Mandela's quest for equality
Adrian Katzew

For every one of us who has ever been criticized for being an idealist, Nelson Mandela, the current President of South Africa, is the best modern day example of a person who has not only stuck to his principles, but also saw them achieved.

He has been able to accomplish his ideals because he is a man of the highest moral standards, and has developed unmatched leadership abilities that have allowed him to be able to accomplish the reconciliation of blacks and whites in what used to be an extremely oppressive society in South Africa.

Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. His life began in Quenu, a tiny village in a narrow valley. His African name, Rolihlahla, means, "stirring up trouble," a well deserved name. His father was a chief of the Tembu clan, and some believe this gave Mandela the remarkably noble bearing contemplated today.

At age 16, as is the custom in his region of Africa, he went to circumcision school. He had to build his own hut and live in it for days while taking instruction from a tribal elder on the responsibilities of manhood. After the ritual was complete, Mandela burnt his hut and returned to the village.

He attended Fort Hare College in Eastern Cape, a school African leaders like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and the late Oliver Tambo also attended. Here, Mandela got his first taste of politics. He was elected to the students' council, organized a student strike and was summarily suspended.

However, another more fateful challenge beckoned. At age 23, Mandela was to marry, but decided to evade the arranged marriage by fleeing to Johannesburg. He arrived in what was then called, Orlando West, and today is known as Soweto, where he met the leading figures of an organization called the Africa National Congress.

In time, Mandela got a job at the law firm of Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman, and immediately began law studies. Lazar Sidelsky, a well-known Johannesburg advocate, was impressed with Mandela. He risked his own career by employing the aspiring young black lawyer.

In 1944, Mandela joined the ANC, and formed a youth wing. By 1945 the ANC, with Mandela's support, had drafted a bill of rights. It demanded all adult blacks be able to vote, own land and have equal access to the courts.

The ANC was fighting against an extensive history of segregation and repression from the white minority in South Africa. In 1913, segregation laws separated blacks and whites. The adverse environment spanned many years for the black population.

In 1948, the situation worsened for the black majority. The Afrikaner National Party came to power under the slogan of apartheid, a system of legalized discrimination that maintained the political and economic domination of the white minority.

By 1949, a new ANC program of action openly repudiated the government policies. The ANC was becoming more vigorous and it was preparing for an inevitable confrontation. As "volunteer-in-chief," Mandela organized mass defiance of the dreaded apartheid laws. In 1952, more than 8,500 volunteers, including Mandela, were arrested. He was given a nine month suspended sentence as his first taste of life in prison.

Mandela formed the first black legal partnership in South Africa. By 1953, Mandela was elected president of the ANC and banned by the government, restricting his movements and barring him from political activity.

In 1956, with other 155 members of the ANC, Mandela was held on treason charges. The famous Treason Trial lasted five years and ended in acquittals. In 1961, after the Sharpville Massacre, where police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators, killing 69 black people, Mandela and others made the decision to embark on an armed struggle after all peaceful means were exhausted. The ANC took up arms. Mandela travelled through Africa and Europe trying to gain international support.

Back in the country, he was arrested in August 1962, quickly tried and sentenced to five years, but in 1963, several of his colleagues were also arrested and more evidence was found that related him to weapons and explosives.

He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Mandela was sent to Robben Island, where he was cut off from the main land, the people, and forgotten.

Mandela might not have been born a leader, but faced with gross injustice and a lengthy prison sentence, he grew into one. In prison he had the opportunity for great thoughtfulness, intellectual reflection and reading that made him into a different kind of politician and statesman.

After three decades in prison, Mandela had every reason to be bitter, but he was not. In liberating himself from the cancer of bitterness, he was able to channel those energies into positive resolution of South Africa's problems breaking apartheid's back, and ushering in democracy. He was a man at peace with himself, and he brought this peace to South Africa.

For Mandela, the objective was very clear, he did not want white domination and he did not want black domination, he wanted a democratic South Africa in which all persons lived together in harmony. Mandela would have to pass 27 years in prison almost forgotten in the darkness of his cell, to have a chance to come back and accomplish his goal. His ability to forgive his oppressors has been an important pillar in the rebuilding of South Africa.

Only after Desmond Tutu won the Noble Peace prize in 1984 and international pressure built up on South Africa's economy, Nelson Mandela negotiated his freedom on his own terms.

In 1990, after years of an international boycott led by Canada, Mandela was released from prison, elected deputy president of the ANC and the process to dismantle apartheid was started.

The ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid groups was lifted. By 1991, apartheid laws were repealed and Mandela become the president of the ANC.

In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the president of South Africa de Klerk. The government and black opposition agreed on a mechanism for a transition to a non-racist government.

Mandela was able to negotiate throughout this process because he had achieved an immense moral authority; his love for democracy and reconciliation were recognized and valued. This allowed him to bring a slower process to black South Africa that would allow better results.

Mandela's leadership was recognized in 1994, as the population elected him president in the first multiracial elections.

He still leads South Africa today and is perceived as the figure responsible for a peaceful process of transition, able to save South Africa from civil war.

Today we can observe the results of this great man in the peaceful transition of South Africa. For this process to be accomplished, a great leader was required.

It was a fortunate fact that Nelson Mandela was ready to lead his country into this new future.