O belegwe lapeng la bogoshi ba AbaThembu, Mandela o tsene yunibesithi ya Fort Hare le yunibesithi ya Witwatersrand, mo ailego ake thutela dithuto tsa molao. Go duleng ga gagwe Johannesburg, o ile a tsea karolo dipolotiking a lwantšha mmušo wa kgatelelo, a tsenela mokgahlo wa ANC yaba yo mongwe wa bahlomi ba mokgahlo wa bašwa wa ANC. Morago ga mokgahlo wa maburu o seno hlongwa ngwageng wa 1948, Mandela o ile a thoma go tsebega ka 1952 ka morago ga khampheini ya ANC yagoba kgahlano le mmušo wa kgatelelo, O ile a hlopiwa goba hlogo ya lefapa la Transvaal gape a ba hlogo ya Congress of the people ngwageng wa 1955. Go šomeng ga gagwe bjale ka ramolao oile a golegwa makga mmalwa ka ditatofatšo tsa go menola mmušo yena le baetapele ba ANC, ka maswabi baile ba a hlolwa ka molato wago menola mmušo go tloga ngwageng wa 1956 go fihla 1961. Kago hlohleletša ke Marxism o ile ka sephiring a tsenela lefapa la makomonisi a Afrika borwa (SACP) afetša ele omongwe wa ba etapele ba SACP. Mathomong o ke kanne go gwanteng ntle le ntwa, ka tšhomišano le mokgahlo wa makomonisi a Afrika Borwa baile ba hloma Lerumo la setshaba (Umkhonto we Sizwe) ka 1961, e le wago senyetša mmušo wa kgatelelo. Ka ngwaga wa 1962, oile a swarwa a latofatšwa kago menola mmušo a romelwa kgolegong bophela ka moka ka Rivonia Trial.