Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July, 1918 - 05 December, 2013)
Born July 18,1918 in Mveso,Transkei, South Africa Nelson Mandela the first black president of South Africa died today Thurday the 5th.Nelson Mandela aka Rolihlahla (he who tugs at the branch of a tree i.e troublemaker) and fondly called Madiba,a clan name, lost his dad at the tender age of nine. His father Gadla Henry Mphakanyisiwa was the chief of Mveso "by blood and custom". Mandela who was given the name 'Nelson' on his first day at school by his tea her, joined the ANC in 1942. Nelson Mandela majored on Roman Dutch law at the University College of Fort Hare which was a key institution offering excellent western education to black Africans.It was here Mandela met Oliver Thambo. Mandela dropped out of the Student Representative Council due to activism. He was expelled in 1940 alongside Oliver Thambo. Mandela went back to the village but ran back to town when he discovered his uncle was planning an impromptu wedding for him. He thereafter worked as a guard on a goldmine and as a clerk in a law firm. He later went on to study law at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. By 1948 Nelson Mandela had failed to pass the requisite examinations for his LLB degree. He undertook to take the qualifying exam which would grant him the license to practice as an attorney. He and Oliver Thambo thereafter set up the 'Mandela &Thambo Law Firm' which provided free and affordable legal services. Mandela was also a co founder of Umkhonto we Siswe (MK),the spear of the nation. This was the armed wing of the African National Congress ANC.
MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. Consequently branded a terrorist organisation,the MK was banned by both the US and the South African government. The manifesto of MK published on 16 December 1961 declared: "The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.' Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or take over the Government". Mandela along with ten other ANC activists was sentenced to life imprisonment for 221 acts of sabotage and other political offences. He will subsequently spend 27 years in prison with 18 of those spent on Robben Island. Nelson Mandela was released by Frederick W. de Klerk on February 11, 1990. The two shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Having won the April 27,1994 general election, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa first black president on the 10th of May 1994 at the age of 77. He supervised the writing of a new constitution in 1996. Thrice married, Mandela was married to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, Walter Sisulu's cousin, from 1944 to 1957. The marriage produced Maditha Thembekile, Makgatho (who died of AIDS in 2005), Makaziwe, and Maki. Madela was married to Winnie Madikizela Madela from 1958 to 1996. Theirchildren together are daughters Zenani Dlamini, the South African ambassador to Argentina, and Zindziswa. Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel the widowed first lady of Mozambique in 1998. Mandela had been down with recurring lung infection no doubt contracted through tuberculosis during his long incarceration.
Nelson Mandela
MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. Consequently branded a terrorist organisation,the MK was banned by both the US and the South African government. The manifesto of MK published on 16 December 1961 declared: "The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.' Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or take over the Government". Mandela along with ten other ANC activists was sentenced to life imprisonment for 221 acts of sabotage and other political offences. He will subsequently spend 27 years in prison with 18 of those spent on Robben Island. Nelson Mandela was released by Frederick W. de Klerk on February 11, 1990. The two shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Having won the April 27,1994 general election, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa first black president on the 10th of May 1994 at the age of 77. He supervised the writing of a new constitution in 1996. Thrice married, Mandela was married to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, Walter Sisulu's cousin, from 1944 to 1957. The marriage produced Maditha Thembekile, Makgatho (who died of AIDS in 2005), Makaziwe, and Maki. Madela was married to Winnie Madikizela Madela from 1958 to 1996. Theirchildren together are daughters Zenani Dlamini, the South African ambassador to Argentina, and Zindziswa. Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel the widowed first lady of Mozambique in 1998. Mandela had been down with recurring lung infection no doubt contracted through tuberculosis during his long incarceration.
