NELSON MANDELA

(1918-2013) ACHIEVEMENTS

• He was the first black president of South Africa (1994–99). • His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African President F.W. de Klerk helped end the country’s system of racial segregation. • were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE EARLY LIFE

• Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th, 1918, in Mvezo, South Africa, to the Tembu royal family. His father was the Chief of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people. He had 4 wives and 13 children. • After his father’s death, he renounced his claim to the chieftainship to become a lawyer. • He studied law and passed the qualification exam to become a lawyer. NELSON MANDELA’S FATHER GADLA HENRY MPHAKANYISWA MVEZO (EASTERN CAPE) ANC

• In 1944, at the age of 26, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), an African liberation group and soon became one of its leaders, opposing the government segregation policies. • That same year he met and married his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase, a nurse, who gave him 4 children. • 1948: beginning of the apartheid system. MARRIAGE WITH EVELYN NTOKO MASE PASS LAWS

• In 1952, in Johannesburg, he established South Africa’s first black law practice. • That year, he also launched a campaign against South Africa’s Pass Laws, which required nonwhites to carry documents authorising their presence in areas generally reserved for the white population.

• He then travelled throughout the country, building support for non violent means of protest against apartheid. • In 1955 he helped draft the Freedom Charter, a document calling for non racial social democracy in South Africa, which will serve as basis for the 1994 Constitution. ARREST

• In 1956 he was arrested for the first time on charge of antiapartheid activities.

• Meanwhile he divorced his first wife and married Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela, better known as Winnie, the “Mother of the Nation” who led the African National Congress Women’s League for many years. She bore him 2 daughters. Her reputation was eventually compromised by charges of kidnappings, murders and misappropriation. WINNIE MANDELA MASS EVICTIONS

• Between 1960 and 1983, 3.5 million black Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighbourhoods, in some of the largest mass evictions in modern history. • These removals were intended to restrict the black population to 10 "tribal homelands", also known as bantustans. • The government announced that relocated persons would lose their South African citizenship as they were absorbed into the bantustans. UNDERCOVER ACTIVITIES

• After a massacre of unarmed blacks by the police at Sharpeville in 1960 (69 were killed and180 injured), Mandela abandoned his non violent stance and began advocating acts of sabotage against the South African regime. • He went undercover and was one of the founders of the military wing of the ANC. • In 1962 Mandela was arrested at a road block in Natal and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

• In 1963 the imprisoned Mandela was tried for treason, and violent conspiracy in the Rivonia Trial, named after a suburb of Johannesburg where the police had discovered quantities of arms and equipment at the headquarters of the underground wing of the ANC. • In 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

• From 1964 to 1982 Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island prison, off Cape Town. • He was subsequently kept at another maximum-security prison until 1988, when, after being treated for tuberculosis, he was transferred to a prison near Cape Town. ROBBEN ISLAND PRESIDENTS BOTHA AND DE KLERK

• Throughout his incarceration, Mandela retained wide support among South Africa’s black population, and the international community that condemned apartheid.

• In 1986 South Africa’s most important trading partners (the USA, the EU, and Japan) imposed economic sanctions.

• As South Africa’s political situation deteriorated after 1988, he was engaged by President P.W. Botha’s government in exploratory negotiations. He then met with Botha’s successor, de Klerk, in December 1989. REALEASED

• On February 11, 1990, the South African government under President de Klerk released Mandela from prison after 28 years. • Shortly after his release, Mandela was chosen deputy President of the ANC; he became President of the party in July 1991. • Mandela led the ANC in negotiations with de Klerk to end apartheid and bring about a peaceful transition to non racial democracy in South Africa. END OF APARTHEID

• Apartheid was dismantled in a series of negotiations from 1990 to 1991;

• 1991-94: transitional period;

• 1994 general elections, the first in South Africa held with universal suffrage. PRESIDENCY

• In April 1994 the Mandela-led ANC won South Africa’s first elections by universal suffrage, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as President of the country’s first multiethnic government. • He established in 1995 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which investigated human rights violations under apartheid. CONSTITUTION

• In 1996 he oversaw the enactment of a new democratic Constitution. • Mandela resigned his post with the ANC in 1997, transferring leadership of the party to his designated successor, Thabo Mbeki (Master degree in economics and 28 years in exile). • Mandela divorced Winnie in 1996. In 1998 he married Graça Machel, the widow of Samora Machel, the former Mozambican president and leader of Frelimo (Mozambique Liberation Front) . GRAÇA MACHEL, TWICE FIRST LADY THABO MBEKI

• Mandela did not seek a second term as President and was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki in 1999. • After leaving office Mandela retired from active politics but maintained a strong international presence as an advocate of peace, reconciliation, and social justice, through the Nelson Mandela Foundation, established in 1999. • He died on December 5th, 2013, in Johannesburg.

• Mandela Day, observed on Mandela’s birthday, was created to honour his legacy by promoting community service around the world. It was first observed on July 18th, 2009. • Later that year the United Nations declared that the day would be observed annually as Nelson Mandela International Day. SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHLIGHTS

• 1910 – nominal independence (dominion status) • 1931 – independentwithin the Commonwealth. Still had a Governor General and recognized the King as Monarch. • 1948 – beginning of apartheid system • 1960-83 - 3.5 million black Africans are deported. • 1961 - fully independent. A Republic is formed. A President replaces the Governor General. • 1990-1- Abolition of apartheid system. • 1994 - first universal elections held. SOUTH AFRICA: 3 CAPITALS: PRETORIA (CABINET), CAPE TOWN (PARLIAMENT), BLOEMFOUNTAIN (JUDICIARY) SOURCES

• BBC – History • Encyclopedia Britannica • Wikipedia • Online Archives – Department of History