“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead me to freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”
The entire South Africa, if not the whole world, is today commemorating the first anniversary of the passing of not only the former president of South Africa, but a legend – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
He was born on July 18, 1918 in the small village of Mvezo, Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. During this period, his dad lost his status which forced them to move to Qunu, an even smaller village further north.
Given the second name Rolihlahla, a Xhosa term controversially meaning troublemaker, he later became known as Madiba. Madiba is the name of the Thembu clan to which he belonged. It gets its name from a 19th century chief. All the members of this clan can be called Madiba. Mandela was named Madiba as a sign of both respect and affection.
He later became the first member of his family to attend school, where his teacher decided, as was custom at the time, that his name would be Mandela.
He developed an interest in African history. When he was 16, he took part in all the rituals to make the transition from boyhood to manhood. The chief who led the circumcision that Mandela underwent with a number of other boys, told them that they were enslaved in their own country.
At first he did not know what it meant, but later realised that he would formulate his resolve for an independent South Africa. He was a great believer in education and life-long learning at numerous institutions, including the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law.
In his 20s, he became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the ANC in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of defiance against the South African Government.
Mandela and his friend Oliver Tambo later opened the first black legal practice in the country in 1952, giving affordable and often free advice to black people who couldn’t afford it.
After years of dedication to try to change the course of apartheid, he was arrested on August 5, 1962. This was his last day of freedom before his 27 years of incarceration.
Upon his release he immediately urged foreign powers not to reduce their pressure on the South African Government for constitutional reform. While he stated that he was committed to working toward peace, he declared that the ANC’s armed struggle would continue until the black majority received the right to vote.
He married three times and had six children, 17 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.
He first married Evelyn Ntoko Mase, a cousin of Walter Sisulu, who was also from the Eastern Cape (formerly known as Transkei). The couple had two sons, Madiba “Thembi” Thembekile and Makgatho Mandela, and two daughters, both named Makaziwe Mandela. As stated in Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, he said in 1955 that she (Mase) gave him an ultimatum to choose between her and the ANC – he chose to stay loyal to the ANC. In 1958, he married Winnie Madikizela. She was Johannesburg’s first black social worker. Their marriage lasted until 1996. They had two daughters, Zenani (Zeni) and Zind-ziswa (Zindzi) Mandela-Hlongwane. His sentence to Robben Island prevented him from seeing them grow up.
South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the ANC coming into power. He married his third wife Graça Machel in 1998 on his 80th birthday. She was the widow of Samora Machel, the former president of Mozambique.
After suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection, Mandela died on December 5, 2013 at the age of 95. He died at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, surrounded by his family. His death was announced on television by president Jacob Zuma.
On December 6, 2013, Zuma announced a national mourning period of 10 days, with the main event at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on December 10.
He declared December 8, 2013 a national day of prayer and reflection. Mandela’s body lay in state from December 11 to 13 at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and a state funeral took place on December 15 in Qunu.
About 90 representatives of foreign states travelled to South Africa to attend the memorial events. Mandela’s estate was left to his widow, other family members, staff, and educational institutions.
Today, places all over the world have streets/roads, squares, buildings, flowers, parks and even a nuclear particle among others, named after Madiba.
Just as Mbombela has a Madiba Drive, internationally, more than 30 streets are named after him, with about the same number for South Africa. Gauteng has the most streets named after him, with a total just short of 10.
Movies that best represent the life of Madiba
Invictus
Mandela is played by Morgan Freeman. The film tells the inspiring true story of how he joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected president Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.
Long Walk To Freedom
Mandela is played by Idris Elba. It shows how he joined the ANC in the 1940s when the law under the apartheid system’s brutal tyranny proves useless for his people. Forced to abandon peaceful protest for armed resistance after the Sharpeville Massacre, Mandela pays the price when he and his comrades are sentenced to life imprisonment for treason while his wife, Winnie, is abused by the authorities. Over the decades in incarceration, Mandela’s spirit is unbowed as his struggle goes on beyond his captivity to become an international cause. However, as Winnie’s determination hardens over the years into a violent ruthlessness, Nelson’s own stature rises until he becomes the renowned leader of his movement. That status will be put to the test as his release nears and a way has to be found to win a peaceful victory that will leave his country, and all its peoples, unstained.
Places and items named after Nelson Mandela all over the world. Here are a few:
Sculptures and monuments
Monument to Nelson Mandela in Merrion Square, Dublin; Mandela Monument, Soweto; statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square in Westminster, central London and Nelson Mandela Statue in Sandton Square, Johannesburg
Parks
Mandela Park in Hull, Britain; Madiba Park in Leicester and Nelson Mandela Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Buildings
Hackney Council, London; housing development in London Borough of Hackney; sort centre in Nottingham and speaker’s corner in City of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire
Hall
The civic hall in Leeds is called Nelson Mandela Gardens
Community centres
Mandela Centre in Chapeltown, Leeds.
Organisation
Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Museums
Mandela Family Museum, Soweto and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth
Universities in South Africa
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, Durban
Flowers
A yellow strelitzia which is known as “Mandela’s Gold”
Municipalities
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Eastern Cape
Townships
More than 17 are named after Nelson Mandela
Bridges
Nelson Mandela Bridge, Newtown, Johannesburg
Theatres
The Nelson Mandela Yard Interpretation Centre, Alexandra.
Nelson Mandela Theatre, Braamfontein
Nuclear particle
A nuclear particle discovered by scientists at the University of Leeds is named the “Mandela particle.”
