Turning points in Nelson Mandela's life

Turning points in Nelson Mandela’s life.

In this question on Nelson Mandela I will be explaining to you what I feel are the most important turning points in his life.

The Death of Nelson Mandela’s father had a huge impact in the young mans life. If his father hadn’t have died, Nelson Mandela would never have been adopted by the chief of Thembuland. He was educated at a British missionary boarding school and at Fort Hare University, from which he was expelled in 1940 for leading a strike with Oliver Tambo. He returned home, but ran away to Soweto in Transvaal province, giving up his hereditary chieftainship to avoid an arranged marriage.

He eventually obtained a law degree from the University of South Africa. Helped by Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo set up South Africa’s first black law firm in 1944. The law firm was set up only for black people. Mandela and Tambo were the black’s people’s solicitors, as black people had very little money. Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo didn’t charge and even if they did on rare occasions it would be very little.

In 1947 Nelson Mandela became the youth league secretary of the African National Congress (ANC). He was chosen as a “volunteer-in-chief” for the Defiance campaign in 1952. As a result, he was tried under the suppression of Communism Act. Although found guilty he was given a suspended sentence. The ANC believes in equal rights for all races.

Mandela was arrested in 1955 and was acquitted of treason in 1961. After the trial, Mandela took up an armed insurrection, travelling aboard for military training. Upon his return to South Africa, he went underground and formed the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). The press dubbed him the “Black Pimpernel” because of the disguises he used to avoid the police for 18 months.

He was arrested again on August 5, 1962 and charged with inciting people to strike and with leaving South Africa without a passport. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison after being found guilty of sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government. While he was in prison, police raided an ANC safe house in Rivonia, a suburb of Johannesburg, as a

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result of which Mandela and a number of comrades were tried for treason. After first being acquitted in 1963, they were retried in the celebrated Rivonia trial, and in 1964 Mandela and 7 comrades were convicted of sabotage and treason and sentenced to life in prison.

Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990 after 27 years. Mandela could have been released in June 1987 had he accepted the conditions of getting the ANC to stop the violence Mandela catching tuberculosis helped to secure his release; he had a major operation and was later moved to a cottage in Victor Verster Prison near Cape Town. The justice minister brought him a case of wine as a house warming present! He also told Mandela this would be his last home before becoming a free man, and where the talks were to go on. The talks were about the violence and the different alliances that had been having their voices heard. The ANC was a big problem by itself as Mandela was chosen as president for the alliance and the people would do anything that Mandela said.

In 1994 Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. He was also the first man to become president after a prison sentence.

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In 1994 Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. He was also the first man to become president after a prison sentence.

In conclusion I feel that having studied the life of Nelson Mandela that these are the most important turning points in his life. Through Nelson Mandela’s suffering the black people of South Africa gained their freedom. If Mandela had not grown into the person he did then South Africa may still be suffering from apartheid today, or the situation may have been reversed. In South Africa today different races and religions live side by side in relative harmony. Mandela did not believe in revenge he just wanted to ensure that the world his children and grand-children grew up in was a better place, and that they wouldn’t have to suffer the way he suffered.

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The World on South Africa.

In this question I will be examining the part the rest of the world played in bringing apartheid to an end.

Sanctions are what the rest of the world put in place hoping it would bring apartheid to a stop. Sanctions meant the countries stopped trading with South Africa e.g. buying their products or selling products to South Africa. Sanctions had a fairly big impact until the whites of South Africa started losing the power they had gained. To regain power they took even more from the blacks. The blacks had the biggest population but the smallest portion of land. The food was stolen from the crops that they grew, their houses were ransacked every other week or so. Children who were born in to this regime never knew what freedom was, but they were still willing to fight for it as they grew up. Women were left with the children while the men worked in the city, they would send money back to the shelters and Bantustan’s to provide for their families. If they were lucky they might see their wife and children 3 or 4 times a year. Bantustan’s were shelters run by blacks for blacks, that had the same bad luck, except the government paid them to run the shelter’s and Bantustan’s. Sanctions during the 1950’s and 1960’s were weak because the sanctions were not yet supported by the USA and many European Countries.

Other African countries were unable to put effective pressure on South Africa. They were separated from South Africa and were unable to give any help or meaningful arguments with the government. Also many countries were worried that it would be them next so kept their mouths shut and feelings shut away.

Sporting sanctions were put in place. South African loved their sports so the world hoped that they would stop apartheid by banning them from the Commonwealth Games, Olympics and Cricket World Cup. It didn’t work the way they treated the blacks stayed the same. The sanctions stayed in place for many years.

Economic pressure was also put on South Africa though all the different sanctions the world used to try and bring apartheid to an end failed. The money was now in smaller quantity’s which left the whites annoyed, so

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they retaliated by taking even more land from the blacks and gave them smaller amounts of money to live on.

South Africa and the rest of the world had very different opinions on how blacks should be treated. South Africa believed that the whites were far superior to the blacks. The rest of the world disagreed, they believed in equal opportunities for everyone. External pressure was a big problem for South Africa. Although South Africa believed they could keep fighting the rest of the world, they eventually found out otherwise. The sport and trade sanctions hit South Africa hard. The trade sanctions hit the cash flow though-out the country, and the sport sanctions just hurt as South Africans loved their sports. Over all I feel that the sanctions and other political action taken by the rest of the world was a good move. Even though it hit the blacks hard to start with it helped them in the long run, with giving them their rights and freedom.

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Who had the biggest role in bringing Apartheid and Majority rule to an end?

Nelson Mandela or President De Klerk

Nelson Mandela and Prime Minister De Klerk both played an important part in bringing Apartheid and Majority rule to an end. In my answer I am going to show you the parts that each man played during Apartheid and the Minority Rule to try and find out which one of these men had the biggest part to play.

In August 1989 Botha Resigned as President and F W De Klerk took over. De Klerk was an Afrikaner and did not believe in Majority rule. However, De Klerk realised that new policies were needed. At the General Election in September 1989, he promised that apartheid would be reformed. Just days later, Cape Town had its biggest anti-apartheid march in 30 years. De Klerk could have banned it but he let it go ahead.

In October 1989 De Klerk released Walter Sisulu and some other black prisoners. He began to demolish petty apartheid. Beaches were opened to people of all races and he announced that the Separate Amenities Act would be repealed. This law had segregated public places, such as parks.

In December, De Klerk met Mandela, who asked him to lift the ban on the ANC. The cabinet agreed to do this. They may have thought that the ANC didn’t offer a major threat at the time.

On February 2nd 1990, De Klerk told Parliament that:

All bans on the ANC and PAC were ended, along with bans on over 30 other organisations.
Political prisoners who had not committed violent crimes would be released.
Newspaper could report events freely.
The death sentence would be stopped.
Mandela would be released, without conditions.

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De Klerk also said that ‘the time for good negotiation has arrived’. But some of the white politicians booed when De Klerk announced the changes.

De Klerk’s Reforms.

March 1990: Namibia gained independence from South Africa.

October 1990: Separate Amenities Act repealed.

National Party allowed people of all races to become members.

June 1991: Group Areas Act repealed.

International Reactions:

April 1991: EC decided to end sanctions.

July 1991: USA ended sanctions.

Cricket boycott ended and South Africa was allowed back into the Olympics.

Mandela was released from Prison on February 11th 1990. Two Thousand people came to watch him leave the Victor Verster prison after 27 years. He greeted them with “I greet you in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all”.

In December 1993, over 300 years of White rule ended. A Transitional Executive Council (TEC) was set up to run the country until the election in April 1994. Blacks had a share in the Government for the first time. That same month, the Bantustans were officially scrapped.

For the first time 16 million blacks were allowed to vote, of which about half couldn’t read. They were given a voting slip which offered them 19 parties to choose from. Each party was shown by its official logo, its name and a picture of the party leader.

In rural areas, people walked over 60 miles to cast their vote.

The ANC won the election easily, gaining 62% of the vote. The National party polled 20% and Inkatha winning 10%. The ANC’s campaign of violence had helped them win. Back in 1977 more people had supported Inkatha than the ANC.

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Mandela first met Oliver Tambo at Fort Hare University. Mandela was expelled from the University in 1940 for leading a strike with

Oliver Tambo. Mandela returned home but ran away to Soweto in Transvaal to avoid an arranged marriage.

Mandela eventually obtained a law degree at the University of South Africa. With the degree Mandela set up the first black law firm in South Africa with Oliver Tambo and with the help of Walter Sisulu in 1944. The law firm was set up by blacks with the services being for blacks. These three men formed the African National Congress Youth League which came to dominate the ANC in 1948.

Mandela was arrested in 1955 and was acquitted of treason in 1961. After the trial, Mandela took up an armed insurrection, travelling aboard for military training. On his return to South Africa he went under-ground to form the ANC’s military wing. The press dubbed Mandela the “Black Pimpernel” because of all the disguises he used to avoid the police for 18 months.

He was arrested again on August 5 1962, for travelling without a passport and with the inciting people to strike. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison after being found guilty of trying to overthrow the government.

While Mandela was in prison the police raided one of the ANC’s safe houses in Rivonia. As a result Mandela and a number of comrades were tried for treason. After first being acquitted in 1963, they were retried in 1964 and Mandela and the 7 comrades were found guilty of sabotage and treason.

Mandela spent the next 27 years in prison, living in harsh conditions and in a maximum security prison on Robyn Island until 1982.

After several years of secret talks that had begun in 1986 with government minister, Mandela met with President P.W. Botha in July 1989 and with his successor, President F. W. de Klerk, in December of that year. As a result of those talks Mandela was released on February 11th 1990.

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Following his release, Mandela was appointed deputy president of the ANC. He launched a world tour to persuade Western leaders to maintain economic sanctions against South Africa and to raise funds to help the ANC function as an above-ground political party. Negations with the ruling National Party led to the ANC’s August 1990 decision to suspend its armed struggle after almost 30 years. On July 7, 1991 Mandela became president of the ANC.

In December 1991, Mandela joined with the Government and other political parties to negotiate South Africa’s post apartheid future. Negotiations continued sporadically until February 1993, when the ANC and the National Party reached agreements on an interim unity government in which both parties would be partners for 5 years.

When I first started studying South Africa I thought Nelson Mandela was the only man who brought apartheid to an end. But through studying South Africa I found out that many people were involved in bringing apartheid to an end. Nelson Mandela and President F. W. de Klerk both had major roles in bringing apartheid to an end. Doing this research I was hoping to obtain the evidence I needed to prove who played the biggest part, but through all the research I came to one conclusion, although Nelson Mandela and President F. W. de Klerk both played big parts there were many other people involved in bringing apartheid to an end. So I think it is fair to say that although Mandela and President F. W. de Klerk were in the country suffering and having to put up with the dreadful rules of apartheid, that it was through a world effort that apartheid was brought to an end.

By Natalie Young 10L