Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, better known across the world over his political life as Nelson Mandela was a strong South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and soft-hearted philanthropist who served as the country’s first president from 1994 to 1999.
Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in a small village on the banks of the Mbashe River called Mvezo in South Africa into the Thembu royal family
This world leader was the SA’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election in the country back in the day.
Mandela died on December 5, 2013, in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa after giving his best to his people.
Where Did Nelson Mandella Attend School? (Education)
Growing up as a young man with a lot of desires to fulfill, he studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before finally settling down and working as a lawyer in the city of Johannesburg.
In the cause of his work, he became involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics, joining the ANC in 1943 and going on to co-found its Youth League in 1944, the beginning of his quest to free the country from the shackles of colonial activities which were eating deep into the cultural heritage of the people.
Nelson Madella Apartheid Life
After the National Party’s white-only government established apartheid, a system of racial segregation that privileged whites over the blacks in the colonial regime around the world at the time, Mandela and the ANC which he founded the young wing for committed themselves to its overthrow. He was finally appointed president of the ANC’s Transvaal branch, rising to prominence for his involvement in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People.
Over the period of fighting for the people of South Africa’s liberation, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the 1956 Treason Trial. However, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life in prison. His prison time was split between Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison, and Victor Verster Prison.
For the growing domestic and international pressure and fears of racial civil war, President F. W. de Klerk released him in 1990 and that moment gave rise to a new dawn in South Africa. Mandela and de Klerk led efforts to negotiate an end to apartheid, which resulted in the 1994 multiracial general election in which Mandela led the ANC to victory and became president.
Nelson Mandela Quotes
As a successful political icon and a role model to many political activists all over the world, he has shared his experience through quotes. Here are some of his popular quotes:
- It always seems impossible until it’s done.
- Many people in this country have paid the price before me and many will pay the price after me.
- Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.
- Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.
