Mandela's Inauguration Speech
by Nelson Mandela (excerpt)

10 May 1994

...

[1] Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty.

[2] Out of the experience of and extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.

[3] Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for glorious life for all.

...

[4] To my compatriots, I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld.

[5] Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change.

[6] We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom.

[7] That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict, and as we saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world, precisely because it has become the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression.

[8] We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws no so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.

[9] We thank all our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

[10] We trust that you will continue to stand by us as we tackle the challenges of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism, non-racialism and democracy.

...

[11] The time for the healing of the wounds has come.

[12] The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.

[13] The time to build is upon us.

[14] We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.

[15] We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace.

[16] We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

...

[17] We are both humbled and elevated by the honour and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist government.

[18] We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom.

[19] We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.

[20] We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.

[21] Let there be justice for all.

[22] Let there be peace for all.

[23] Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

[24] Let each know that for each that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.

[25] Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.

[26] Let freedom reign.

[27] The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!

[28] God bless Africa!

[29] Thank you.

23
Select the correct answer.
How does Mandela best refine his claim that his country has finally achieved political emancipation?

 A. 
He states that the country has taken their "last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace." (paragraph 15)
 B. 
He expresses that he is "humbled and elevated by the honour and privilege" of being elected President. (paragraph 17)
 C. 
He celebrates the existence of "hope in the breasts of the millions of our people." (paragraph 16)
 D. 
He pledges to liberate his people "from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination." (paragraph 14)
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