Nelson Mandela -JP

A Great Leader

Introduction

This is a biography of Nelson Mandela; he became famous because of his long walk to freedom. He had a very bad beginning to his life because of whites trying to take the country as their own and to spread Christianity. But he fought for his freedom and then had to go to jail for it. After he came out of prison he still fought and then he became one of the most memorable presidents of South Africa

The start of something big!

‘Trouble Maker’, In Xhosa is Rolihlahla, the name given to a small boy that would become a great leader.

On the 18^th of July 1918 Rolihlahla was born into the Thimbu tribe one of the many that makes up the Xhosa tribe. Rolihlahla’s family lived in the village of Muezo and when he was 2 years old they move to a village called Qunu. Then when he was 7 his father sent him to school.  Nobody in his family had ever gone to school so Rolihlahla was the first. It was a Christian school built by the whites to spread Christianity; the teacher decided to give all the children English names that is how little Rolihlahla became Nelson.

  The tragedy

When poor Nelson was only 9 his father became very ill and sadly died, it was a shock for the whole family especially when his father had not been old at all. Soon his mother could not cope with all 4 children so Nelson went to live with his uncle Jongitaba (but for short Jongi).

Going to high school

 When he was 16 Jongi went to Clarkburry boarding school with Jongi’s son Justice. When he was at the school he met some very interesting people including a young boy called Oliver Tambo; Oliver became a very important person in Mandela’s Life! Then when he was 21 he went to Fort Hare University in 1939.

Big surprise

 When Justice and Nelson came back they found that Jongi had planned a marriage for them both they didn’t want to get married to two complete strangers so they ran away to Johannesburg which was 700 km away. In Johannesburg they lived in a little town called Alexandra with no running water or electricity. After a few years Jongi fell ill and died so Justice went back to his tribe to take over as chief.

Meeting people

He met many people but one of his best friends was Walter Sisulu. Walter and his family lived in Orlando west .Soweto, a black township near Johannesburg. Nelson looked up to Walter. Like nelson, he was from the Eastern Cape but he had been in Johannes burg longer and new a lot more about the people and the places.

He spent a lot of time at sisulus's home. It was there that he met young Evelyn Mase, a young nurse and relative of Sisulu. He got married and had 2 sons and 2 daughters but sadly one daughter did not live long. Soon nelson and Evelyn parted.

At stimulus’s home he also met his old friend Oliver Tambo again. They were both studying law and in 1952 they set up their own first black law firm in South Africa.

Protests

In 1944 Walter joined the law firm and they began protesting down the streets but then in 1948 the government passed a law that separated blacks and whites making whites live like royalty and blacks live like peasants, you also had to carry a passbook and if you didn’t you’d get thrown in prison. But Nelsons law firm started a protest in 1952 which told people to ignore the “whites only” signs above cinemas post offices and shops. Over 250 people were arrested but thousands joined in.

Secrets

The government didn’t drop its apartheid laws, but the law firm had many more members. They were getting stronger. The government banned Nelson from attending any meetings with the law firm but he kept working for them in secret.

Freedom charter

Many other countries were against the whites as well in 1955 all these countries met in kliptown and Johannesburg, to draw up a freedom charter. The meeting was called the congress of the people, and the charter was a promise to fight for freedom and democracy for all South Africans.  The government didn’t like the charter and arrested 156 congress members including Oliver, Walter and Nelson. They were charged with planning to destroy the government.  The trial last 4 long years but in the end they were found not guilty. During that time he fell in love again.  Winnie Madikizela was a social worker, and a member of the law firm. They got married in 1958 and had two daughters, Zenani and Zindzi.