At this time, Great Britain and its Commonwealth were campaigning against apartheid and for Nelson Mandela to be released. This source may have being written to add pressure for Nelson Mandela’s release. Source B is very relevant to suggesting reasons why the title statement maybe correct. Source C is saying that it is impossible to silence them, so it supports source B
Source C the poster by the UDF is against the Botha’s reforms of 1985 and says that the Blacks of South Africa will carry on protesting and that apartheid will not be ignored. It shows that the South African government is imprisoning any opposition. I believe that this poster is very biased as it is a form of Propaganda as it was campaigning for the freedom of Mandela. The poster could also be encouraging Black’s to keep up with the struggle until the end of Apartheid. However, this poster has no relevance to keeping Mandela in prison been a mistake, but it does show the black people in South Africa will carry on the fight to end Apartheid without Nelson Mandela. Therefore this source is suggesting that Mandela staying in prison had no effect as the struggle was still continuing. I know that Mandela had being silenced and that all contact had been cut off from the outside world as he was in solitary confinement and had all his letters censored. However later on prisoners for came to the prison and told him what was happening as he wasn’t confined due to health problems.
Source B is suggesting that Mandela’s imprisonment was a big mistake. It is saying that the longer he was kept in prison the more popular he became. This was because he wouldn’t give up his political status for freedom. Source G does anything but contradict the arguments put forward in Source B. This is because both sources indicate that he was gaining more support and power whilst silenced. In Source G the success both songs had shown that his popularity as increasing. However they were bias as they were British.
Botha the prime minster of South Africa said to Nelson Mandela that he may be released from prison if he didn’t participate in any political gatherings etc. Nelson Mandela turned down Botha’s offer and tried to renegotiate by asking for the ANC to be unbanned and for all other political prisoners to be freed as well. This just made Mandela more popular with the Blacks in South Africa as it showed that after been in prison for decades he is still willing to put others before himself. Then in 1890 the ban on the ANC was removed making it a political party and Nelson Mandela was released. His release was broadcasted all over the world, in many cases interrupting other programs. The Blacks were so happy and now they knew that it wasn’t long before Apartheid ended.
Source D which is Mandela’s speech really shows how strong a person he is, this is because he goes on about how he will carry on the fight for democracy. Mandela then goes on to say and thank everyone for their ‘tireless and heroic sacrifices’ which have helped South Africa and his release tremendously. Again this makes him look my of a hero in many peoples eyes as he is saying that everyone has helped him and South Africa. Source D and source C show that the help and support from the UDF was useful to Nelson Mandela. The sources also contradict with the Botha’s reforms this is because the poster shows that nothing has really changed. A source that supports this is source B as it is saying that his words are ‘Saint like’. By this time Nelson Mandela had become someone great who many would look up to. Source D is extremely reliable as it is a first hand account of what Mandela thought although it is extremely bias as it is his view which was anti-apartheid. I think this source relates to the title well as it is showing that being in prison and solitary confinement has done nothing but made him more powerful and world renowned. So again proves B’s argument.
In 1994, 4 years after Mandela was released from the notorious Robyn Island prison the first elections took place. . This showed that ending apartheid was not only important in South Africa but also the rest of the world believed that the apartheid should come to an end. Mandela was voted in as president and as the new leader of the newly legal ANC, this was because the ANC was the biggest party so had most election power. In Source F it shows that there was a 80% turnout at the elections. I also think that Source F is showing that de Klerk knew that the blacks would have power in the near future. The source was written for children in schools to look at it, this may mean that it is bias as they supported Mandela. I think that this source is very relevant as it shows that Mandela was listened to as he had been in prison. However I know that he was very popular before going in prison but I think that this made him more of a world issue rather than a national one.
Source G are the two songs. ‘Bring him back home to Soweto’ was recorded in 1986 by Hugh Masekela whilst Mandela was in prison and the year which Desmond Tutu became the Arch Bishop. ‘Free Mandela, I’m begging you’ is part of the chorus to one of the hit songs. I think that this is suggesting that keeping Nelson Mandela in prison is a mistake so it is very relevant. It also may be suggesting that Nelson Mandela became more popular in prison from those lyrics. Therefore this makes his release a bigger event. Another song was sung for Mandela by Special AKA in the UK. The lyrics from Special AKA’s song ‘His body abused but his mind still free, are you so blind that you can not see, so deaf you can not hear’. They May be suggesting that although he has being doing hard-labor in prison his mind was still the same so the Whites were not breaking his spirit. Also, it could be trying to get people to support the campaign to free Mandela by saying they need to look and see what is happening, listen to what is happening and speak out. Therefore this source isn’t relevant to the question however it’s showing that Mandela has a mass of black supporters in South Africa. Source G supports this as it is saying that the ‘saint like‘reputation grew during his imprisonment. Both of the songs are linked to Source B’s article.
Source D suggests that they did not succeed in breaking Mandela at all. This is because he still carried on the fight to end apartheid. It also didn’t change things as he still lead the ANC to victory in there first election. However from the white’s point of view it still kept the most influential character this South Africa’s history from participating in political activities. It may have also stopped big protests that he used to organise. So therefore it may have been a success in a way if I relate to the title.
Source E is showing the first time that there anyone could vote in South Africa. The ANC, which was by far the biggest political party won by no surprise with 62.65%. I think that this table isn’t bias as its just figures. This source is not very relevant however it does show that Mandela’s power wasn’t broken in prison which relates again to the title.
During Mandela’s imprisonment the white’s thought that thing could break his spirit and be silenced, however this did not work and did the complete opposite as he received world news coverage and was therefore not silenced. Also other people carried on what he left behind so imprisonment may not have changed anything for the white’s. In source G it seems to be showing that Mandela got popular in Britain and that other people spoke for him in a sense as everyone looked up to him as a hero. One of there main aim’s was to isolate Mandela. This was extremely successful at first as he had years of no contact with the political world, however as he got ill he was moved out of confinement and this is when he found out about what was happening in the political world. In my opinion Nelson Mandela in prison was a huge mistake as it made him a bigger, world popular role model. So the sources back up B’s opinion
Source F his imprisonment helped them when apartheid came to an end. This was because the angry blacks wanted to over run the white government and it would have been violent but by using Nelson Mandela (The Voice of the Blacks) it could be ended in a safe way. He then created the ‘one man, one vote’ policy for the voting. This meant that everyone could vote peacefully. Another success of keeping him in prison meant that he wasn’t killed outside like Biko in Source F by the whites which would have angered the entire world. However from my evidence I believe that keeping him in prison between 1964 and 1990 was a mistake but it can’t be 100% accurate as it is opinionated. That means that depending on where you stand it could have been a mistake or a success.