ARTIGENDA
Nelson Mandela International Day
When: anually, July 18.
On 18 July 1918, at Mvezo in the O.R. Tambo district of the Eastern Cape province in southeastern South Africa, just beyond Mthatha, someone was born who would change the world. He would not only become an anti-apartheid fighter. He would also go on to be elected president of South Africa. He had to pay a heavy price for this, though, as he was imprisoned as leader of the African National Congress (ANC) between 1963 and 1990.
July 18 has been declared Nelson Mandela International Day by the United Nations. In 2009, a resolution was passed for this purpose to make Mandela’s birthday a day of remembrance. The official documentation can be found here. This was done in recognition of his contribution to the culture of peace and freedom. Not only for South Africa but also for the rest of the world. Mandela remained unconditionally committed to human rights, promoting social equality, and gender equality, improving children’s rights, resolving conflicts, protecting vulnerable groups and fighting poverty until his death on 5 December 2013. He is still seen as a role model for many people. Therefore, 18 July, Nelson Mandela’s birthday, is a good time to reflect on the legacy he left behind.
Armed struggle
Mandela was indeed involved in the ANC’s military arm, the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), in the 1960s. It aimed to flatten military and public facilities to persuade the government to abandon the system of apartheid. The Spear of the Nation was created specifically for this purpose, as it was believed that non-violent struggle was futile. Any form of non-violent resistance was crushed by the government, literally.
Probably because he supported leaders such as Fidel Castro (Cuba), Yasser Arafat (Palestine) and Moammar al-Qadhafi, among others, Mandela was arrested in 1962 after a tip-off from the US intelligence agency CIA. A year before, he had been acquitted in a treason trial. Along with other ANC leaders, he was sentenced to life in prison in 1964. He served much of this sentence on Robben Island (1964 – 1982). During this time, Mandela became a symbol of the struggle against apartheid. Because he was listed as a class D prisoner, he was allowed to receive visits only once a year or a letter only once every six months. It amounted to him hardly receiving any mail, as letters were censored. Everything was aimed at breaking him. This did not succeed. For instance, he did not address guards as “boss.
For a while, it looked like he would get an early release. That was in 1976. The only condition was that Mandela would move to his homeland and never engage in political affairs again. He refused this.
A transfer to Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison followed in 1982. Another move to Victor Vester Prison followed six years later. Here he faced a less rigid regime. Thus, he was housed in a detached house, with his cook and guard. He was also allowed more frequent visits here.
Release
Negotiations between Mandela and the South African government followed as early as 1987. Back then, they were mainly about the release of others. Mandela and other leaders of the ANC could be released if they severed their ties with the South African Communist Party (SACP), did not use violence and stopped seeking regime change. Mandela refused this and so everything remained as it was.
On 11 February 1990, Mandela’s release followed after all. This happened at the hands of President Frederik Willem de Klerk (18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021). After the ban on the ANC was lifted, it was possible to take part in negotiations with the government on the country’s future. A temporary government was formed in September 1992 to pave the way for elections. The first free elections in the country. That, incidentally, lasted until 1994. On 27 April 1994, Mandela was elected president of South Africa at the age of 75. In 1997, he resigned as leader of the ANC. Two years later, he did not stand for re-election because of his age.
Nobel Peace Prize
Mandela regularly expressed critical views on social and political issues during his life as a free man after 1990. For instance, he condemned Israel’s occupation of land obtained during the Six-Day War. He also visited Cuban leader Fidel Castro shortly after his release. About the war in Kosovo, he said NATO had made mistakes in 1999. He would declare the same about the war in Iraq in 2003. This war Mandela described as a “tragedy.”
For his work as a freedom fighter and politician, Mandela received numerous awards and honours. Perhaps the best known is the Nobel Peace Prize. He did have to share it with De Klerk in 1993. The Nobel committee gave the following motivation: “For their efforts in bringing about the peaceful end of the apartheid regime and laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.”
Image at the top of this page: Wikimedia Commons.
