I, Rolihlahla Mandela, was born on July 18, 1918, in the Mvezo village, Transkei. I was born in the family of the chief counselor to Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the Acting King of the Thembu people. In the age of 12, in 1930, I became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni as my father died. On hearing the stories of my ancestors, I dreamed of contributing to the struggle for freedom of my people in South Africa.
The school I attended was located in Qunu. I was bestowed with my name Nelson by my teacher in the tradition of naming all children at the time with a Christian name. My secondary education was completed at a Wesleyan School called Healdtown. I did not finish my Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College at Fort Hare because I was dismissed for participating in a protest. I then left to Johannesburg where I became a mine security officer in 1941. I graduated the University of South Africa with the BA degree. My attempts at becoming a lawyer were fruitless at that time as I was not a great student at law school. I tried again in 1962 during my incarceration, yet I did not finish the program. In 1989, as my incarceration was coming to an end, I finally did get an LLB from the South African University. I graduated in absentia.
I was involved in politics since 1942, but I entered the African National Congress (ANC) only when I was helping to create its Youth League. In 1944, I married, Evelyn Mase, who worked as a nurse. We had four children - two sons and two daughters, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two Makaziwe, the elder of whom deceased as a baby. In 1958, we divorced. In 1952, I joined a protest campaign against six unjust laws. For civil disobedience, I was convicted to nine long months of rough correctional work. In August of that year, me and Oliver Tambo were the first to establish a black law company. My two years of law school and my BA allowed me to do so.
In December 1955, I was arrested and was acquitted by the Treason Trial in 1961. During this trial, I married Winnie Madikizela in 1958. We gave birth to two wonderful daughters, Zindziswa, and Zenani. In 1996, we divorced. After this Treason Trial, my colleagues and I went underground to plan a general strike which did not happen because of the massive mobilization of the state security. But I did lead an armed struggle in 1961 which resulted in a streak of explosions. In early 1962 I went to Ethiopia and Morocco for military training. When I returned in July, I was arrested on the charge that I left the state without permission and for encouraging the workers’ strike. For that, I was imprisoned in Pretoria Local Prison for five years. After some colleagues of mine had been arrested in 1963, we were all trialed for sabotage and Communist activities. We were convicted to lifetime imprisonment, mine should have been passed at Robben Island.
At the dock before leaving to the island, I made a speech to the court:
“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against Black domination. 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 1968, my mother passed away and in 1969 Thembi, my eldest son, died. Sadly, I could not visit their funerals because I was restricted. In 1982, they transferred me to Pollsmoor Prison, Cape Town. Then in 1985, I was visited by the Justice Minister and things really began to change. Again in 1988, I was in hospital suffering from tuberculosis. I was released from prison on Sunday, February 11, 1990. The ANC and PAC had already lifted their bans. In 1993, I was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with President FW de Klerk.
On May 10, 1994, I was inaugurated as a President of the South Africa. I was the first to be elected democratically. True to my promise, I stayed at that post for only one term until 1999 after which I worked to develop three foundations formed in my name.
During my ordeals in life, I was always devoted to equality, democracy, and education. Even though provoked, I never considered racism to be the answer to racism. I endeavored to be the inspiration to those who opposed deprivation and oppression, for those who were deprived and oppressed. Until the last day of my life, December 5th, 2013 I strove to make this a better world for our children.
Nelson Mandela’s legacy is not only his raising of the world’s consciousness to apartheid in South Africa but the many forms of slavery in the world. He was a man of tremendous courage and leaves us, among others, these inspirational words: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
Works Cited
“15 of Nelson Mandela’s Best Quotes.” USA Today. Web. 8 Feb. 2016 <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2013/12/05/nelson-mandela-quotes/3775255/#>
“Biography of Nelson Mandela.” The Nelson Mandela Foundation. Web. 8 Feb 2016. <https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography>
