On December 5th 2013 (5/12/13) Nelson Mandela died peacefully in his
sleep at his home in Johannesburg, South Africa at the age of 95. As
with the assassination of John F Kennedy and the September 11th
terrorist attacks this is one of those moments that you will always
remember where you were when you heard the news. However this is not the
first such world stopping moment that Mandela provided us with. That
came on February 11th 1990 (11/2/90) when he was finally released from
prison. I vividly remember that moment but being only 8 years old my
main memory is of being very annoyed that the cartoons had been
cancelled so we could watch this old man walk along a road. Since then
though I've come to learn that Mandela was truly important.
Born in 1918 Mandela was born into a world white men were considered
superior to all and black men were considered to be the lowest of the
low. This was true to the extent that the Methodist missionaries who
schooled Mandela decided that his given name Rolihlahla simply wasn't up
to their standards so re-named him Nelson. Throughout the 1920's and
1930's this belief in racial superiority dominated with Germany's Nazis
taking it to it's natural conclusion with the holocaust during which the
'inferior' races were simply exterminated. During the holocaust the
Nazis also carried out a range of horrific medical experiments to prove
their 'science' of eugenics. Fortunately though all the Nazis achieved
was to completely disprove their theories.
So from the 1940's onwards this belief in racial superiority began to
die out in most parts of the world. Everywhere that is except Mandela's
South Africa which continued to insist on the innate superiority of
white people over blacks and operated a system of apartheid to keep
whites, coloureds and blacks apart in all areas of life such as
employment, housing and even public bathrooms. Being both a black man
and clever enough to qualify as a lawyer before the introduction of
apartheid Mandela obviously objected to this and joined the African
National Congress (ANC) which was set up to resist apartheid. Mandela
eventually became a member of the ANC's national executive committee in
1950.
On March 21st 1960 (21/3/60) as part of the ANC's peaceful campaign
against apartheid some 7000, mainly black, protesters gathered outside a
police station in the Township of Sharpeville. The all white police
officers responded to this by opening fire on the crowd killing 69
people in just 40 seconds. Later becoming known as the Sharpeville
massacre this highlighted to Mandela and others that peaceful protest
and civil disobedience simply would not be enough to end apartheid. So
on March 26th 1961 (26/3/61) Mandela formed the "Spear of the Nation"
(MK) group which was a guerrilla force based heavily on the tactics used
by Che Guevara.
Over the following year the MK carried out multiple acts of sabotage
against military buildings and government infrastructure including 57
co-ordinated bombings on Dingane's Day 1961 (16/12/61). Although the
South African government had already declared the ANC to be an illegal
organisation jailing many of its leaders including Mandela it took a
very hard line with the MK and 1962 Mandela and 9 others were arrested
on charges of sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government.
Initially the Judge threw out the case but the government simply tried
again and following what became known as the Rivonia trial 9 of the 10,
including Mandela, were convicted in June 1964 and sentenced to life in
prison very narrowly escaping the death penalty.
Mandela spent the first 18 years of his prison sentence in Robben Island
where the forced labour permanently damaged his lungs leading to him
contracting tuberculosis and the glare of the sunlight permanently
damaged his eyesight. From that prison cell where he was often kept in
solitary confinement Mandela continued to play a leading role in the
anti-apartheid struggle helping to keep it on just the right side of
Communism and the just the right side of terrorism to be acceptable to
western liberals. That campaign grew into the first and largest
worldwide political campaign in history with people across the world
protesting against the South African government, boycotting companies
that traded with South Africa and many nations imposing sanctions on the
South African government.
Due to that world wide campaign and the prisoners own protests Mandela
was moved to Pollsmoor Prison alongside other jailed ANC leaders in
1982. Taking advantage of the improved conditions in Pollsmoor Mandela
began to negotiate directly with the South African President P.W Botha.
With South Africa being crippled by international sanctions and being
driven to the point of civil war with violent protests being crushed
ever more violently by the police Botha offered to release Mandela in
1985 on the condition that Mandela gave up on his struggle. Mandela
refused.
With the Cold War coming to an end and it becoming possible for western
powers to drop their support for the South African government who - on a
continent where the Cold War was often a real life shooting war - were
massively strategically important Mandela was moved again to the
comparatively luxurious Victor Verster prison in 1988. Finally being
afforded the comforts befitting a man of his stature from prison Mandela
successfully negotiated with South African President F.W de Klerk first
for his own release and then the dismantling of the apartheid system.
Following his release in 1990 Mandela set about transitioning South
Africa from apartheid rule to democratic rule. This was without doubt
his greatest achievement. Firstly he resisted calls from many in the ANC
to set up a socialist style government that would have seen South
Africa's natural resources nationalised. He also resisted calls for
white owned property to be seized and given to blacks as reparations as
Robert Mugabe had done so disastrously in neighbouring Zimbabwe. Mandela
also managed to keep the peace as South Africa was rocked by a series
of massacres carried out by both supporters of apartheid and rivals to
the ANC. Finally Mandela resisted calls for members of the apartheid
regime to be tried and punished for their role in numerous atrocities
instead setting up truth and reconciliation committees which allowed for
people to admit to their crimes and be forgiven.
On May 10th 1994 (10/5/94) Mandela took up office as the first black
President of South Africa following the first election in which all
South Africans had been allowed to vote regardless of race. Aged 81
Mandela stepped down as President on June 14th 1999 following a hugely
successful single term. After his retirement from politics Mandela
remarried and set up the 46664 campaign against HIV/AIDS and the Nelson
Mandela Foundation to combat HIV/AIDS, rural poverty and a lack on
educational opportunity.
Tomorrow he finally gets to go home.
(Originally Posted) 21:50 on 14/12/13 (UK date).
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