Nelson Mandela: From the Fight Against Apartheid to South African Reconciliation

Nelson Mandela remains one of the leading figures in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. An activist in the African National Congress (ANC), a lawyer, a political prisoner for 27 years and then the country’s first Black president, he placed equal rights and national reconciliation at the heart of his actions.

His path cannot be reduced to an individual trajectory. It sheds light on the history of a system of institutionalized racial segregation, the successive forms of resistance opposed to it, and the political transition that led to the first multiracial elections in 1994.

Growing Up in an Already Unequal South Africa

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, South Africa, under the name Rolihlahla Mandela. He belonged to a royal family of the Thembu people, part of the Xhosa ethnic group. The name Madiba, by which he is frequently known, is a mark of respect connected to his clan.

When he entered an English-speaking Protestant school at the age of seven, a teacher gave him the British first name Nelson. Two years later, his father’s death disrupted his childhood. His education was then overseen by the regent of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who encouraged him to continue his schooling.

This period unfolded in a South Africa deeply shaped by colonial domination and land dispossession. Colonized by the Dutch from 1652, then controlled by the British from 1806, the territory became a self-governing state within the British Empire in 1910. In 1913, the Native Land Act reserved most land for the white minority and confined the Black majority to a very small share of the territory.

It was in this context that the ANC was founded, an organization intended to defend the interests of Black populations against the inequalities imposed by white rule.

Studies, Law and Commitment Within the ANC

In 1939, Nelson Mandela entered the University of Fort Hare to study law and history. At the time, the institution was reserved for non-white students. There he met, among others, Oliver Tambo, who would become both his friend and fellow campaigner. However, his involvement in a student mobilization led to his expulsion in 1940.

Refusing an arranged marriage, Mandela left his region in 1941 and moved to Johannesburg, in the Queenstown area. He initially held precarious jobs before becoming close to Walter Sisulu, an ANC activist. In 1943, he joined the organization.

Alongside Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and other activists, he helped establish the ANC Youth League in 1944. This body sought to intensify methods of mobilization through civil disobedience, strikes and boycotts. Mandela also resumed his law studies and became a lawyer. In 1951, he and Oliver Tambo opened the country’s first Black law firm.

Mandela’s struggles echoed other mobilizations against racial segregation. In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. also embodied a struggle for civil rights, based on a nonviolent strategy in a different historical and political context.

Apartheid and the Turning Point in Resistance

In 1948, the National Party, elected by the white electorate, introduced apartheid. The term means “separation” in Afrikaans. This system transformed and reinforced racial segregation: controlled movement, segregated public spaces, restrictions on transportation, political exclusion and forced removals affected Black, mixed-race and Indian populations.

Mandela then devoted most of his activities to fighting this regime. His commitment resulted in arrests and convictions. In 1952, having become one of the ANC’s leaders, he was sentenced to nine months in prison on charges of a political nature. Nevertheless, he continued his activist and legal work.

The Sharpeville massacre on March 21, 1960, marked a major turning point. During a peaceful demonstration against passes imposed on Black people, police opened fire on the crowd. The reported toll was 69 dead and more than 180 injured. After this event, a state of emergency was declared and the ANC was banned.

Mandela then concluded that nonviolent means were no longer sufficient in the face of repression. In 1961, he helped create Umkhonto we Sizwe, often referred to by the initials MK, the clandestine armed wing associated with the ANC. Its first actions targeted industrial, military and electrical infrastructure, without direct casualties according to accounts from that period.

From African Support to the Rivonia Trial

In 1962, Nelson Mandela traveled to several African countries and also went to London to raise awareness of the South African situation. In Morocco, he received training from fighters linked to the armed wing of the Algerian National Liberation Front. This experience formed part of a circulation of ideas, solidarity and decolonization experiences across the African continent.

Arrested on August 5, 1962, after returning to South Africa, Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison, notably for inciting a strike and leaving the country without authorization. The following year, the arrest of ANC and MK activists in Rivonia led to a new trial.

At the Rivonia Trial, Mandela and his co-defendants faced the death penalty for conspiracy, treason and sabotage. In his defense, he stated that he was fighting both white domination and Black domination, in the name of a democratic society in which everyone would have equal rights. The defendants escaped the death penalty but were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Robben Island: 27 Years of Imprisonment

Mandela spent eighteen years on Robben Island, off Cape Town, before being transferred to other institutions. Prison conditions there were extremely harsh: forced labor, inadequate food, limited visits and censored mail. He was assigned prisoner number 46664.

During his captivity, he continued to read and study. In particular, he learned the language and history of the Afrikaners, with the aim of understanding those who ran the regime and preparing for future dialogue. He was unable to attend either the funeral of his mother, who died in 1968, or that of his eldest son, who died in a car accident in 1969.

Outside prison, opposition did not disappear. The Soweto uprising in 1976 and the death of activist Steve Biko in 1977 heightened international attention to apartheid. Artists and international mobilizations also helped make Mandela a global symbol of anti-racist struggles.

Release, Negotiations and Presidency

In 1990, President Frederik de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC. Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, at the age of 71. He then resumed public political activity and entered into negotiations with the authorities to end the apartheid system.

In 1993, Mandela and Frederik de Klerk jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize. The following year, South Africa held its first multiracial elections by universal suffrage. More than 15 million people, previously excluded from political citizenship, were able to vote. The ANC won 62% of the vote, and Nelson Mandela became president on May 10, 1994.

As head of the country, he championed reconciliation among South Africans and popularized the expression “rainbow nation.” The 1995 Rugby World Cup became one of the symbols of this ambition: the Springboks, long seen as the team of the white Afrikaner minority, gradually gained support from a broader part of the population.

A new Constitution was promulgated in 1996 to consolidate rights and prevent a return to an institutionalized racial order. Mandela left the presidency in 1999, after a single term, in accordance with his commitment.

A Political and Human Legacy

After stepping down from the presidency, Nelson Mandela remained involved in several causes, including HIV/AIDS prevention and research. His son Makgatho died of HIV in 2005. Mandela died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.

His life illustrates that the legal abolition of a system does not instantly erase inequalities and divisions inherited from the past. Nevertheless, he remains associated with a clear political demand: building a democracy in which rights do not depend on skin color. This pursuit of equality belongs to a broader history that also includes the struggles of figures such as Jean-Baptiste Belley, France’s first Black member of parliament.

FAQ: Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Why was Nelson Mandela imprisoned?

He was first convicted in 1962 for inciting a strike and leaving South Africa without authorization. At the Rivonia Trial, he was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment alongside other activists on charges related to conspiracy, treason and sabotage.

How long was Nelson Mandela in prison?

Nelson Mandela was detained for 27 years. He spent eighteen of those years on Robben Island before being transferred to prisons near Cape Town.

When did Nelson Mandela become president of South Africa?

He became president on May 10, 1994, following the country’s first multiracial elections by universal suffrage.