Nelson Mandela released from prison - Feb 11, 1990 - HISTORY.com This Day In History: 02/11/1990 - Nelson Mandela Released The Yalta Conference ends, the first Gold Record is earned by Glenn Miller, Dick Cheney accidentally shoots his friend, and Nelson Mandela is released from prison for anti-apartheid activities in This Day in History video. The date is February 11th. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years and went on to become the President of South Africa. Lead Story Nelson Mandela released from prison Share this: Nelson Mandela released from prison Author Nelson Mandela released from prison URL Publisher A+E Networks Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years on February 11, 1990. In 1944, Mandela, a lawyer, joined the African National Congress (ANC), the oldest black political organization in South Africa, where he became a leader of Johannesburg’s youth wing of the ANC. In 1952, he became deputy national president of the ANC, advocating nonviolent resistance to apartheid–South Africa’s institutionalized system of white supremacy and racial segregation.

However, after the massacre of peaceful black demonstrators at Sharpeville in 1960, Nelson helped organize a paramilitary branch of the ANC to engage in guerrilla warfare against the white minority government. In 1961, he was arrested for treason, and although acquitted he was arrested again in 1962 for illegally leaving the country. Convicted and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison, he was put on trial again in 1964 on charges of sabotage. In June 1964, he was convicted along with several other ANC leaders and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison. Confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing, he was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He could write and receive a letter once every six months, and once a year he was allowed to meet with a visitor for 30 minutes. However, Mandela’s resolve remained unbroken, and while remaining the symbolic leader of the anti-apartheid movement, he led a movement of civil disobedience at the prison that coerced South African officials into drastically improving conditions on Robben Island.

He was later moved to another location, where he lived under house arrest. In 1989, F.W. de Klerk became South African president and set about dismantling apartheid. De Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, suspended executions, and in February 1990 ordered the release of Nelson Mandela. Mandela subsequently led the ANC in its negotiations with the minority government for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. One year later, the ANC won an electoral majority in the country’s first free elections, and Mandela was elected South Africa’s president. Mandela retired from politics in 1999, but remained a global advocate for peace and social justice until his death in December 2013.

Related Videos Why FW de Klerk let Nelson Mandela out of prison | World news | The Guardian The Observer Why FW de Klerk let Nelson Mandela out of prison On 11 February 1990, the then president of South Africa, FW de Klerk, took the fateful decision to release Nelson Mandela, the charismatic hero of the struggle against apartheid. Twenty years on, he talks about the circumstances that led him to set the world's most famous political prisoner free, launching a new era in a divided country FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela at a photocall on Wednesday, May 2, 1990 in Cape Town. Photograph: Denis Farrell/Associated Press Alex Duval Smith in Cape Town Saturday 30 January 2010 19.05 EST Close This article is 6 years old After 26 years in captivity, Nelson Mandela did not want to be set free straight away. Two days before his release, the world's most famous political prisoner was taken to see President FW de Klerk in his Cape Town office. The president got a surprise. "I told him he would be flown to Johannesburg and released there on 11 February 1990.

Mr Mandela's reaction was not at all as I had expected," said De Klerk. "He said: 'No, it is too soon, we need more time for preparation.' That is when I realised that long hours of negotiation lay ahead with this man." Twenty years after the event, sitting in the study of his Cape Town home, Frederik Willem de Klerk, now 73, still has the headmasterly style and deliberate speech that the watching world came to know as he played a crucial role in dismantling apartheid. But the winner of the 1993 Nobel peace prize still recalls the enormous leap of faith that was required to negotiate the end of white minority rule with what he describes as the "fundamentally socialistic" African National Congress of the time. Just after 4pm on the date appointed by De Klerk, Mandela, then 71, walked free, holding the hand of his wife, Winnie. The prisoner had lost his argument for a later release date but had persuaded De Klerk to allow him to leave directly from Victor Verster prison, in Paarl, near Cape Town. Mandela held up his fist in an ANC salute.

In an instant he switched from being a symbol of the oppressed to the global symbol of courage and freedom that he remains today. Mandela's release did not signal the end of apartheid. In fact, the white-ruled pariah state was entering the most dangerous chapter in its history since the introduction of racial separateness in 1948. Four hours after leaving prison, Mandela arrived in Cape Town to address thousands of people gathered outside city hall. The impatient crowd had clashed with police and bullets had been fired. But Mandela did not bring a message of appeasement. "The factors which necessitated armed struggle still exist today," he told the cheering onlookers. Mandela called on the international community to maintain its sanctions. "I have carried the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. I hope to live to see the achievement of that ideal. But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die," he shouted. With hindsight, Mandela used the fiery address to take up a negotiating position and convince the black majority that he had not made a secret pact with the authorities.

De Klerk had his moment of truth nine days earlier, in an address to the all-white parliament that coined the phrase "a new South Africa". "There were gasps in the house, yes," said De Klerk, "but not at the news of Mr Mandela's release. The gasps came when I announced the unbanning not only of the ANC but also the South African Communist party and of all affiliated organisations, which included the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe. There were gasps then and, from the far-right party, protests and boos." De Klerk speaks slowly and clearly – and charmlessly. He is a lawyer from a strict, Calvinist tradition in which displays of emotion are a seen as a sign of weakness. His one quirk seems to be the incessant chewing of gum. He has lived in this modern house in Fresnaye for 18 months, having moved into Cape Town with his second wife, Elita, from his farm in Paarl. He points out that, from his garden, he has a view of Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 years in prison. It is a fact. He does not reveal whether it leaves him hot or cold.

But radical change requires steely nerves. De Klerk had become president in September 1989, the son of a National party cabinet minister and the nephew of a prime minister. He grew up with Afrikaner fear in his DNA – the dread that after 400 years on the tip of Africa and the struggle against British colonial rule, his Huguenot descendants would be chased into the sea by the black majority. That fear contributed to policies that built his nation – forced removals to create racially segregated areas and blacks being deprived of their citizenship. It led to "passbooks", introduced to restrict black people's movements beyond those that were necessary to the economy, and separate beaches, buses, hospitals, schools, universities and lavatories for blacks, whites, mixed-race "coloureds" and Indians. As he prepared his 2 February speech at his holiday home in Hermanus in the Western Cape, De Klerk claims he had no confidant. "My predecessor, PW Botha, had an inner circle and I did not like it. I preferred decisions to evolve out of cabinet discussions. That way we achieved real co-ownership of our policies." He says his consultative style was a break with National party culture.

But he also claims – in a line of argument that allows him to avoid condemning apartheid outright – that the system unravelled through a gradual process. Even today, he admits only that international sanctions against South Africa "from time to time kept us on our toes". In 1959 prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd's government divided black South Africans into eight ethnic groups and allocated them "homelands" – nations within the nation. The move was a cornerstone of an Afrikaner nationalist dream to create a republic, but it led to international isolation. De Klerk was a vigorous supporter. "I wanted us to take a more adventurous approach to the nation state concept, but the project ultimately failed because the whites wanted to keep too much land for themselves. "The third phase – which coincided with my entering cabinet but was not started by me – was a shift towards reform. It focused on making separate development more acceptable while still believing it was just. But by the early 1980s we had ended up in a dead-end street in which a minority would continue to hold the reins of power and blacks, outside the homelands, really did not have any meaningful political rights. We had become too economically inter-dependent.

We had become an omelette that you could not unscramble." In 1986 the National party abandoned the concept of separate development. "We embraced the idea of a united South Africa with equal political rights for all, but with very effective protection of minorities. Then my predecessor lost his enthusiasm. When I took over, my task was to flesh out what was already a fairly clear vision, but we needed broad support. We needed negotiation." De Klerk moved quickly. In October 1989, a month after succeeding Botha, he released Mandela's political mentor, Walter Sisulu, and seven other prominent Robben Island prisoners. De Klerk says: "When I first met Mandela we did not discuss anything of substance, we just felt each other out. He spent a long time expressing his admiration for the Boer generals and how ingenious they were during the Anglo-Boer war. We did not discuss the fundamental problems or our political philosophies at all. "Later, during the negotiations, it became clear that there was a big divide. On the economic side, the ANC was fundamentally socialistic, the influence of the Communist party was pervasive and they wanted nationalisation.

They also wanted to create an unelected government of national unity which would organise elections. We insisted on governing until a new constitution had been negotiated and adopted by parliament." De Klerk's successive negotiated victories potentially saved South Africa from the post-colonial governance void suffered by many other countries on the continent. They also entrenched minority rights constitutionally and set the country on a capitalist path. "The government that came into power after the April 1994 elections was going to need a budget. It was drafted by our finance minister, Derek Keys, and he convinced them of the necessity to stay within the free-market principles that had been in force in South Africa for decades. The ANC has stuck to these principles and that is one of the great positives." He worries that the left wing of the governing alliance – which supported President Jabob Zuma's offensive to oust Thabo Mbeki in 2008 – will win its current campaign for payback. De Klerk, who retired as deputy president in 1997, also believes South Africa is ripe for a political shake-up, maybe as soon as in next year's municipal elections. "You cannot say we are a healthy, dynamic democracy when one party wins almost two-thirds of the vote.

We need a realignment in politics. I am convinced there will be further splits in the ANC because you cannot keep together people who believe in hardline socialism and others who have become convinced of free-market principles. The 2011 elections will be the opportunity for some much-needed shock therapy. I hope people at those elections will use their right to vote less with emotion and more through reason to express their concerns about the failure of service delivery." The foundation he runs in Cape Town officially exists to defend the constitution but places a strong focus on minority rights – those of Afrikaners and the Afrikaans-speaking "coloured" population. "The ANC has regressed into dividing South Africa again along the basis of race and class. We see an attitude in which for certain purposes all people of colour are black, but for other purposes black Africans have a more valid case in the field of, for example, affirmative action than do brown or Indian South Africans. The legacy of Mandela – reconciliation – urgently needs to be revived." He says some whites still accuse him of having given the country away. Asked what would have happened had he not made the 2 February speech, De Klerk has a ready answer.

"To those people I say it is a false comparison to look at what was good in the old South Africa against what is bad today. "If we had not changed in the manner we did, South Africa would be completely isolated. The majority of people in the world would be intent on overthrowing the government. Our economy would be non-existent – we would not be exporting a single case of wine and South African planes would not be allowed to land anywhere. Internally, we would have the equivalent of civil war." Nelson Mandela | Biography, Life, Death, & Facts | Britannica.com Nelson Mandela Alternative Titles: Madiba Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Nelson Mandela Joe Slovo Nelson Mandela, in full Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, byname Madiba (born July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa—died December 5, 2013, Johannesburg), black nationalist and the first black president of South Africa (1994–99). His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule.

Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for their efforts. Nelson Mandela. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Early life and work Nelson Mandela was the son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people. After his father’s death, young Nelson was raised by Jongintaba, the regent of the Tembu. Nelson renounced his claim to the chieftainship to become a lawyer. He attended South African Native College (later the University of Fort Hare) and studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand; he later passed the qualification exam to become a lawyer. In 1944 he joined the African National Congress (ANC), a black-liberation group, and became a leader of its Youth League. That same year he met and married Evelyn Ntoko Mase. Mandela subsequently held other ANC leadership positions, through which he helped revitalize the organization and oppose the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party .

In 1952 in Johannesburg , with fellow ANC leader Oliver Tambo , Mandela established South Africa’s first black law practice, specializing in cases resulting from the post-1948 apartheid legislation. Also that year, Mandela played an important role in launching a campaign of defiance against South Africa’s pass laws, which required nonwhites to carry documents (known as passes, pass books, or reference books) authorizing their presence in areas that the government deemed “restricted” (i.e., generally reserved for the white population). He traveled throughout the country as part of the campaign, trying to build support for nonviolent means of protest against the discriminatory laws. In 1955 he was involved in drafting the Freedom Charter , a document calling for nonracial social democracy in South Africa. Mandela’s antiapartheid activism made him a frequent target of the authorities. Starting in 1952, he was intermittently banned (severely restricted in travel, association, and speech). In December 1956 he was arrested with more than 100 other people on charges of treason that were designed to harass antiapartheid activists.

Mandela went on trial that same year and eventually was acquitted in 1961. During the extended court proceedings, he divorced his first wife and married Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela ( Winnie Madikizela-Mandela ). Underground activity and the Rivonia Trial Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent After the massacre of unarmed black South Africans by police forces at Sharpeville in 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC, Mandela abandoned his nonviolent stance and began advocating acts of sabotage against the South African regime. He went underground (during which time he became known as the Black Pimpernel for his ability to evade capture) and was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the ANC. In 1962 he went to Algeria for training in guerrilla warfare and sabotage, returning to South Africa later that year. On August 5, shortly after his return, Mandela was arrested at a road block in Natal ; he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.

In October 1963 the imprisoned Mandela and several other men were tried for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy in the infamous Rivonia Trial, named after a fashionable suburb of Johannesburg where raiding police had discovered quantities of arms and equipment at the headquarters of the underground Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela’s speech from the dock, in which he admitted the truth of some of the charges made against him, was a classic defense of liberty and defiance of tyranny . (His speech garnered international attention and acclaim and was published later that year as I Am Prepared to Die.) On June 12, 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, narrowly escaping the death penalty. Nelson Mandela in prison on Robben Island, off Cape Town. Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Structures of Government: Fact or Fiction? From 1964 to 1982 Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town . He was subsequently kept at the maximum-security Pollsmoor Prison until 1988, when, after being treated for tuberculosis , he was transferred to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl .

The South African government periodically made conditional offers of freedom to Mandela, most notably in 1976, on the condition that he recognize the newly independent—and highly controversial—status of the Transkei Bantustan and agree to reside there. An offer made in 1985 required that he renounce the use of violence. Mandela refused both offers, the second on the premise that only free men were able to engage in such negotiations and, as a prisoner, he was not a free man. Nelson Mandela speaking from his jail cell (1964) in this video from the apartheid era that … Stock footage courtesy The WPA Film Library A replica of the Robben Island cell in which Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, at the Nelson Mandela … Rodger Bosch/MediaClubSouthAfrica.com ( Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Throughout his incarceration, Mandela retained wide support among South Africa’s black population, and his imprisonment became a cause célèbre among the international community that condemned apartheid . As South Africa’s political situation deteriorated after 1983, and particularly after 1988, he was engaged by ministers of Pres. P.W.

Botha ’s government in exploratory negotiations; he met with Botha’s successor, de Klerk , in December 1989. On February 11, 1990, the South African government under President de Klerk released Mandela from prison. Shortly after his release, Mandela was chosen deputy president of the ANC ; he became president of the party in July 1991. Mandela led the ANC in negotiations with de Klerk to end apartheid and bring about a peaceful transition to nonracial democracy in South Africa. Presidency and retirement In April 1994 the Mandela-led ANC won South Africa’s first elections by universal suffrage, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as president of the country’s first multiethnic government. He established in 1995 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which investigated human rights violations under apartheid, and he introduced housing, education, and economic development initiatives designed to improve the living standards of the country’s black population. In 1996 he oversaw the enactment of a new democratic constitution.

Mandela resigned his post with the ANC in December 1997, transferring leadership of the party to his designated successor, Thabo Mbeki . Mandela and Madikizela-Mandela had divorced in 1996, and in 1998 Mandela married Graca Machel , the widow of Samora Machel , the former Mozambican president and leader of Frelimo . Nelson Mandela. South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg - BBC News BBC News South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg 6 December 2013 Close share panel Media captionThe announcement of Mandela's death was made by President Jacob Zuma South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95. Mr Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities. He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital. Announcing the news on South African national TV, President Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela was at peace. "Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.

Media captionScenes from around the globe in the hours after Nelson Mandela's death, as world leaders, South Africans, and our own journalists react. "Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss." Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela - who is known affectionately by his clan name, Madiba - had died shortly before 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). He said he would receive a full state funeral, and flags would be flown at half-mast. Crowds have gathered outside the house where Mr Mandela died, some flying South African flags and wearing the shirts of the governing African National Congress, which Mr Mandela once led.

1918 Born in the Eastern Cape 1943 Joined African National Congress 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped after a four-year trial 1962 Arrested, convicted of incitement and leaving country without a passport, sentenced to five years in prison 1964 Charged with sabotage, sentenced to life 1990 Freed from prison In pictures: Mourning Mandela The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world's most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years. He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004. He made his last public appearance in 2010, at the football World Cup in South Africa. His fellow campaigner against apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said he was "not only an amazing gift to humankind, he made South Africans and Africans feel good about being who we are. He made us walk tall. God be praised." BBC correspondents say Mr Mandela's body will be moved to a mortuary in the capital, Pretoria, and the funeral is likely to take place next Saturday.

'Bid him farewell' Mr Zuma said in his statement that "what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves. "Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell." Analysis By Pumza FihlaniBBC News, Johannesburg The greatest father there ever was: this is how South Africans will remember the man who brought an end to apartheid and delivered the nation from the brink of civil war. Social networking sites are abuzz with messages of condolences and messages of gratitude to the late statesman. He had been in and out of hospital in recent years and had become increasingly frail but many South Africans had continued to express their unreadiness to lose him. As he did in life, his passing has brought unity amongst South Africans as black and white speak of their love for him. Many here will be drawing on that same spirit for strength, that "Madiba magic" over the next few days and weeks as the nation left with the great burden of honouring Mr Mandela's legacy, mourns his passing but also celebrates his life. Tributes have come in from around the world.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration". "Many around the world were greatly influenced by his selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom. He touched our lives in deeply personal ways." US President Barack Obama said Mr Mandela achieved more than could be expected of any man. "He no longer belongs to us - he belongs to the ages," he said, adding that Mr Mandela "took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice". Mr Obama, the first black president of the United States, said he was one of the millions who drew inspiration from Mr Mandela's life. He has ordered that the White House flag be flown at half-mast. FW de Klerk, who as South Africa's last white president ordered Mr Mandela's release, called him a "unifier" and said he had "a remarkable lack of bitterness".

We are relieved that his suffering is over, but our relief is drowned by our grief Kofi Annan, Chair of The Elders World reactions He told the BBC Mr Mandela's greatest legacy "is that we are basically at peace with each other notwithstanding our great diversity, that we will be taking hands once again now around his death and around our common sadness and mourning". The Elders - a group of global leaders set up by Mr Mandela to pursue peace and human rights - said they "join millions of people around the world who were inspired by his courage and touched by his compassion". The group's chair, Kofi Annan, said the world had lost "a clear moral compass". "While I mourn the loss of one of Africa's most distinguished leaders, Madiba's legacy beckons us to follow his example to strive for human rights, reconciliation and justice for all." UK Prime Minister David Cameron said "a great light has gone out in the world". Earlier this year, Mr Mandela spent nearly three months in hospital with a recurring lung infection. He was moved to his home in the Houghton suburb of Johannesburg in September, where he continued to receive intensive care.

Robben Island Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, as a law student. Image caption Many of those gathered outside the former leader's home were reduced to tears at the news Image caption In London mourners placed flowers outside the African High Commission - among them the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lungi Morrison Image caption The UN Security Council in New York stood for a minute of silence He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid. Initially he campaigned peacefully but in the 1960s the ANC began to advocate violence, and Mr Mandela was made the commander of its armed wing. He was arrested for sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, serving most of his sentence on Robben Island. Media captionFW de Klerk: Mandela "was a great unifier" It was forbidden to quote him or publish his photo, but he and other ANC leaders were able to smuggle out messages of guidance to the anti-apartheid movement. He was released in 1990 as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation - a process completed by the first multi-racial elections in 1994.

Mr Mandela, who had been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 jointly with Mr de Klerk, was elected South Africa's first black president. He served a single term, stepping down in 1999. After leaving office, he became South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup. He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere. Media captionA look back at the life of Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela Timeline 1990-1999 | South African History Online South African History Online Home » Nelson Mandela Timeline 1800-2014 » Nelson Mandela Timeline 1990-1999 Nelson Mandela Timeline 1800-2014 Nelson Mandela Timeline 2000-2014 Nelson Mandela Timeline 1990-1999 with constitutional arrangements deadlocks when the African National Congress (ANC) and the government cannot reach agreement on certain constitutional principles. Codesa's management committee is asked to find a way out of the log-jam.

1990 2 February, At the opening of parliament FW de Klerk surprised everyone by unbanning all political parties, including the South African Communist Party , and the release of all political prisoners not guilty of violent crimes. 11 February, Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison. 19 February, Nelson Mandela was issued with his first South African passport on 19 February 1990, 8 days after he was released from prison. It was this passport (with his second name "Rolihlahla" spelt incorrectly as "Rolilahla") that he used to embark on a tour of some of the African states that had supported the South African liberation struggle, including Zambia , Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia . March, Mandela travelled to Lusaka to meet the ANC's national executive committee. He then travelled to Sweden to meet the ANC President Oliver Tambo , but cut short the rest of his proposed trip abroad as a result of increased unrest within South Africa 16 April, Mandela made an appearance at the International Tribute for a Free South Africa charity concert in Wembley, London. 2 May, African National Congress (ANC) and government teams met at Groote Schuur . Mandela headed the ANC delegation.

June, Nelson Mandela began a six-week tour of Europe, the United Kingdom, North America and Africa. His reception by heads of state, and hundreds of thousands of citizens of the countries he visited, confirmed his stature as an internationally respected leader July, Nelson Mandela attended the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but has to leave for Kenya when he contracted pneumonia. 29 July, The South African Communist Party (SACP) is relaunched at the Soweto Stadium with a crowd of 50 000 - in the following fifteen months the SACP membership shoots up to 25 000 at a time when communist parties around the world are in decline August, Talks between the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African government resume and in the same month Mandela visited Norway. This is followed by visits to Zambia, India and Australia. 21 August, The Pretoria Minute is signed which proclaimed that the ANC would suspend all armed activity December, A Cabinet 'bosberaad' (council) is held at a game lodge to discuss the Harare Declaration and the release of Mandela.

24 December, Mandela receives an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Jadavpur University in India. 1991 29 January, A summit meeting between the ANC and IFP is held in Durban. Mandela met Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi at the Royal Hotel in Durban for 8 hours and agreed to promote peace.This is the first time that Mandela and Buthelezi meet in thirty years. February, Mandela met again with Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, President of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) , in an attempt to put an end to the violence sweeping through Natal and the Transvaal. However, despite their pledges to work towards peace, the violence continued. Mandela issued an ultimatum to the government, setting a deadline by which it has to end the violence, and fire the Ministers of Defence and Law and Order. He indicated that the African National Congress (ANC) will quit the negotiation process if these demands were not met. However, the government failed to meet these demands. April, Mandela attended a meeting between the ANC and the Pan African Congress in Harare where they resolved to work together to oppose apartheid.

A joint sub-committee was established to approach the European Community to reverse its decision to lift bans on steel imports from South Africa. The meeting also resolved to convene a conference of anti-apartheid organisation to support the demand for a national constituent assembly 1 April, Mandela met Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi and raised his distrust of F W de Klerk . June, Mandela attended the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Abuja, Nigeria, after which he travel to the United Kingdom and Belgium. July, The ANC conference was held in Durban and Nelson Mandela was elected ANC president, succeeding an ailing Oliver Tambo. 2 July, The African National Congress (ANC) held its first national conference in 30 years inside the country in Durban, with over 2 000 delegates and elected a new National Executive. Nelson Mandela is elected as President of the organisation, succeeding an ailing Oliver Tambo . August, Nelson Mandela travelled to South America. September, Mandela signed the National Peace Accord on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC).

This agreement between a number of political organisations, including the ANC, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the National Party (NP), established structures and procedures to attempt to end political violence, which had become widespread. October, A meeting of the Patriotic Front is held in Durban in an attempt to bring together all anti-apartheid groupings in the country. All attend with the exception of Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo). Policy regarding future negotiations was formulated and the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC) began preparatory meetings for the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa). However, the PAC cannot see it's way clear to participating in the convention. November, Mandela travelled to West Africa. December, The first meeting of Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa), set up to negotiate procedures for constitutional change, was held. At the end of the plenary session, after F W de Klerk raised the question of disbanding Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) , Mandela delivered a scathing personal verbal attack on him. Mandela argues that even the head of an illegitimate, discredited minority regime should have certain moral standards'.

Mandela met United States President, George Bush. 1992 8 January, Mandela celebrated the 80th birthday of the ANC with iconic ANC struggle veterans such as Oliver Tambo. Mandela received a joint award with F W de Klerk in Spain - the Prince of the Asturias Prize for International Co-operation. February, Mandela continued his programme of extensive international travel, visiting Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. He and State President F W de Klerk jointly accepted the UNESCO Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize in Paris on 3 February. At the same time the two men attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 13 April, Mandela called a press conference at which he stated that he and his wife, Winnie Mandela, have agreed to separate as a result of differences, which had arisen between them in recent months. Later in April Mandela, F W de Klerk and Mangosuthu Buthelezi addressed a gathering of more than a million members of the Zion Christian Church at Moria, near Pietersburg, and commited themselves to end the ongoing violence and move speedily towards a political settlement.

While visiting the Scandinavian countries and Czechoslovakia in May, Mandela suggested that F W de Klerk is personally responsible for the political violence in South Africa. He likened the violence in South Africa to the killing of Jews in Nazi Germany. Mandela also criticised what he felt is the stranglehold imposed on the South African press, which represented White-owned conglomerates. He did express support for critical, independent and investigative press. June, By 16 June (Soweto Day) no progress had been made and the African National Congress (ANC) called for a mass action campaign to put pressure on the South African government. Following the Boipatong massacre massacre of 17 June 1992, Mandela indicated that negotiations with the government would not resume until ANC demands for an election to a constituent assembly, a transitional government, and state steps to end political violence were met. At the end of June 1992 Mandela addresses the Heads of States Summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Dakar, Senegal. As a result, the OAU agrees to raise the issue of South Africa's political violence at the United Nations .

July, Mandela and representatives of other South African parties addressed the UN Security Council. Mandela asked the UN to provide continuous monitoring of the violence, and submitted documents, that he claimed, proved the 'criminal intent', of the government, both in the instigation of violence and in failing to halt it. He maintained that the government is conducting a '...cold-hearted strategy of state terror to impose its will on negotiations'. Mandela visited the Olympic Games in Barcelona, where a South African team was participating for the first time in 30 years. On his return to South Africa, he involved himself in the African National Congress's (ANC) mass action campaign calling for disciplined and peaceful protest. Following violent incidents between African National Congress (ANC) supporters in the Transvaal, Mandela admitted that the organisation had disciplinary problems with some of its followers, particularly in township self-defence units. He promises to take action against those who abuse positions of power and authority. He indicates that the ANC has shifted its economic thinking, particularly with regard to nationalisation. This is no longer viewed as an ideological imperative, but merely as one of the policy options.

He continued to stress the need to redress economic imbalances, but noted that the ANC was aware of both local and international business hostility towards nationalisation. September, Mandela indicated that he is prepared to meet F W de Klerk on condition that he agreed to the fencing off of hostels, the banning of the public display of dangerous weapons and the release of political prisoners. They met at the end of the month and these bi-lateral talks resulted in the signing of a Record of Understanding by the two leaders, which enabled negotiations to be resumed. 1993 Mandela won the Philadelphia Liberty Medal (USA) April, Following the assassination of the South African Communist Party (SACP) leader, Chris Hani , Mandela again called for restraint, discipline and peace, but at a rally in Soweto's Jabulani Stadium a militant crowd boos him when he tries to convey a message of peace in the wake of the killing. May, Mandela causes a political row when he suggested that South Africa's voting age should be lowered to enable 14-year old children to vote. However, he is persuaded to accept that only people aged 18 or more can vote in the April 1994 elections.

2 May, Mandela honoured Oliver Tambo at his funeral. July-December, Mandela campaigned on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC) for the 1994 election and addressed a large number of rallies and people's forums. At the same time, he continued to attempt to draw the Freedom Alliance partners (White right wing groups, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Bophuthatswana and Ciskei governments) into the election process. September, While on a visit to the United States of America, Mandela urged world business leaders to lift economic sanctions and to invest in South Africa. December, Mandela was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with former president F W de Klerk in Norway 1994 Mandela continued the campaign from the previous year, however he ruled out the possibility of delaying the election date to accommodate them. Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, was first published. March, Following a civil uprising in Bophuthatswana, which leads to a downfall of the Mangope government , Mandela guaranteed striking civil servants their jobs, but harshly criticised the looting that occurs during the unrest.

April, Last minute talks were held in the Kruger Park between Mandela, F W de Klerk , Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini to try to break the deadlock on Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) participation in the elections. The meeting was unsuccessful and is followed by an attempt at international mediation. This, too, failed, but a last minute effort by Kenyan academic, Washington Okumu, brought the IFP back into the election process. Mandela and De Klerk then signed an agreement regarding the future status of the Zulu King. Mandela contested the election as the head of the African National Congress (ANC) for the National Assembly. 27 April, At Inanda, Durban, Mandela voted in a general election for the first time in his life. May, The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that the African National Congress (ANC) has won 62% of the national vote. Mandela subsequently indicated he had been relieved that the ANC had not achieved a two-thirds majority in the election, as this would allay fears that it would unilaterally re-write the constitution.

He stated that he stands for a government of national unity with each part sharing in the exercise of power. In Mandela's State-of-the-Nation speech to parliament he announces that R2.5 billion will be allocated in the 1994/95 budget for the government's Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). His pragmatic economic policy is welcomed by business in general. Mandela continues to draw the right wing into the negotiation process and holds a breakthrough meeting with the leader of Conservative Party (CP), Ferdie Hartzenberg. Negotiations also involve a possible meeting with Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terre Blanche. 9 May, Mandela is elected unopposed as President of South Africa in the first session of the National Assembly. 10 May, Nelson Mandela's Presidential inauguration takes place at the Union Buildings in Pretoria . As well as about 100 000 celebrants on the lawns in front of the building, it was the largest gathering of international leaders ever held in South Africa. The ceremony was televised and broadcast internationally. In his inaugural speech Mandela called for a 'time of healing' and states that his government will fight against discrimination of any kind.

He pledged to enter into a covenant to build a society in which all South Africans, Black and White, could walk tall without fear, assured of their rights to human dignity 'a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world'. June, Mandela attends the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit held in Tunis and is appointed second Vice-President of the organisation. The following month he holds talks with his Angolan, Mozambican and Zairian counterparts in an attempt to further peace-making efforts in Angola. UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi , welcomed his participation in the peace process. 24 June, The ‘Madiba Magic’ played a tremendous role in South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup Trophy for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1987. Despite strong competition shown by the All Blacks, the final score was 15-12 in favour of South Africa. The South African President, Nelson Mandela, handed the trophy to Springbok Captain, François Pienaar, as Ellis Park Stadium erupted into celebrations. 25 June, South Africa’s two decade long suspension from the General Assembly of the United Nations ended. July, Mandela underwent eye surgery for a cataract.

The operation is complicated by the fact that his tear glands were damaged by the alkalinity of the stone at Robben Island where he had done hard labour breaking rocks September, Mandela makes a crucial speech at the annual conference of the Congress of South Africa Trade Union (Cosatu) where he calls on the labour movement to transform itself from a liberation movement, to one that would assist in the building of a new South Africa. He warned that workers will lose their jobs if production costs rose because of unnecessary labour unrest and he called on workers to assist in making the ANC's RDP work. 1995 15 January, Mandela spoke at Joe Slovo’s funeral. He argued that ordinary people should guide the formation and implementation of policy. 18 January, At a cabinet meeting, Mandela attacked Deputy President F W de Klerk stating that he did not believe that De Klerk was unaware of the indemnity applications. He goes on to question De Klerk's commitment to the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). 20 January, At a press conference F W de Klerk maintained that this attack on his integrity and good faith could seriously jeopardise the future of the government of national unity.

April, Mandela fires his estranged wife, Winnie Mandela, from her post as Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, following a series of controversial issues in which she was involved. She challenged her dismissal in the Supreme Court, claiming that it was unconstitutional. She obtained an affidavit from Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi to the effect that he had not, as a leader of a party in the government of national unity, been consulted about this dismissal. As this is a constitutional requirement, Winnie Mandela is then briefly reinstated before being dismissed again, Mandela having consulted with all party leaders involved in the government of national unity. May, Following a dispute between the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC) regarding international mediation for the new constitution, Mangosuthu Buthelezi called on Zulus to 'rise and resist' any imposed constitutional dispensation. Mandela accused Buthelezi of encouraging violence and attempting to ferment an uprising against central government.

In this context, he threatened to cut off central government funding to KwaZulu Natal, indicating that he would not allow public funds to be used to finance an attempt to overthrow the constitution by violent means. Although a subsequent meeting between the two leaders seems cordial in tone, the matter of mediation remained an unresolved point of conflict. 24 June, The ‘Madiba Magic’ played a tremendous role in South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup Trophy for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1987. Despite strong competition shown by the All Blacks, the final score was 15-12 in favour of South Africa. The South African President, Nelson Mandela, handed the trophy to Springbok Captain, François Pienaar, as Ellis Park Stadium erupted into celebrations. 19 July, Mandela signed a law into bill creating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to uncover human rights abuses during the apartheid era. 14 September, Mandela was granted the freedom of the Eastern Cape town of Uitenhage. 11 November, Mandela publically intervened in the Nigerian crisis when he called for the military government, led by Sani Abacha, to be suspended from the Commonwealth.

Abacha was responsible for the execution of human rights activists in Nigeria. Nigeria is suspended until 1999 when democratic rule was restored. 1996 Nelson Mandela - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Nelson Mandela’s Childhood and Education Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, into a royal family of the Xhosa-speaking Thembu tribe in the South African village of Mvezo, where his father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (c. 1880-1928), served as chief. His mother, Nosekeni Fanny, was the third of Mphakanyiswa’s four wives, who together bore him nine daughters and four sons. After the death of his father in 1927, 9-year-old Mandela—then known by his birth name, Rolihlahla—was adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, a high-ranking Thembu regent who began grooming his young ward for a role within the tribal leadership. Did You Know? As a sign of respect, many South Africans referred to Nelson Mandela as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name.

The first in his family to receive a formal education, Mandela completed his primary studies at a local missionary school. There, a teacher dubbed him Nelson as part of a common practice of giving African students English names. He went on to attend the Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Healdtown, a Methodist secondary school, where he excelled in boxing and track as well as academics. In 1939 Mandela entered the elite University of Fort Hare, the only Western-style higher learning institute for South African blacks at the time. The following year, he and several other students, including his friend and future business partner Oliver Tambo (1917-1993), were sent home for participating in a boycott against university policies. After learning that his guardian had arranged a marriage for him, Mandela fled to Johannesburg and worked first as a night watchman and then as a law clerk while completing his bachelor’s degree by correspondence. He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became involved in the movement against racial discrimination and forged key relationships with black and white activists.

In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and worked with fellow party members, including Oliver Tambo, to establish its youth league, the ANCYL. That same year, he met and married his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1922-2004), with whom he had four children before their divorce in 1957. Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress Nelson Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which introduced a formal system of racial classification and segregation—apartheid—that restricted nonwhites’ basic rights and barred them from government while maintaining white minority rule. The following year, the ANC adopted the ANCYL’s plan to achieve full citizenship for all South Africans through boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience and other nonviolent methods. Mandela helped lead the ANC’s 1952 Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws, traveling across the country to organize protests against discriminatory policies, and promoted the manifesto known as the Freedom Charter, ratified by the Congress of the People in 1955.

Also in 1952, Mandela and Tambo opened South Africa’s first black law firm, which offered free or low-cost legal counsel to those affected by apartheid legislation. On December 5, 1956, Mandela and 155 other activists were arrested and went on trial for treason. All of the defendants were acquitted in 1961, but in the meantime tensions within the ANC escalated, with a militant faction splitting off in 1959 to form the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The next year, police opened fire on peaceful black protesters in the township of Sharpeville, killing 69 people; as panic, anger and riots swept the country in the massacre’s aftermath, the apartheid government banned both the ANC and the PAC. Forced to go underground and wear disguises to evade detection, Mandela decided that the time had come for a more radical approach than passive resistance. Nelson Mandela and the Armed Resistance Movement In 1961, Nelson Mandela co-founded and became the first leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), also known as MK, a new armed wing of the ANC.

Several years later, during the trial that would put him behind bars for nearly three decades, he described the reasoning for this radical departure from his party’s original tenets: “[I]t would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.” Under Mandela’s leadership, MK launched a sabotage campaign against the government, which had recently declared South Africa a republic and withdrawn from the British Commonwealth. In January 1962, Mandela traveled abroad illegally to attend a conference of African nationalist leaders in Ethiopia, visit the exiled Oliver Tambo in London and undergo guerilla training in Algeria. On August 5, shortly after his return, he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for leaving the country and inciting a 1961 workers’ strike. The following July, police raided an ANC hideout in Rivonia, a suburb on the outskirts of Johannesburg, and arrested a racially diverse group of MK leaders who had gathered to debate the merits of a guerilla insurgency.

Evidence was found implicating Mandela and other activists, who were brought to stand trial for sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy alongside their associates. Mandela and seven other defendants narrowly escaped the gallows and were instead sentenced to life imprisonment during the so-called Rivonia Trial, which lasted eight months and attracted substantial international attention. In a stirring opening statement that sealed his iconic status around the world, Mandela admitted to some of the charges against him while defending the ANC’s actions and denouncing the injustices of apartheid. He ended with the following words: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Nelson Mandela’s Years Behind Bars Nelson Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison, a former leper colony off the coast of Cape Town, where he was confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing and compelled to do hard labor in a lime quarry. As a black political prisoner, he received scantier rations and fewer privileges than other inmates.

He was only allowed to see his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1936-), who he had married in 1958 and was the mother of his two young daughters, once every six months. Mandela and his fellow prisoners were routinely subjected to inhumane punishments for the slightest of offenses; among other atrocities, there were reports of guards burying inmates in the ground up to their necks and urinating on them. These restrictions and conditions notwithstanding, while in confinement Mandela earned a bachelor of law degree from the University of London and served as a mentor to his fellow prisoners, encouraging them to seek better treatment through nonviolent resistance. He also smuggled out political statements and a draft of his autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” published five years after his release. Despite his forced retreat from the spotlight, Mandela remained the symbolic leader of the antiapartheid movement. In 1980 Oliver Tambo introduced a “Free Nelson Mandela” campaign that made the jailed leader a household name and fueled the growing international outcry against South Africa’s racist regime.

As pressure mounted, the government offered Mandela his freedom in exchange for various political compromises, including the renouncement of violence and recognition of the “independent” Transkei Bantustan, but he categorically rejected these deals. In 1982 Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland, and in 1988 he was placed under house arrest on the grounds of a minimum-security correctional facility. The following year, newly elected president F. W. de Klerk (1936-) lifted the ban on the ANC and called for a nonracist South Africa, breaking with the conservatives in his party. On February 11, 1990, he ordered Mandela’s release. Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa After attaining his freedom, Nelson Mandela led the ANC in its negotiations with the governing National Party and various other South African political organizations for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. Though fraught with tension and conducted against a backdrop of political instability, the talks earned Mandela and de Klerk the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1993.

On April 26, 1994, more than 22 million South Africans turned out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections in history. An overwhelming majority chose the ANC to lead the country, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as the first black president of South Africa, with de Klerk serving as his first deputy. As president, Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights and political violations committed by both supporters and opponents of apartheid between 1960 and 1994. He also introduced numerous social and economic programs designed to improve the living standards of South Africa’s black population. In 1996 Mandela presided over the enactment of a new South African constitution, which established a strong central government based on majority rule and prohibited discrimination against minorities, including whites. Improving race relations, discouraging blacks from retaliating against the white minority and building a new international image of a united South Africa were central to President Mandela’s agenda.

To these ends, he formed a multiracial “Government of National Unity” and proclaimed the country a “rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.” In a gesture seen as a major step toward reconciliation, he encouraged blacks and whites alike to rally around the predominantly Afrikaner national rugby team when South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. On his 80th birthday in 1998, Mandela wed the politician and humanitarian Graça Machel (1945-), widow of the former president of Mozambique. (His marriage to Winnie had ended in divorce in 1992.) The following year, he retired from politics at the end of his first term as president and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki (1942-) of the ANC. Nelson Mandela’s Later Years and Legacy After leaving office, Nelson Mandela remained a devoted champion for peace and social justice in his own country and around the world. He established a number of organizations, including the influential Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Elders, an independent group of public figures committed to addressing global problems and easing human suffering.

In 2002, Mandela became a vocal advocate of AIDS awareness and treatment programs in a culture where the epidemic had been cloaked in stigma and ignorance. The disease later claimed the life of his son Makgatho (1950-2005) and is believed to affect more people in South Africa than in any other country. Treated for prostate cancer in 2001 and weakened by other health issues, Mandela grew increasingly frail in his later years and scaled back his schedule of public appearances. In 2009, the United Nations declared July 18 “Nelson Mandela International Day” in recognition of the South African leader’s contributions to democracy, freedom, peace and human rights around the world. Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013 from a recurring lung infection. Tags Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela (Created by Michelle L. Bolden, History 135, July 1998) Assignment What combination of policies and events caused the previously nonviolent Nelson Mandela to reverse his position in order to gain multi-racial democracy for South Africa?

Background Nelson Rohihlahia (stirring up trouble) Mandela was born on 18 July 1918, near Umtata, in the Transkei region of South Africa. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela was trained to become the next chief to rule his tribe, but he was also a determined student and eventually joined an all black college, Fort Hare, where he was expelled for joining a student boycott. He later obtained an arts degree in Johannesburg and studied law at the University of Witwatersrand. Before apartheid, South Africa had a long history of racial segregation. In 1910 parliamentary membership was limited to whites, and legislation was passed in 1913 to restrict ownership of land by blacks. The African National Congress (ANC) had been formed in 1910 to fight these policies. In 1944, the ANC President Alfred B. Xuma started recruiting younger and more outspoken members like Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, the first members of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).

In 1949, the Programme of Action was written by the ANCYL and adopted by the ANC which advocated boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience and noncooperation to achieve its goals. Mandela also co-authored the "ANCYL programme", which called for full citizenship, direct parliamentary representation, land redistribution, trade union rights, education and cultural equality for all South Africans. This was followed by the Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws in 1952, calling for mass disobedience starting with volunteers and involving more and more ordinary people. Mandela traveled the country organizing resistance to discriminatory legislation, often referred to as the "Black Pimpernal" by the press because of the disguises he used to avoid police. Mandela was arrested for these actions and convicted of contravening the Suppression of Communism Act. He was given a suspended sentence, prohibited from gatherings and confined to Johannesburg for six months. It was during this confinement that Mandela passed the attorney's admissions examination, and he and his long time friend, Oliver Tambo, opened the country's first black law partnership with the help of Walter Sisulu.

Apartheid had become the official political policy in 1948, which caused membership in the ANC to greatly increase. After the Sharpville massacre in 1960, when police killed 69 and wounded 180 unarmed African pass protesters, Mandela convinced the nonviolent ANC to form a military wing, known as Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), which soon launched a campaign of sabotage against the government. At the same time, the government banned all black political organizations to include the ANC and kept a close watch on Mandela. In 1962, Mandela left the country to train militarily. Upon his return, he was arrested for leaving the country and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and two years later sentenced to life for treason and sabotage in the Rivonia Trial. (It has been alleged by many--though never conclusively proven--that the CIA tipped off the South African government about Mandela being out of the country and that this is how the government knew when and where to arrest him upon his return in 1962.

The evidence includes London newspaper reports in The Guardian on 15 August 1986 and The Times on 4 August 1986.) By the end of the 1960s, opponents to apartheid were being arrested at the rate of 600,000 per year. Nelson Mandela spent 1964 to 1982 incarcerated in the maximum security prison on Robben Island, then moved to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and finally to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. Mandela's reputation grew steadily during his prison years, and he was often looked up to by fellow inmates. The government often offered Mandela a pardon if he would settle down in Transkei, but P.W. Botha offered the pardon only if Mandela agreed to denounce violence. Mandela's steadfast refusal to compromise his political position to obtain freedom, made him a leading symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. The ANC became an underground organization from the 1960s to the mid 1980s, while the government continued to implement a series of reforms to further oppress South Africans. These actions were criticized internationally and helped to win anti-apartheid favor around the world.

By the late 1980s, the mass democratic movement pushed the white leaders of South Africa to engage in conversations with exhiled ANC leaders in 1988 and 1989. President F.W. de Klerk made the decision to release Nelson Mandela in February of 1990 after he had spent 27 years in prison. The ANC's consistent principle of non-racial democracy created a basis for trust, which led to further talks between political parties, black and white. A transitional constitution was then developed at the World Trade Center in Johannesburg from 1991 to 1993, and this led to a new Government of National Unity. Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their efforts in negotiating an end to apartheid. In 1994 multi-racial elections occurred, and Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa. Mandela dedicated his life to the struggle of ending apartheid policies in South Africa, never wavering from his position to seek equality for all races to include whites, and he has given more of himself in doing so than most activists.

Yet, he remains a modest man who shows a total lack of bitterness or revenge for the years of lost freedom, his lost family and the loss of so much life. It is these qualities which make Nelson Mandela one of the great moral and political leaders of our time. Timeline 1910, South Africa's parliamentary membership limited to whites. 1912, the African National Congress (ANC), a nonviolent civil rights group promoting the interests of black Africans, was founded. 18 July 1918, Nelson Mandela was born in Umtata, the Transkei region of South Africa. 1944, Mandela joined the ANC Youth League. 1948, Apartheid became the official political policy of South Africa. Laws classified people according to racial groups, determined where each group was to live, prohibited social contact between races and denied representation of non-whites in the national government. Nelson Mandela became actively engaged in apartheid activities. 1949, ANC adopted a nonviolent Programme of Action. 1952, Mandela opened the first black law partnership in South Africa. 1952, Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws launched by the ANC.

1952, Mandela arrested, convicted for crimes against the Suppression of Communism Act and given a suspended sentence. 14 June 1958, Mandela married his second wife, Winnie. 1960, Sharpville massacre in which 69 killed and 180 wounded. 1960, Military arm of the ANC, called the Umkhonto we Sizwe, formed. 1960, ANC and all black political organizations are banned. 5 August 1962, Mandela arrested and sentenced to 5 years of hard labor in prison. 12 June 1964, While already in prison, Mandela further sentenced to life imprisonment for sabotage and treason. 14 August 1989, P. W. Botha quit as president; 15 August De Klerk succeeded him. February 1990, Mandela released from prison and assumed leadership of the ANC, leading negotiations with the government for a new constitution that ended apartheid. 7 June 1990, South Africa lifted the emergency decrees.

7 July 1991, the first national conference of the ANC held, and Nelson Mandela elected President, while his friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the National Chairperson. 1991 to 1993, a new constitution for the Government of National Unity was developed at the Johannesburg World Trade Center. 1993, Nelson Mandela and South African President F. W. de Klerk share the Nobel Peace prize for their efforts in establishing democracy and racial harmony in South Africa. 1994, After the country's first multiracial elections, Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa. May 1995, South Africa approved a new constitution which barred discrimination against minorities, to include whites. March 1996, Nelson Mandela formally divorced from Winnie Mandela. WWW sites There are many sites devoted to Nelson Mandela, his life, his struggle to end apartheid and his current position as President of South Africa. Some of the best sites are: Facts on File and South Africa's Government of National Unity . Sites which offer commentary on and recognition of his achievements, include the Boston Globe for his Nobel Peace Prize , the Peace Prize lecture and the most complete list of honors awarded.

The African National Congress home page provides the most inclusive collection of information on the history of apartheid and the revolution which brought the ANC into power. Not only are major events of the apartheid era, such as the Rivonia Trial covered, but also the key persons and groups that contributed; Oliver Tambo , Walter Sisulu , Umkhonto we Sizwe , and many others. This site also contains the most comprehensive collection of speeches by Mandela. Two of his most important speeches include his speech on his Release From Jail (1990) and his Inaugural Address (10 May 1994). Another site which details the rise and fall of apartheid is the South Africa U.S. Embassy . Robben Island , which housed the majority of revolutionaries against apartheid, to include Mandela, has now been designated as a National Museum and cultural heritage site. Recommended Books For a personal perspective of the trials and tribulations of his life, read Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (1995). A less detailed accounting may be found in Mandela: An Illustrated Autobiography (1996).

Nelson Mandela: The Struggle Is My Life (1992), is a collection of speeches and writings which explains Mandela's political beliefs. Mary Benson, Nelson Mandela, The Man and the Movement (1986) is a sympathetic biography and portrait of Mandela that relies, in part, on prison interviews. The book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend is a touching tribute to Mandela from a former prison guard James Gregory, whose hatred for blacks was reversed after getting to know and becoming a friend of Mandela.

Question: Which president of South Africa ordered the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in 1990?
Answer: F.W. de Klerk