• Nelson Mandela was a man who cherished the ideal of a free society all his life, was born in South Africa.
• He was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
• During his life time he has published his autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”, and other works like “Conversations with Myself”.

What are the significant events of Mandela’s life?

• 1943 - He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of the Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg.
• There he became involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics, joining the ANC in 1943 and co-founding its Youth League in 1944.
• 1952 - He established a legal practice, where his self-confidence grew in turn changing his lifestyle and his political leadership.

• 1960 - In Sharpeville Massacre hundred African demonstrators were killed, and both the ANC and the Pan-African Congress were banned.
• In this stage Mandela decided to go underground and create a new armed wing, the Spear of the Nation.
• Though Mandela was not a direct actor in any of the non-lethal acts of sabotage, but he was not followed in his decision by some influential members of the ANC.

• 1962 - Mandela’s clandestine travels within and outside South African territory ended in his arrest on August 5, 1962.
• At the famous Rivonia trial, Mandela insisted on the ANC’s heritage of non-violence and racial harmony and delivered his historical speech which was received with empathy around the world.
• 1964 - Mandela was pronounced with life time imprisonment and spent 27 years and six months in captivity.
• 1990 - Nelson Mandela was freed from prison, his release followed the relaxation of apartheid laws including lifting the ban on leading black rights party the African National Congress (ANC).
• 1994 - He became South Africa’s first democratic and Black African President, accomplished his heroic status by meeting the challenges of his life and those of his time.

What are life time achievements of nelson Mandela?

• Important development in his political life began after his arrival in Johannesburg, Mandela put his rural experience in Transkei behind him and made up his mind to engage himself in politics.
• During his lifetime, Mandela dedicated himself to the freedom struggle of the African people, and in doing so, fought against White and Black domination in South Africa.
• He also fought for democracy as a plural society in which all races, languages and opinions could live together in harmony, and with equal opportunity.

What are the contributions of Mandela to the society?

• As an activist and as a prisoner he remained intensely conscious of his moral and political responsibilities as a man in search for excellence.
• As a political and moral leader he made possible for humanity was to extend and expand our capacity to rethink politics in terms of an ethics of empathy, a politics of forgiveness, and a revolution of values.
• South Africa’s transition to democracy, under the leadership of Mandela, was a great work of political creativity and moral wisdom.
• Mandela’s life experience and works implies that freedom cannot be speechless, while violence is incapable of speech.
• His politics of excellence and his moral capital are more relevant than ever to all those who continue to believe in the non-violent pursuit of public happiness and in peace-making governance.