This my friends is apartheid. Apartheid means separation of the races. The white people and the black people of South Africa were separated by the colour of their skin and people thought that one man was better than the other because of their skin colour. One man acquired the strength to break the chains of apartheid and lead his country bloodlessly to freedom.
And this man was Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela was born in Mevezo village in Transki in a time where apartheid ruled supreme. The minority (the whites) ruled over the majority (the blacks). He got a degree in law and set up the first place for blacks to get lawyers. This was before he joined the ANC; The African National Congress, manned by the blacks who wanted change. He was on the military side and helped to set up the ANC's youth league. They were spurred into action after the Sharpeville massacre where the police stopped using tear gas and rubber bullets and shot and killed 69 protesters using live ammunition shooting most in the back as they were running away.
Around this time, Nelson Mandela was rounded up, alongside other senior ANC members and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Government was scared of him. They knew that if anyone had the power to form an uprising, it was him. They sent him to Robbins Island; an island prison 7 km off the coast of Capetown. He was kept in solitary confinement in a room 8 foot square, a bucket his toilet, a mat on the floor his bed, stout bars blocked his way to freedom. He also suffered from hard labour; breaking blocks with a sledge hammer ... doing this day after day. He did ten years of this before getting moved to another prison for a further 17 years!!! Imagine spending 27 years (over a quarter of your life) behind bars. His release paved the way for hope for South Africa and freedom for all black South Africans
Nelson Mandela was officially and democratically elected president on 10 May 1994. Everyone thought that South Africa would go into civil war with thousands dead and blood on the streets but Nelson Mandela chose peace. He urged the black population to lay down their arms and work with together to form a country where all people value and respect one another. It is still a work in progress.
For his efforts, in preventing civil war, he received the Nobel peace prize which he shared with FW De Clerk the president of South Africa. No one could question he eligibility for such a prestigious award. In 1999 Nelson Mandela gave up presidency as he wanted someone younger to take the presidential seat. Once again he shows that he has humility and integrity.
Nelson Mandela is an inspiration, why,
Because he grew up in a time where the rules were unjust
But he sought to change the rules that weren't fair and did whatever he had to. If possible his ways were to attack the Government using peace using such means made the Government feel threatened and as a result he was locked away but he didn't give up and changed history and made the world a safer place. "I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days."
Nelson Mandala, South Africa's greatest son, said this in life but in death his legacy lives on.
Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."
8) "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
9) "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
10) "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
― Nelson Mandela
“It always seems impossible until it's done.”
― Nelson Mandela
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