HISTORY OF NELSON ROLIHLAHLA MANDELA

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also affectionately known as Madiba, was born on July 13 1918, at Qunu, near Umtata , South Africa , into the Tembu royal family. Mandela matriculated from Healdtown Methodist School and in 1938 he enrolled for a BA degree at Fort Hare University College . Mandela completed his degree at the University of South Africa in 1941

During his years at Fort Hare , Mandela was elected to the university's student representative council. Already politically active, Mandela was suspended from Fort Hare for participating in a protest boycott.

After a brief period as a security guard on a mine, Mandela joined a law firm as an articled clerk. In 1942 Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and in 1944 was one of the founder members of the ANC's Youth League. The league elected Mandela as secretary in 1947. From that office Mandela was instrumental in changing the character of the organisation to that of militant resistance. He was soon elected as president of the league.

In 1952 Mandela and Oliver Tambo established a law firm in Johannesburg (Oliver Tambo a man who became a national hero as a leader in the resistance against apartheid). As volunteer-in-chief in the defiance campaign, Mandela travelled the country organising resistance to discrimina­tory legislation handed down by the National Party government. In 1952 Mandela was arrested and charged under the Suppression of Communism Act, convicted and given a suspended sentence.

In 1956, along with 155 other political activists, Mandela was again arrested and charged with treason, but found not guilty. Meanwhile, the defiance campaign had gained momentum and in 1959, the people expressed their will in a manifesto that became the Freedom Charter.

In 1961 Mandela was appointed commander-in-chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe (the Spear of the Nation) — the military wing of the ANC, receiving his military training in Algeria . Returning to South Africa in 1962 he was arrested for leaving the country illegally and jailed for five years. Whilst serving this sentence Mandela was charged with sabotage along with the other Rivonia trialists and sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12 1964.

Mandela's commitment to abolishing the onerous apartheid system became a symbol of the liberation struggle and in 1982 the Release Mandela Campaign was launched internationally. This international campaign, along with the military struggle and the internal defiance campaign, was so effective that the Nationalist authorities had to capitulate and begin discussions with the imprisoned Mandela about achieving a negotiated political settlement.

The ANC and other political organisations were un-banned in 1990. Mandela was unconditionally re-leased from prison on February 11 1990, after 27 years of incarceration. Mandela was elected president of the ANC in 1991.

On April 27 1994 Mandela led the ANC to victory in South Africa 's first democratic elections. On May 10 1994 he was inaugurated as State President at a ceremony in Pretoria .

President Nelson Mandela has taken his place alongside the great leaders of the world. He has received honorary degrees from mote than 50 academic institutions around the world. He was joint winner of the Unesco Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize with then-president FW de Klerk. In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, again shared with De Klerk.