Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, (born 18 July, 1918) is a former President of South Africa, was one of its chief anti-apartheid activists, and was also an anti-apartheid saboteur and guerrilla leader. He is now almost universally considered to be a heroic freedom fighter, but during the time of the apartheid regime some Western politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan considered him little more than a terrorist. He spent his childhood in the Thembu chiefdom before embarking on a career in law.
The name Madiba is an honorary title adopted by older male members of the Mandela clan, however in South Africa the title is synonymous with Nelson Mandela.
As a young law student, Mandela became involved in political opposition to the white minority regime’s denial of political, social and economic rights to South Africa’s black majority. Joining the African National Congress in 1942, he founded its more dynamic Youth League two years later together with Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and others.
After the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party with its apartheid policy of racial segregation, Mandela was prominent in the ANC’s 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause.
During this time Mandela and fellow lawyer Oliver Tambo operated the law firm of Mandela and Tambo , providing free or low-cost legal counsel to many blacks who would have been otherwise entirely without legal representation.
Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle he and 150 others were arrested on 5 December 1956 and charged with treason. The marathon Treason Trial of 1956-1961 followed, and all were acquitted. Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC and other anti-apartheid groups. Arrest and imprisonment
In 1961 he became the commander of the ANC’s armed wing which he co-founded. He coordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets and made plans for possible guerrilla war if sabotage failed to end apartheid. He also fundraised for MK abroad, and arranged for paramilitary training, visiting various African governments. In August 1962 he was arrested after the CIA tipped off the police, and jailed for five years for illegal travel abroad and incitement to strike.
Refusing an offer of conditional release in return for renouncing armed struggle (February 1985), Mandela remained in prison until February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and international pressure led to his release on 11 February on the orders of state president F.W. de Klerk and the ending of the ban on the ANC. He and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela had already been awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1988.
As president of the ANC (July 1991 – December 1997) he ran a largely ceremonial and uncompetitive campaign against de Klerk for the new office of President of South Africa. Mandela won, becoming the nation’s first black Head of State. De Klerk was appointed deputy president .
As president, (May 1994 – June 1999), Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his advocacy of national and international reconciliation.
Mandela has been married three times. His first marriage to Evelyn Ntoko Mase ended in divorce in 1957 after 13 years, and his 38-year marriage to Winnie Madikizela in separation (April 1992) and divorce (March 1996) fuelled by political estrangement.
After his retirement as President in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human rights organizations. He received many foreign honours, including the Order of St. John from Queen Elizabeth II and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.
He is one of the only two persons of non-Indian origin (Mother Teresa being the other) to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1990.
In 2001, he was the first foreigner to be made an
honorary Canadian citizen as well as being one of the few foreign leaders to receive the Order of Canada.
In June 2004 at age 85, Mandela announced that he would be retiring from public life. His health has been
declining in recent years and he wants to enjoy time with his family as long as his health allows it.
On 23 July, 2004 the city of Johannesburg bestowed its highest honour on Mandela by granting him the freedom of the city at a ceremony in Orlando , Soweto.
