Born:Â | 18 July, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa |
Death:Â | 5 December 2013 Hoghton Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa |
Spouse: | Graça Machel (m. 1998–2013), Evelyn Mase (m. 1944–1958), Winnie Mandela (m. 1958–1996), |
Parents:Â | Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, Noqaphi Nosekeni |
Children’s: | 7, including Makgatho, Makaziwe, Zenani, Zindziswa and Josina (step-daughter) |
Also Known As:Â | Internal resistance to apartheid |
Table of Content
Presidency of Nelson Mandela
10 May The field of Pretoria was packed with thousands of people. A colorful program was being done from the airplanes. In the sky, The air force was showing its tricks. People from all over the world came to listen to the views and thoughts of Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela was the first black president of South Africa to take the oath. The crowd was also engaged because a government was going to be formed in South Africa, which did not believe in caste and color.
Nelson Mandela in his speech thanked everyone, who supported him with his body, mind, wealth, and sacrifice in this battle of truth and non-violence, and peace. He was also thanking the smallest worker. Nobody had forgotten. He saluted all the freedom fighters. Mandela said in his speech that a country is said to be prosperous only when its citizens have a strong desire to take the country forward. Money or wealth does not make any country prosperous. People should live in love with each other and should not hate each other on the basis of color, or caste.
Everyone should keep a balance in his duties and work. According to Mandela, freedom has any meaning. Freedom is for a child to let him play, to meet his family and his needs. Real freedom comes from – equal rights for all. above black and white, color discrimination, caste discrimination.
Nelson Mandela’s Legacy
Nelson Mandela is known as one of the world’s best presidents. The biggest factor of his greatness is his fight to eliminate the difference in color between black and white people. There was also a time when in many countries of the world, including South Africa, many discriminations were made on the basis of color. Whether it is a queue of a bus or a public toilet, white people were given special facilities everywhere. And black people were denied many facilities. In South Africa, the situation was such that one-third of
the population there was black people and the economy of South Africa was completely based on the black people, even then there were much more special facilities for the white people than the black ones. The government of the National Party made a rule in 1948 that black and white people would live in different places and people would get every facility according to color. Nelson Mandela fought a lot against the law of color discrimination And finally won against this color difference system. But this struggle was also very difficult and painful.
Nelson Mandela’s Early Life
Nelson Mandela was born on 14 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo, South Africa. His mother’s name was Nosekeni and his father’s name was Gadla Henry. Nelson Mandela at birth was named Rolihlahla by his parents, which means naughty or mischievous. Later in their school days, a teacher named him Nelson.
Mandela received his early education from the Clarkebury, missionary School. Mandela’s father passed away when he was 12 years old. The rest of the family members helped him a lot in his further studies. Because Mandela was the only person in the whole family who was studying His graduation took place at Heldtown College, made for black people. Nelson Mandela started fighting for the rights of black people during their time in college. People were also joining them in this fight. For this reason, he was also expelled from the college.
The African National Congress was agitating against color discrimination, Nelson Mandela was elected secretary of the African National Congress in 1947 Nelson Mandela joined this party in 1944 Mandela considered Mahatma Gandhi as his source of inspiration and was non-violent and nonviolently, he made several movements in favor of black people. He is also called Gandhi of Africa. A lot of people had joined him in 1961, he was prosecuted for sedition and jailed. In this case, he was later released as innocent.
On 5 August 1962, he was arrested on charges of inciting the workers to go on strike, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 July 1962 after running the case for almost 2 years. His party tried hard to get him released, but they failed. Nelson Mandela was kept in the tightest security prison.
Nelson Mandela also started collecting and sensitizing black prisoners in jail. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years in a rigorous prison. When the liberal leader FW Clarke became the President of the country in 1989, he removed the restrictions on the Black people seeing the struggles of Nelson Mandela and his party. Also, he decided to release all the other prisoners except the prisoners who are lodged in serious crimes. And in this way, Nelson Mandela was also released from jail on 1 February 1990.
Black people could also participate in elections in South Africa in 1994 when the President was going to be elected. Mandela’s party won an election with a majority and formed the government on 10 May 1994, Mandela became the first black president of his country. He equated the rights of all White and Black people. Nelson Mandela was awarded the ‘Bharat Ratna‘ in the year 1990 In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for World Peace. On December 5, 2013, he passed away. At the time, he was 95 years old.
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