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Chronicles of Greatness (14b) Nelson Mandela
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Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918 –2013)
"Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom."
-Nelson Mandela
In 1961, South Africa was expelled from British Commonwealth because of the increase in international protest against apartheid. In July 1962, Mandela was arrested and jailed for five years for leaving South Africa illegally to incite strike against the white people.
Following his return in July he is arrested for leaving the country illegally and for incitement to strike. He conducts his own defence but is convicted in November and jailed for five years with hard labour. In 1964, Mandela, Sisulu and 8 others were sentenced to life imprisonment to Robben Island Prison, a former lepr colony 7km off the coast from Cape Town. Mandela was found guilty on four charges of sabotage. The prisoners were kept in cells measuring about two square metres and only one small barred window. They slept on the floor on straw mats and had to use a bucket for a toilet. During the day, they work the island's lime quarry; because of the light and dust, most suffer from "snow blindness." Mandela had to undergo surgery to restore the lachrymal ducts of his chronically inflamed eyes. This affected his eyes and was blinded by flashlights.
He was allowed only one visit from his wife Winnie every six months and was unable to see his two daughters 10 years.
While in prison, Mandela continued his studies and encouraged the other political detainees to exchange ideas and knowledge. The prison became known among the inmates as the 'Robben Island University' or the 'Nelson Mandela University'.
Mandela consistently refused to renounce his political beliefs in exchange for freedom. This action made him a focus of world attention and a symbol for the struggle of black South Africans. Despite the growing international criticism of the apartheid regime, foreign investment continued to pour into the country and immigration rose.
In 1973, apartheid was declared “Crime against humanity” by United Nations. In 1976, the Soweto uprising began on 16 Jun when high school students protested against the enforced use of Afrikaans in schools. Demonstrators attacked and burnt down buildings after the police responded with tear gas and gunfire. In 1977, the UN adopted a mandatory embargo on arms sales to South Africa.In 1980, South Africa's opposition on the African continent was further encroached upon when Robert Mugabe's antiapartheid government took over in Zimbabwe. In 1982, Mandela and Sisulu were transferred from Robben Island to the maximum-security Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland. In 1983, The United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition of nearly 600 organisations, is formed to persuade the government to abolish apartheid. Bishop Desmond Tutu emerged as one of the front's principal spokesmen. By 1984 the front has a membership of more than three million. In 1988, Mandela was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, 50km northeast of Cape Town.
In 1989, July 5, Mandela declined freedom offered to him by the then President P.W Botha if he renounced the use of violence (which Mandela had to adopt over the years after non-violence proved abortive). He promised to be back. Botha had to resign when he suffered a stroke and was replaced by F.W. De Klerk.
In 1990,February 2nd, de Klerk announced that Mandela would be released. He also revoked the orders that banned the ANC, the PAC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and other previously illegal organisations and all restrictions on the UDF and the media were lifted.
Sunday 11th February, 1990, Mandela was finally released from prison after spending 27years in custody.
...to be continued.
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