Former South African President Dies At 95

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who served 27 years in prison for anti-apartheid
activities and led his continent into a new era, has died at age 95.
South African President Jacob Zuma confirmed the news:
"He is now resting. He is now at peace," Zuma said. "Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people
have lost a father."
Born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in Transkei, South Africa, the civil rights activist would become the
linchpin in South Africans' move to end the country's notorious apartheid regime. The impact of his
efforts -- to reconcile generosity with pragmatism and to find the common ground between
humanitys higher values and his own aspiration to power, as journalist John Carlin once described
them -- would ultimately reach well beyond South Africas borders, and earn him a Nobel Peace Prize
in 1993.
Prior to doing so, however, Mandela earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Fort
Hare, during which time he was elected onto the Student's Representative Council and suspended
from college for joining in a protest boycott.
Mandela was qualified in law in 1942, an accomplishment that would ultimately help him make the
kind of contribution to the freedom struggle of his people that he'd reportedly dreamed about since
hearing stories of valor by his forebears during the wars of resistance in defense of their land.
That law degree allowed Mandela to practice law and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo
established South Africas first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo.
But by Dec. 5, 1955, he would be on the other side of the law following a country-wide sweep by
police that would put him and 155 other activists on trial for treason. The case, known as the 1956
Treason Trial, dragged on until the last 28 accused, including Mandela, were acquitted on March 29,
1961.
During the trial, on June 14, 1958, Nelson Mandela married Winnie Madikizela, a social worker.
They had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in 1996.
Rising through the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC), initially by way of the
organizations youth wing, which he helped establish in 1944, Mandela was ultimately asked to lead
the armed struggle and help form Umkhonto weSizwe ("Spear of the Nation").
On Jan. 11, 1962, using the adopted name David Motsamayi, Mandela left South Africa secretly. He
traveled the continent and abroad to gain support for the armed struggle. Before returning to South
Africa in July 1962, Mandela also received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia.
His training would hardly be put to use, however.
In 1964, alongside eight members of the ANC and its armed wing, Mandela stood trial for plotting to
overthrow the government by way of violent acts. The following year he was sentenced to life in
prison, a term he served until Feb. 11, 1990.

The would-be South African president spent 18 of his 27 prison years on Robben Island confined to a
small cell with the floor for a bed and a bucket for a toilet. During his imprisonment, Mandela was
forced to do hard labor in a quarry and was allowed one visitor a year for 30 minutes.
Jack Swart, who served as Mandela's chef when he was moved to a private house inside the Victor
Verster prison compound in 1988, recalled encounters with Mandela on Robben Island, in an
interview for PBS Frontline's "The Long Walk Of Nelson Mandela," documentary:
...We got the order that while they worked in the quarries, we had to keep time on our watches ... of
what their resting periods were, because they had to work. [A prisoner] was only allowed to rest or
stop working if he wanted to go to the toilet and we had to keep note, and if one, for example, rested
too much, then he was charged, and then Mandela was always the man who went to represent them
... they always went to him when there were problems, asked him for advice ... He was always the
person, the central person. When they broke for lunch also, they always went to sit with him and talk
to him. He was the person who sort of went to defend them when they were charged with a
misdemeanor in prison.
As Swart noted, those years in prison would prove to be transformative, leading Mandela to become
the most significant black leader in South Africa and the country's first black president in 1994, the
first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election in South Africa.
During his presidency, from 1994 until June 1999, Mandela used the nation's enthusiasm for sports
as a pivot point to promote reconciliation between whites and blacks, encouraging black South
Africans to support the once-hated national rugby team.
Actor Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Mandela in the 2009 film "Invictus," based on events leading
up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup, is said to offer a glimpse of the leader's legendary sense of humor,
which has also been described alongside his charisma and a notable lack of bitterness over his harsh
treatment.

In addition to his continued fight for the civil

rights of his people -- including the creation
of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC), a court-like restorative justice arm of
Mandelas democratically elected government
and a new constitution, which he signed into
law in 1996, establishing a central
government based on majority rule that would guarantee the rights of minorities -- Mandela worked
to protect South Africa's economy throughout his presidency. In 1994, he established the
Reconstruction and Development Plan through which the South African government funded the
creation of jobs, housing and basic healthcare.
After his health began to fail -- he was hospitalized in February 2012 for a long-standing stomach
ailment -- Mandela returned to the rural community where he was born.
Mandelas death comes months afer his 95th birthday on July 18, which his foundation, various
charities and businesses vowed to celebrate with a nationwide day of service that includes painting
schools, handing out food and books, and running a 41-mile relay marathon in the spirit of Mandela's
67 years of activism and public work.

Nelson Mandela is survived by his wife, Graca Machel, his former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
and three daughters Pumla Makaziwe, Zenani and Zindziswa Mandela.
Zuma has ordered that all flags in the nation be flown at half staff from Friday till Mandela's funeral.
"What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human," Zuma said in his address.
"We saw in him what we seek in ourselves."