Nomad_Africa_Edition12

dren, propelling Mandela to the forefront of
a political battle that would see him being
put on trial for treason and sentenced to life
imprisonment.
Mandela soon rose quickly through the
ranks of the ANC and in 1950 was voted President
of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and
he took a seat on the ANC National Executive.
After passing qualification exams to become
a full-fledged attorney, Mandela and Oliver
Tambo opened their own law firm, Mandela
and Tambo, in downtown Johannesburg.
Being the only African-run law firm in the
country, it soon became popular with aggrieved
African black people, often dealing
with cases of police brutality. The firm soon
got noticed by the South African authorities
and was forced to relocate to a remote location
after their office permit was removed
under the Group Areas Act – a cornerstone
piece of apartheid legislation.
Mandela had met many people across the
political spectrum who were opposed to
the South African Government and was actively
involved in mobilising the masses and
publically protesting against the South
African authorities such as the Defiance
Campaign. This led to him and other high
profile ANC members being arrested and
put on trial.
On 5 December 1956, Mandela was arrested
alongside most of the ANC Executive for
"high treason" against the state and on 29
March 1961, after a six-year trial, the judges
produced a verdict of not guilty, embarrassing
the government.
Inspired by Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution,
the armed wing of the ANC
“Umkhonto we Sizwe” ("Spear of the Nation",
abbreviated MK) was founded in 1961,
with Mandela co-founding this wing with the
long-time leader of the South African Communist
Party (SACP), Joe Slovo and Walter
Sisulu.
Interestingly, MK agreed to acts of sabotage
to exert pressure on the South African Government,
by bombing military installations,
power plants, telephone lines and transport
links at night, when civilians were not present.
Mandela stated that they chose sabotage
not only because it was the least
harmful action, but also "because it did not
involve loss of life [and] it offered the best
hope for reconciliation among the races afterwards."
Soon after then ANC leader Albert
Luthuli was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize, MK publicly announced its existence
with 57 bombings on 16 December 1961, followed
by further attacks on New Year's Eve.
The South African Government, however,
kept a close eye on the activities of the ANC
and MK, and after raiding a property now famously
known as Liliesleaf Farm in the Johannesburg
suburb of Rivonia and arresting
numerous high command figures of the ANC
including Mandela, it resulted in South
Africa’s foremost and famous trial starting on
9 October 1963.
Mandela gave a now famous three-hour
speech at the opening of the defence’s proceedings
and the trial quickly gained international
attention, with global calls for the
release of all political prisoners from such institutions
as the United Nations and World
Peace Council. The South African Government
generally deemed Mandela and his
co-defendants violent communist saboteurs,
and on 12 June 1964, Justice Quartus de Wet
found Mandela and two of his co-accused
guilty on all four charges, sentencing them
to life imprisonment rather than death, thus
sealing the fate of his incarceration on
Robben Island from 1964 until 1982.
A NEW DAWN
After spending 18 years in prison on Robben
Island, off the coast of Cape Town, Mandela
was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai,
a suburb of Cape Town in 1982 along with
other senior ANC leaders. This was an attempt
by the South African Government to
remove their influence on younger activists.
However, with mounting international pressure
and sanctions against South Africa, increased
MK attacks in South Africa together
with support from activists from both within
and outside of South Africa, coupled with
economic stagnation and a change of leadership
within the South African Government,
and significant change was brought about
when the conservative President P.W. Botha
stepped down and was replaced by a more
youthful Frederik Willem de Klerk (F.W de
Klerk).
With increasing local and international pressure
for his release, the government participated
in several talks between Mandela and
F.W. de klerk at the helm of government. The
result was positive in terms of Mandela’s release
being finally announced - February 11,
1990 marking a special day in South African
history when Mandela’s release was announced.
With it came the unbanning of the
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