AUGUST 5, 1962: Nelson Mandela was locked up for 27 years after being arrested and charged with inciting workers’ strikes and leaving South Africa on this day in 1962.
The anti-apartheid activist, who had been on the run for a year since launching an armed sabotage campaign, was apprehended while driving near Howick, Natal.
He was charged with a relatively minor offence because police had not gained enough evidence since his March 1961 acquittal following the five-year Treason Trial.
But in July 1963 - nine months after being handed a five-year jail sentence – police found papers at a farmhouse that linked him to the destruction of infrastructure.
Mandela, who had been a lawyer before turning to politics, and nine comrades were charged with sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government.
With the exception of James Kantor, who was freed before the trial, they all admitted sabotage but denied having agreed to initiate guerrilla war against the government.
They used the trial to highlight their cause and, knowing they faced the death penalty, Mandela delivered a powerful speech in which he stated: ‘I am prepared to die’.
‘During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people,’ he told the court during the Rivonia Trial, named after the location of the farmhouse.
‘I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.
‘I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
‘It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’
Of the nine remaining defendants, only Rusty Bernstein, a Jewish architect who drafted the Freedom Charter, was the only defendant to be acquitted.
But South Africa’s white-minority rulers were disappointed when, on June 12, 1964, Judge Quartus de Wet refused to sentence the remaining convicted men to death.
The eight activists, including mixed-race Walter Sisulu and Indian-descended Ahmed Kathrada, were instead all jailed for life.
But South Africa’s white-minority rulers were disappointed when, on June 12, 1964, Judge Quartus de Wet refused to sentence the remaining convicted men to death.
The eight activists, including mixed-race Walter Sisulu and Indian-descended Ahmed Kathrada, were instead all jailed for life.
Yet Mandela remained a focal point for opposition to apartheid, which means ‘separateness’ in Afrikaans and was the name given to a series of laws beginning in 1948 that formally codified racial segregation.
Under it, black South Africans were deprived of citizenship and barred from living in white areas or going to the same schools, hospitals or even beaches.
Mandela, who initially advocated Gandhi-style non-violent protest, co-founded the ANC’s armed wing after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre of 69 black protesters.
Under it, black South Africans were deprived of citizenship and barred from living in white areas or going to the same schools, hospitals or even beaches.
Mandela, who initially advocated Gandhi-style non-violent protest, co-founded the ANC’s armed wing after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre of 69 black protesters.
This incident also turned many whites against the system of repression and nine days later a rich Englishman attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd.
The aftermath of the shooting by David Pratt – and glimpse of life under apartheid during this era – are shown in a British Pathé newsreel.
And while Mandela languished in Robben Island prison, violence intensified again after the 1976 Soweto Riots when 176 black schoolchildren were shot dead.
By the 1980s, a full-scale insurgency had erupted and mounting unrest led to brutal crackdowns and a decade-long state of emergency.
The aftermath of the shooting by David Pratt – and glimpse of life under apartheid during this era – are shown in a British Pathé newsreel.
And while Mandela languished in Robben Island prison, violence intensified again after the 1976 Soweto Riots when 176 black schoolchildren were shot dead.
By the 1980s, a full-scale insurgency had erupted and mounting unrest led to brutal crackdowns and a decade-long state of emergency.
In a bid to stop the bloodshed, President FW De Klerk released Mandela from jail on February 11, 1990 and began negotiations to end apartheid.
Four years later, the man who had been branded a dangerous terrorist was voted president in the country’s first free and multi-racial elections.
Yet, in keeping with the ideals he outlined in his Rivonia Trial speech, Mandela vowed to allow all racial groups live in harmony and pledged reconciliation.
‘We saw our country tear itself apart in terrible conflict,’ he said while standing beside De Klerk, with whom he shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
Four years later, the man who had been branded a dangerous terrorist was voted president in the country’s first free and multi-racial elections.
Yet, in keeping with the ideals he outlined in his Rivonia Trial speech, Mandela vowed to allow all racial groups live in harmony and pledged reconciliation.
‘We saw our country tear itself apart in terrible conflict,’ he said while standing beside De Klerk, with whom he shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
‘The time for healing of wounds has come... never, never again will this beautiful land experience the oppression of one by another.’
And, urging forgiveness, he said in Afrikaans, the Dutch-related language of the majority of whites: ‘Wat is verby verby’ – ‘What is past is past’
Mandela, who became known by South Africans as the ‘father of the nation’, died aged 95 on December 5, 2013 in Johannesburg.
And, urging forgiveness, he said in Afrikaans, the Dutch-related language of the majority of whites: ‘Wat is verby verby’ – ‘What is past is past’
Mandela, who became known by South Africans as the ‘father of the nation’, died aged 95 on December 5, 2013 in Johannesburg.
Peacemaker .....R.I.P
No comments:
Post a Comment