This is a
feature segment that will look into the lives of exceptional men, every Monday,
we shall give you insight into these men’s journey, how their activities
influenced the world as it is today, the feature will detail lives,
achievements and to others it will expose brutality against humanity. This
feature aims at bringing to fore and unearthing the lonely path this men took.
From a security guard to a global
icon: The life of Nelson Mandela
In the
premier edition of men of our time, we profile the luminous, the most decorated,
Africa’s greatest man and the anti- apartheid global icon, Nelson Mandela.
It gives me
great honor and humility to write about a great man, a man who chooses to sow
love where hatred thrived and taught his jailer that his very freedom depended on
his, a man who stood against both the white and black domination. July 18, 1918,
a young Mandela is born in the rural Transkei, in a royal African family, where
his grandfather had been a king and his father a chief, at birth, Mandela is
given the name Rolihlahla by his father, which meant trouble maker, for him, this
would be a journey more drastic than the
ordinary African chiefdom.
Born in a
humble family, Mandela saw education as his only ticket to freedom; the long
walk starts in Methodists boarding schools and later the fort Hare University,
the only black university in South Africa at that time, where he studies law,
native administration, politics and English. His stay in campus is though cut
short after he is expelled on rebellion claims against the authorities. Disillusioned, Mandela moves to Johannesburg
where he works as a security guard and later gets a job as a clerk in a law
firm.
It is while
working at the law firm that he meets Walter Sisulu and makes friends with
liberals and communists. Mandela would later join the University of Witwatersrand, here he
experiences deep racism and this makes him join the African National Congress
in 1944, he later goes on to establish the ANC youth league. Mandela joins
hands with other group of young intelligent and highly motivated colleagues,
including Walter and Tambo and transforms ANC to amass political movement.
At this time,
apartheid is at its peak in South Africa, it thrives on three popular pillars,
first The Race classification Act; this classified citizens according to their
race. Second. The mixed Marriage Act, it prohibited marriage between people of
different races. Thirdly, the group Areas Act; this forced people of different
races into living in designated areas especially the blacks. Apartheid created
schools, roads, hospitals, streets, buses for whites and blacks; no one could
cross the line.
With
increased oppression, Madiba decides to tour the whole of South Africa
organizing campaigns for mass civil disobedience, he is later arrested and
charged under the suppression of communism act, and he is banned from public
meetings and restricted to Johannesburg. Mandela goes on to craft an
organizational plan for ANC, he later opens the country’s only African law
firm, defending Africans in the court of law. At this time, Mandela was an
impressive dresser, very romantic, handsome and of impressive character and also
drove an old mobile. In 1955, Madiba plays a key role in writing the ANC
freedom charter which stated that “South Africa belonged to all and no
government can justify authority unless it’s based on the will of the people”.
A year after, Madiba and other 150 political activists are arrested, charged
with treason in a trial that lasted for four and half years and were later acquitted.
1958 becomes
a page turner for Madiba, 69 people are shot in a protest against the pass laws,
which restricted the movement of the black people, this later becomes the
famous Sharpeville massacre. The government declares a state of emergency, ANC
banned and Mandela and other activists are arrested and jailed without trial.
After release from prison, Mandela meets a young, glamorous, passionate and
courageous social worker, her name, Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela, a year after their
meeting, they get married. Winnie’s exceptional assertiveness and crowd
pleasing skills complement Madiba’s campaigns. In meetings, they were a model
public couple bringing fresh breath into politics.
With
increased violence from the government, Mandela starts speaking about armed struggle;
he declares national strike, becomes a wanted man and later goes underground.
ANC advocates more for violence and Mandela is crowned the commander of its
newly formed military wing, Umkhonto We Sizwe. Mandela becomes a man on the
run, disguising himself as a driver and gardener but he is later arrested in
1962, sentenced to life prison in a famous trial known as Rivonia trial and
sent to Robben Island jail.
In his final submission, Mandela said, “I have
fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I
have cherished the ideal of democratic and free society in which all persons
will live in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to
live for, and to see realized. But my lord if needs be, it is an ideal for
which I am prepared to die”. Imprisoning Mandela becomes a big blow to the
struggle but his vision is kept alive by Winnie, she organizes women meetings,
rallies and fights more for the release of Mandela, she too is arrested.
The death of
Steve Biko in 1970s rekindles the ANC consciousness, black townships are burnt
and more pressure is mounted on the government. South Africa is isolated by the
international community, banks and business close and more people push for the
end of apartheid and release of political prisoners. In 1990, the government yields
to increased pressure and open negotiations with ANC; Mandela is later released
from prison. In 1994, Mandela wins easily the first democratic election and
becomes the first South African black president.
Mandela shows
great patience, sacrifice and consultation when he voluntary retires from
office, handing to Mbeki. This indeed is unlike of many leaders on the African
continent. In his funeral the US president Barrack Obama eulogizes Mandela so
beautifully and compares him to the iconic Abraham Lincoln, Obama admitted that
Africa and the whole world had lost a great man. We lost Mandela but his spirit
still lives on, it’s in his true beliefs of equality for all that the dignity
of humanity can be restored. During Sisulu’s 90th birthday, Mandela
says “What counts in life is not mere fact that we have lived, it is the
difference we have made to the lives of others that determines the significance
of the lives we led”. You can read more about Madiba in the following books;
long walk to freedom: Nelson Mandela, in his own words and Nelson Mandela,
Conversation with myself. We shall miss
Mandela but he will stay so alive in our hearts.
