TODAY IN HISTORY

|Birth Date Of Nelson Mandela|

On this day in 1918, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, philanthropist and first serving black president (1994-1999), was born to the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, South Africa.

Mandela, often referred to by his clan name “Madiba," was raised by Jongintaba (regent of the Thembu) after his father’s death. In order to become a lawyer, Mandela renounced his claim to the chieftainship and attended the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before settling to work 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. During this time, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and unsuccessfully prosecuted in 1956.

Influenced by Marxism, Mandela secretly joined the banned South African Communist Party (SACP) sometime in the late 1950s. Although initially committed to a non-violent protest, Mandela co-founded the militant group Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 in association with the SACP, and led a sabotage campaign against the government. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1962, and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the state.

In 1990, after serving twenty-seven years in prison, Mandela was released amid growing domestic and international pressure by President F. W. de Klerk. Mandela and Klerk then led efforts to negotiate an end to apartheid, which resulted in the 1994 multiracial general election in which Mandela led the ANC to victory and became president. Leading a broad coalition government which promulgated a new constitution, Mandela emphasised reconciliation between the country’s racial groups and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. The Mandela administration also introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty and expand healthcare services. 

In 1999, Mandela declined a second presidential term and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. As an elder stateman, he focused on combating HIV/AIDS and poverty through the charitable Nelson Mandela Foundation.

By the time of his death on 5^th December 2013, Mandela was widely considered as the “father of the nation” and “founding father of democracy” in South Africa. Internationally, he was described as a global icon and one of the most revered figures of our time.