Nelson mandela, a man before his time

Authors Avatar

Topic: History.

Nelson Mandela, a man before or after his time?

Word count: 3500

Content:

  • Nelson Mandela’s life
  • A short history of South Africa.
  • Nelson Mandela, too late?
  • Nelson Mandela, too early?
  • What has changed?

I’ve always been very interested in politics, especially when it comes to Africa, and if there was one person I could meat, it would most defenetly be Nelson Mandela. I believe that this topic has been very rewarding, as I have learnt a lot of astonishing facts about a time that isn’t to far away, and that still relates to modern times.

 In this essay I am going to acknowledge the different times at which Nelson Mandela could have been a crucial asset to the South African people. Would he have been able to change anything? And what was the political situation at that time?

To do this, I gathered information using Nelson Mandela’s personal statements from his autobiography and his many speeches, however this could be a biased point of view. Therefore I also used secondary sources giving different political points of view as back up for Nelson Mandela’s personal criticism. It was also essential for one to understand how he perceived himself, and was perceived by others in relation to the African people.  

 

 Nelson Mandela, also known as Rolihlahla (his African name), was born on the 18th of July 1918 in a small village called Mvezo in “black” Transkei. His father, the chief of Mvezo, was a member of the Tembu royal family, one of the many African tribes. His influence over his child was very limited as he died of an unknown sickness when Nelson Mandela was only 9 years old. Fortunately for the young Nelson, a rich and powerful relative took him under his wing, ensuring him a good education at various renowned schools across the country, such as (Fort Hare, Witwatersrand) from which he was expelled after taking part in the organisation of a student strike against the discriminating institute rules. It was during this period that he came into contact with many of the people who would be politically influential in his latter life such as his long-standing good friend Oliver Tambo (Latter president in exile of the ANC). Unfortunately the helpful relative had some not so welcome plans for Nelson (i.e.: marriage), which pushed him to run away from home accompanied by his close friend Justice, to Johannesburg, where they both tried unsuccessfully to get  jobs in the mines. Mining was an industry of mostly foreign investment made profitable by the use (abuse) of cheap black labour. Luckily Justice had contacts in South Africa with whom they could lodge, and this kept them away from the dangerous life on the streets.  Searching desperately, Nelson Mandela finally found work as a trainee in a law cabinet, where the office treated affairs of both blacks and whites. It was in Johannesburg that Nelson Mandela made many acquaintances and was subjected to many different political points of view.  He met many members of the communist party, (both black and white), members of the African National Congress (ANC), some where members of both.

His passion for politics developed quickly, one minute he was listening attentively to debates and the next he found himself marching against the Apartheid movement. Very soon Mandela climbed the ranks and became directly involved in the anti apartheid movement. He was proud to organise their first political manifestations along with the support of other ethnic groups, such as the Indian population. However this obviously brought some unwanted attention to his existence.

The ANC up to this time had a policy of passive demonstration, without any assault, which was a position that had become increasingly difficult to maintain as the government passed more and more harsh laws restricting the lives and rights of anyone who was not white. In response to the use of boycotts and strikes the government’s reaction was to arrest, imposing many short prison sentences and resorting to minor violence directed towards Nelson Mandela and his colleagues. Due to the ANC’s willingness to ally itself with communism and its external perception as a terrorist organisation, the South African government immediately passed laws banning all relationships to communism, and essentially banning the holding of any political meeting opposing the apartheid movement. The word “communism” in the 1950s, Suppression of Communism Act was so loosely defined that the act could be misused to stamp out any action deemed to be anti-government. The ANC related to communism as a system of government where the fruits of the country would be equally shared amongst the people who produced them. It represented the opposite of their imposed regime of white supremacy. Communism seemed to ignore the colour of a man’s skin and talk more globally of workers rights. I think that in all countries, when workers are feeling their rights abused the movements formed are left wing trade unions against the right wing bosses. On speaking to his friend Michael Harmel, Nelson Mandela said…”His communist engagement was so strong that he lived no differently from an African.”  Nelson Mandela continued to speak up and declare his thoughts. He went on to create the first law cabinet for Africans which again was rapidly closed down under order of the government. In this situation of increasing tension and repression the Pass Laws where introduced (1952) forcing black people to carry ID at all times. The ID included their photo, their origin, employment record, tax payments, police record, no one could move without it.  The PAC (Pan Africanist Congress), a rival anti apartheid movement responded to these increasing restrictions and staged mass peaceful protests in towns throughout South Africa on March 21, 1960. In a town called Sharpville, the South African police opened fire on the PAC crowd killing 69 people and injuring more than 300. The dead where mostly women and children and were found to have be shot in the back. Latter documentation showed that the police had opened fire giving no previous verbal warning; they had shot at people running away. Many of the injured where denied medical help and where instantly arrested. I think it is shocking, and inconceivable, that despite this barbaric act, still no western developed country reacted. This could have been due to a lack of media, or more likely the control of reliable information being released abroad. Riots followed. On the 30th of March the government declared a state of emergency gradually detaining around 18000 people. Two new strict laws where introduced; The Sabotage Act which enabled them to detain the accused indefinitely and without trial, The Unlawful Organisations Act affectively banned the ANC and the PAC pushing them underground. Nelson Mandela was on the run, his colleagues where in hiding or on the run.

Join now!

 In 1961 due to the gravity of the situation, Nelson Mandela with the support of the ANC created a military wing, known as the Spear of the nation (Umkhonto We Sizwe), a people’s army. On the 16th of December they set off a series of explosions in all major South African cities. These bombs where home made and rudimentary, causing little damage, no loss of life nor injury. Over this period Nelson Mandela was on the run and Oliver Tambo was in exile. In November 1962 Mandela was at last tracked down, tried and sentenced to 5 years with hard labour. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay