Madiba (95) dies

He was one of 13 children of Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa Mandela and Noqaphi Nosekeni Mandela. Known by his clan name, Madiba, Nelson was born on July 18, 1918 at Mvezo in Transkei.

When his father died in 1930, Madiba was taken and raised by Chief Jongintaba Dalidyebo, the Paramount chief of the Thembus.

Madiba was a born leader. He was from a royal family but could not assume the Chieftaincy due to political reasons. After finishing his junior education at Clarkebury Missionary School, he went to Healdtown College, a Methodist college. He went on to study at the University of Fort Hare.

This is where he met some of his comrades and friends, like Oliver Tambo. In 1940 they were later expelled from the university due to their political involvement. In that year Madiba left home when he discovered that his family had organised a marriage for him.

He went to Johannesburg where he initially worked as a night watchman on a gold mine. In the same year he moved to a house in Alexander with his mother. That is where he met long-time friends, Walter and Albertina Sisulu.

He then worked as a clerk at a law firm while studying at the University of South Africa (UNISA) through correspondence. He obtained his first Bachelor’s Degree in 1941.

In 1942 he worked for another firm of attorneys and studied his law degree with the University of Witwatersrand. In the early years of his career, Madiba worked with the likes of Seretse Khama who was later to become the first president of Botswana.

In 1944, Madiba married his first wife, Evelyn Mase Mandela. That marriage could not last as Evelyn left him, citing that he was too committed to politics.

It was in this same year that Madiba and his comrades formed the ANC Youth League. This was to revive the ANC leadership which was seen as getting softer towards the regime.

In 1947, Madiba was elected as the secretary of the ANCYL and became a member of the Transvaal ANC executive.

In 1951 he became the president of the ANCYL. The following year, Mr Mandela opened his law office and he was later joined by his long-time friend, Oliver Tambo. This was the first black legal practice in the country. The practice suffered as both of them were committed to politics.

In the same year Madiba was elected to be the Transvaal ANC president. He could not act for long in that position as he was banned from holding an office in the ANC or being part of its meetings. This was under the Suppression of Communism Act.

Though Madiba was not allowed to participate in any political meetings, he was part of the signing of the Freedom Charter in Kliptown in June 1955. He was there as an observer.

In December 1956, Mr Mandela and more than 150 leaders of ANC and other political parties were arrested and charged with “high treason and a countrywide conspiracy to use violence to overthrow the present government and replace it with a communist state”.

He and his co-accused were acquitted in March 1961.

It was during this trial that Mr Mandela met his second wife, Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela Mandela.

Madiba and his comrades formed Umkhonto WeSizwe, the armed wing of the ANC.  Mr Mandela became the first commander of that wing.  This was the year that the ANC and other political parties that were against the government of the day were banned.

Mr Mandela was smuggled out of the country. He addressed the meetings of the African leaders and underwent guerrilla training in Algeria, among other things, that year.

On his return to the country, Mr Mandela was arrested for incitement and illegally leaving the country.

In July 1963 he was arrested and was part of the famous Rivonia Trial. He and others were sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.

During the time he was in prison, the campaigns to release him spread to all over the world.

He was released on February 11, 1990. He was inaugurated as the president of South Africa on May 10, 1994.

In 1996 he divorced his wife, Winnie. In 1998 on his birthday he married his third wife, Graça Machel.

Among other things he will be remembered for is his role after the death of the South African Communist Party (SACP) secretary-general, the member of the ANC executive committee and the former commander of Umkhoto WeSizwe, Chris Thembisile Hani, on April 10, 1993.

After Mr Hani’s death, more political analysts said that the country was at the brink of civil war. It was Madiba, who was not yet the president of his party, who stood up and called for calm.
Madiba served his one term and left the government to his successor, Thabo Mbeki.

Madiba displayed his love for children, among other things. He even established the organisation called the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund to help alleviate poverty that affects children.  Even after he stepped down as the president, the organisation still went on.