A Brief Biography of Nelson R. Mandela

Mandela’s words, "The struggle is my life," are not to be taken lightly. Nelson Mandela personifies struggle. He is still leading the fight against apartheid with extraordinary vigor and resilience after spending nearly three decades of his life behind bars. He has sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains South Africa’s best known and loved hero.

Mandela has held numerous positions in the ANC: ANCYL secretary (1948); ANCYL president (1950); ANC Transvaal president (1952); deputy national president (1952) and ANC president (1991).

  • He was born at Qunu, near Umtata on 18 July 1918.
  • His father, Henry Mgadla Mandela, was chief councilor to Thembuland’s acting paramount chief David Dalindyebo. When his father died, Mandela became the chief’s ward and was groomed for the chieftainship.
  • Mandela matriculated at Healdtown Methodist Boarding School and then started a BA degree at Fort Hare. As an SRC member he participated in a student strike and was expelled, along with the late Oliver Tambo, in 1940. He completed his degree by correspondence from Johannesburg, did articles of clerkship and enrolled for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand.
  • In 1944 he helped found the ANC Youth League, whose Programme of Action was adopted by the ANC in 1949.
  • Mandela was elected national volunteer-in-chief of the 1952 Defiance Campaign. He travelled the country organizing resistance to discriminatory legislation.
  • By 1952 Mandela and Tambo had opened the first black legal firm in the country, and Mandela was both Transvaal president of the ANC and deputy national president. A petition by the Transvaal Law Society to strike Mandela off the roll of attorneys was refused by the Supreme Court.
  • In 1962 Mandela left the country for military training in Algeria and to arrange training for other MK members. On his return he was arrested for leaving the country illegally and for incitement to strike. He conducted his own defense. He was convicted and jailed for five years in November 1962. While serving his sentence, he was charged, in the Rivonia trial, with sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment.
  • Robben Island, where he was imprisoned, became a centre for learning, and Mandela was a central figure in the organised political education classes. In prison Mandela never compromised his political principles and was always a source of strength for the other prisoners.
  • Mandela has honorary degrees from more than 50 international universities and is chancellor of the University of the North.
  • He was inaugurated as the first democratically elected State President of South Africa on 10 May 1994 - June 1999. He retired from Public life in June 1999. He currently resides in his birth place - Qunu, Transkei.
 
For information about the The Nelson Mandela National Museum go to http://www.nelsonmandelamuseum.org.za/index2.htm
NELSON MANDELA SQUARE
On the 31st of March 2004 the world’s first public statue of Nelson Mandela – was officially unveiled in Johannesburg, South Africa at an auspicious occasion held in what was then Sandton Square, now renamed NELSON MANDELA SQUARE at Sandton City. This celebratory event also marked the Square’s tenth anniversary and commemorated South Africa’s first decade of democracy. The six-meter tall bronze statue was erected to honor and pay tribute to the great South African freedom fighter and statesman: President Nelson Mandela. The intention was also to create a focal point where local and foreign tourists could contemplate the events that led to the creation of the miracle of the Rainbow Nation.
 
While we honor Nelson Mandela in this statue, we are also honoring South Africa. He’s not just a grandfather to us, but to the whole nation." Most were interested in why Sandton Square? Why not in Alexandra? Gary Vipond, Nelson Mandela Square manager, explained: "The square is optimistic, expressive and confident, like the Madiba jive, and represents a sophisticated, eclectic, cosmopolitan success story. “
 
The donors selected Sandton Square due to its geographical location in the centre of the Sandton CBD, also because it is one of the largest public open spaces in South Africa.Sandton is, without a doubt the most important business and financial district in South Africa, and plausibly even in sub-Saharan Africa. The ’Southern Suburbs’ of Sandton were laid out quite early in the century and by the 1930s they were well established as ’gentleman estate’ areas with most of the properties being “one morgen” or larger. For information about Sandton go to http://www.southafrica.com/gauteng/sandton/
 
 
The Nelson Mandela Foundation hopes to benefit from the statue’s tourist appeal, by placing a donation box beside the statue. Liberty Properties landlords, made the first donation of R50 000.   For information go to http://www.nelsonmandelasquare.com/about_us.html

 

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