involve more months. personal immunity from the brutal Party, would be declared illegal, and charm … Winnie has laughingly told and more ordinary people, culminat- During this period of restrictions, apartheid laws. They fell foul of the to ensure that the organisation would people that I never proposed to her, ing in mass defi ance. Fulfi lling his Mandela wrote the attorney admis- land segregation legislation, and be able to operate from underground. but I always told her that I asked her responsibility as Volunteer-in-Chief, sions examination and was admitted the authorities demanded that they This was the M-Plan, named after on our very fi rst date and that I simply Mandela travelled the country or- to the profession. He opened a prac- move their practice from the city to him. “The plan was conceived with took it for granted from that day ganising resistance to discriminatory tice in Johannesburg in August 1952, the back of beyond, as Mandela later the best of intentions but it was insti- forward”. legislation. Charged, with Moroka, and in December, in partnership put it, “miles away from where clients tuted with only modest success, and Unlike in his fi rst marriage, the Sisulu and 17 others, and brought with Tambo, opened South Africa’s could reach us during working hours. its adoption was never widespread.” couple observed most of the tradi- to trial for his role in the campaign, fi rst black law fi rm in central Johan- This was tantamount to asking us to During the early fi fties Mandela tional requirements, including pay- the court found that Mandela and his nesburg. He says of himself during abandon our legal practice, to give up played an important part in leading ment of lobola, and were married in co-accused had consistently advised that time: “As an attorney, I could be the legal service of our people … No the resistance to the Western Areas a local church in Bizana on 14 June. their followers to adopt a peace- rather fl amboyant in court. I did not attorney worth his salt would easily removals, and to the introduction of There was no time (or money) for a ful course of action and to avoid all act as though I were a black man in a agree to do that”. The partnership Bantu Education. He also played a honeymoon – Mandela had to appear violence. white man’s court, but as if everyone resolved to defy the law. signifi cant role in popularising the in court for the continuing Treason For his part in the Defi ance else – white and black – was a guest In 1953 Mandela was given Freedom Charter, adopted by the Trial, and anyway his banning order Campaign, Mandela was convicted in my court. When presenting a case, the responsibility to prepare a plan Congress of the People in 1955. Hav- had only been relaxed for six days. December 2013 TRIBUTE Monday Monthly 7 A legend in his own time The trial

n fact for much of the latter half of Failure to comply, he warned, would ers and police spies, Mandela had to we Sizwe (MK), as an armed nucleus struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Ithe decade, he was one of the 156 compel the majority (blacks) to adopt a number of disguises. Some- with a view to preparing for armed Sizwe ... the government had left us accused in the mammoth Treason observe the forthcoming inaugura- times dressed as a labourer, at other struggle, with Mandela as its com- no other choice.” Trial, at great cost to his legal prac- tion of the Republic with a mass times as a chauffeur, his successful mander in chief. In 1962 Mandela left the country, tice and his political work, though general strike. He immediately went evasion of the police earned him the At the Rivonia Trial, Mandela as ‘David Motsamayi’, and travelled he recalls that, during his incarcera- underground to lead the campaign. title of the Black Pimpernel. explained: “At the beginning of June abroad for several months. In Ethio- tion in the Fort, the communal cell Although fewer answered the call He managed to travel around the 1961, after long and anxious assess- pia he addressed the Conference of “became a kind of convention for than Mandela had hoped, it attracted country and stayed with numerous ment of the South African situation, the Pan African Freedom Movement far-fl ung freedom fi ghters”. After the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960, the ANC was outlawed, and Mandela, still on trial, was detained, along with hundreds of others. ...it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to The Treason Trial collapsed in 1961 as South Africa was being steered towards the adoption of a continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when republic’s constitution. With the ANC now illegal, the leadership picked the government met our peaceful demands with force... up the threads from its underground headquarters, and Mandela emerged at this time as the leading fi gure in this new phase of struggle. considerable support throughout the sympathisers – a family in Market I and some colleagues came to the of East and Central Africa, and was Under the ANC’s inspiration, country. The government responded Street, central Johannesburg, in conclusion that as violence in this warmly received by senior political 1,400 delegates came together with the largest military mobilisation his comrade Wolfi e Kodesh’s fl at country was inevitable, it would be leaders in several countries, includ- at an All-in African Conference in since the Second World War, and the (where he insisted on running on wrong and unrealistic for African ing Tanganyika, Senegal, Ghana and Pietermaritzburg during March 1961. Republic was born in an atmosphere the spot every day), in the servant’s leaders to continue preaching peace Sierra Leone. He also spent time in Mandela was the keynote of fear and apprehension. quarters of a doctor’s house where and non-violence at a time when the London, where he managed to fi nd speaker. In an electrifying address Forced to live apart from his fam- he pretended to be a gardener, and government met our peaceful de- time, with Tambo, to see the sights, he challenged the apartheid regime ily (and he and Winnie by now had on a sugar plantation in KwaZulu- mands with force. It was only when as well as to spend time with many to convene a national convention, two daughters; Zenani, born in 1959, Natal. It was during this time that he, all else had failed, when all channels exiled comrades. During this trip representative of all South Africans, and Zindzi, born 1960), moving from together with other leaders of the of peaceful protest had been barred Mandela met up with the fi rst group to thrash out a new constitution place to place to evade detection by ANC, constituted a new section of to us, that the decision was made to of 21 MK recruits on their way to Ad- based on democratic principles. the government’s ubiquitous inform- the liberation movement, Umkhonto embark on violent forms of political dis Ababa for guerrilla training. 8 Monday Monthly TRIBUTE December 2013 Prisoner 466/64

ot long after his return to South he encountered Thomas Mashifane, Mandela’s time in prison, which NAfrica, Mandela was arrested the foreman from Liliesleaf Farm in amounted to just over 27-and-a-half on 5 August 1962 and charged Rivonia where MK had set up their years, was marked by many small with illegal exit from the country HQ. He knew then that their hide-out and large events which played a and incitement to strike. He was in had been discovered. A few days later crucial part in shaping the personal- KwaZulu-Natal at the time, passing he and 10 others were charged with ity and attitudes of the man who was through Howick on his way back to sabotage. to become the fi rst President of a Johannesburg, posing again as David The Rivonia Trial, as it came to be democratic South Africa. Many fellow Motsamayi, now the driver of a white known, lasted eight months. Most of prisoners and warders infl uenced theatre director and MK member, the accused stood up well to the pros- him, and he, in turn, infl uenced Cecil Williams. ecution, having made a collective de- them. While he was in jail his mother Since he considered the prosecu- cision that this was a political trial and and son died, his wife was banned tion a trial of the aspirations of the that they would take the opportunity and subjected to continual arrest African people, Mandela decided to to make public their political beliefs. and harassment, and the liberation conduct his own defence. He applied Three of the accused – Mandela, Si- movement was reduced to isolated for the recusal of the magistrate, on sulu and Govan Mbeki – also decided groups of activists. the ground that in such a prosecu- that, if they were given the death In March 1982, after 18 years, he tion a judiciary controlled entirely by sentence, they would not appeal. was suddenly transferred to Polls- whites was an interested party and Mandela’s statement in court dur- moor Prison in Cape Town (with Si- therefore could not be impartial, and ing the trial is a classic in the history sulu, Raymond Mhlaba and Andrew on the ground that he owed no duty to of the resistance to apartheid, and Mlangeni), and in December 1988 he obey the laws of a white parliament, has been an inspiration to all who was moved to the Victor Verster Pris- in which he was not represented. have opposed it. He ended with these on near Paarl, from where he was Mandela prefaced this challenge with words: “I have fought against white eventually released. While in prison, the affi rmation: “I detest racialism, be- domination, and I have fought against Mandela fl atly rejected offers made dela was hospitalised for prostate ahead of the flock, go off in a new cause I regard it as a barbaric thing, black domination. I have cherished the by his jailers for remission of sen- surgery. Shortly after this he was direction, confident that he is leading whether it comes from a black man or ideal of a democratic and free society tence in exchange for accepting the moved to a single cell at Pollsmoor, his people in the right direction.” a white man.” in which all persons live together in bantustan policy by recognising the and this gave Mandela the chance to Released on 11 February 1990, Mandela was convicted and harmony and with equal opportuni- independence of the Transkei and start a dialogue with the government Mandela plunged wholeheartedly sentenced to fi ve years imprison- ties. It is an ideal which I hope to live agreeing to settle there. In the 80s, – which took the form of ‘talks about into his life’s work, striving to attain ment. He was transferred to Robben for and to achieve. But if needs be, Mandela and others again rejected talks’. Throughout this process, he the goals he and others had set out Island in May 1963, only to be brought it is an ideal for which I am prepared an offer of release, on condition that was adamant that negotiations could almost four decades earlier. In 1991, back to Pretoria again in July. The to die.” he renounce violence. Prisoners only be carried out by the full ANC at the first national conference of the authorities issued a statement to All but two of the accused were cannot enter into contracts – only leadership. In time, a secret channel ANC held inside South Africa after the press that this had been done to found guilty and sentenced to life free men can negotiate, he said. of communication would be set up being banned for decades, Nelson protect Mandela from assault by PAC imprisonment, on 12 June 1964. The Nevertheless, Mandela did initi- whereby he could get messages to Mandela was elected president of prisoners. “This was patently false; black prisoners were fl own secretly to ate talks with the apartheid regime the ANC in Lusaka, but at the begin- the ANC, while his lifelong friend and they had brought me back to Pretoria Robben Island immediately after the in 1985, when he wrote to Minister ning he said: “I chose to tell no-one colleague, Oliver Tambo, became for their own motives, which soon trial was over to begin serving their of Justice Kobie Coetsee. They fi rst what I was about to do. There are the organisation’s national chairper- became clear.” Not long afterwards sentences. met later that year when Man- times when a leader must move out son. Timeless Negotiating peace legacy

or a life that symbolises the tri- we could be free. Their dreams have Fumph of the human spirit, Nelson become reality. Freedom is their Mandela accepted the 1993 Nobel reward. We are both humbled and Peace Prize (along with FW de Klerk) elevated by the honour and privilege on behalf of all South Africans who that you, the people of South Africa, suffered and sacrifi ced so much to have bestowed on us, as the fi rst bring peace to our land. President of a united, democratic, The era of apartheid formally non-racial and non-sexist govern- came to an end on 27 April 1994, ment. when Nelson Mandela voted for the “We understand it still that there andela stepped down in 1999 fi rst time in his life – along with the is no easy road to freedom. We know Mafter one term as President. rest of the nation. However, long it well that none of us acting alone He set up three foundations bearing before that date it had become clear, can achieve success. We must there- his name: The Nelson Mandela even before the start of negotia- fore act together as a united people, Centre of Memory, The Nelson tions at the World Trade Centre in for national reconciliation, for nation Mandela Children’s Fund and The Kempton Park, that the ANC was building, for the birth of a new world. Mandela-Rhodes Foundation. Until increasingly charting the future of Let there be justice for all. Let there the early 2000s his schedule has South Africa. be peace for all. Let there be work, been relentless. But during this pe- Rolihlahla Nelson Dalibunga bread, water and salt for all. Let each riod he has had the love and support Mandela was inaugurated as Presi- know that for each, the body, the of his large family – including his dent of a democratic South Africa mind and the soul have been freed wife, Graça Machel, whom he mar- on 10 May 1994. In his inauguration to fulfi l themselves. Never, never ried on his 80th birthday in 1998. speech he said: “We dedicate this and never again shall it be that this Mandela never wavered in his day to all the heroes and heroines beautiful land will again experience devotion to democracy, equality and in this country and the rest of the the oppression of one by another and learning. Despite terrible provoca- world who sacrifi ced in many ways, suffer the indignity of being the skunk tion, he has never answered racism and surrendered their lives so that of the world. Let freedom reign.” with racism.

His life has been an inspiration, in South Africa and throughout the world, to all who are oppressed and deprived, and to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation. Hamba kahle, Madiba