Mandela's Defiance: Breaking Laws For Freedom

Nelson Mandela was a prominent anti-apartheid activist and the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Born in 1918, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942 and fought against apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation and discrimination that relegated the majority Black South African population to the bottom of the social hierarchy. Mandela was arrested on multiple occasions for his activism, with charges ranging from treason to sabotage. In 1964, he was sentenced to life in prison and served 27 years before being released in 1990. Despite the personal cost of imprisonment, Mandela continued to advocate for equality and led anti-apartheid efforts from prison. After his release, he helped negotiate an end to apartheid and was elected president in South Africa's first democratic election in 1994.

Joining the African National Congress (ANC)

In the early 1940s, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC), a group that agitated for the civil rights of Black South Africans. At the time, Mandela was a young lawyer who had experienced racism first-hand and was committed to fighting for equality.

The ANC was the country's oldest black political party, and it played a crucial role in mobilising Black South Africans to challenge racist laws. In the 1950s, Mandela helped establish the youth league of the ANC, working with a group of young, intelligent, and highly motivated colleagues to transform the organisation into a mass political movement. He toured South Africa, organising campaigns of mass civil disobedience, and in 1955, he played a key role in writing the ANC's Freedom Charter, which proclaimed that South Africa belonged "to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people".

Initially, the ANC used non-violent tactics like strikes and demonstrations to protest apartheid. However, as the South African government responded with repression and violence, Mandela and others in the ANC became convinced that armed resistance was necessary. In 1960, Mandela helped organise a paramilitary subgroup of the ANC, and in 1961, he went into hiding and was made commander of its newly formed military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation"). This group carried out a sabotage campaign, blowing up government pass offices, electricity pylons, and attacking police stations.

Mandela's involvement with the ANC led to multiple arrests and periods of imprisonment. In 1952, he was jailed for violating curfews and refusing to carry identification passes, among other offences. In 1956, he was tried for treason and acquitted in 1961. However, he was arrested again in 1962 for leaving the country without a permit and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for charges of sabotage. Despite the personal cost of imprisonment, Mandela remained committed to the struggle for equality and continued to act as a leader, mobilising his fellow political prisoners.

Violating curfews and refusing to carry identification passes

In 1942, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and fought against apartheid in South Africa. He was arrested on multiple occasions for his anti-apartheid activism.

In 1952, Mandela helped escalate the struggle as a leader of the Defiance Campaign, which encouraged Black participants to actively violate laws. More than 8,000 people—including Mandela—were jailed for violating curfews, refusing to carry identification passes, and other offenses.

Mandela and his fellow members of the ANC used nonviolent tactics like strikes and demonstrations to protest apartheid. However, over time, Mandela came to believe that armed resistance was the only way to end apartheid.

Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, during which he became the world's best-known political prisoner. His supporters agitated for his release, and news of his imprisonment galvanized anti-apartheid activists worldwide.

In 1990, in response to international pressure and the threat of civil war, South Africa's new president, F.W. de Klerk, pledged to end apartheid and released Mandela from prison.

Mandela's activism and commitment to the abolition of apartheid led to his eventual presidency in 1994, becoming South Africa's first Black president.

Helping to establish the ANC's youth league

Nelson Mandela was one of the founding members of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League. The idea for the formation of the ANC Youth League was conceived in 1943 in Orlando, Soweto, at Walter Sisulu's house by Anton Lembede, A.P. Mda, Jordan Ngubane, Nelson Mandela, and Oliver Tambo. They felt that the ANC was dominated by a conservative and older generation that could not relate to the youth.

The young leaders approached the ANC president, Dr. Alfred Bitini Xuma, and proposed forming a youth league. Although Dr. Xuma had reservations about the league formation due to its militancy, he allowed the issue to be debated at the 1943 ANC conference, which resolved to establish a youth league. The first conference of the youth league was held in March 1944 and was attended by 200 people.

The Youth League's foundation marked the rise of a new generation of leaders. Anton Lembede, the first president of the league, shaped its militancy. Mandela wrote that Lembede had a "magnetic personality who thought in original and often startling ways." Lembede's influence led Mandela to embrace "militant African nationalism" as an antidote to the conservative tactics of the older generation of the ANC.

By the end of the 1940s, the Youth League had gained control of the ANC. They called for civil disobedience and strikes to protest the hundreds of laws associated with the new apartheid system. These protests were often met with force by the South African government. The Youth League played a pivotal role in pushing the ANC to adopt more aggressive tactics, such as boycotts, strikes, and civil disobedience, in the struggle against apartheid.

Mandela's involvement in the Youth League and his commitment to empowering the next generation continued throughout his life. After his release from prison in 1990, he had a particular affinity for children and youth, enjoying their company and finding it easy to engage them with disarming humour and spontaneous delight. He promoted education as a key instrument of liberation and directed much of his charitable work towards the needs of young people in South Africa and worldwide.

Advocating for armed resistance

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Nelson Mandela advocated for non-violent resistance to apartheid. However, in 1960, he became one of the founders of the African National Congress' (ANC) armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, marking a shift in his position on violence. Umkhonto we Sizwe, meaning "Spear of the Nation", launched sabotage attacks against government facilities.

Mandela believed that armed resistance was the only way to end apartheid. In 1961, he co-founded and became the first leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, marking a radical departure from the ANC's original non-violent tenets. Mandela stated that it would be:

> "wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force."

He believed that the decision to pursue violent forms of political struggle was made only when all else had failed and all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to them. Mandela's position on the use of violence was complex and nuanced. While he recognised the tainting and damaging effects of violence, he also acknowledged that there may be circumstances in which violence is justifiable to achieve political or social change.

Under Mandela's leadership, Umkhonto we Sizwe launched a sabotage campaign against the government, which had recently declared South Africa a republic and withdrawn from the British Commonwealth. In January 1962, Mandela travelled abroad illegally to attend a conference of African nationalist leaders in Ethiopia, visit exiled Oliver Tambo in London, and undergo guerrilla training in Algeria.

On August 5, 1962, shortly after his return, he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for leaving the country and inciting a 1961 workers' strike. Evidence was found implicating Mandela and other activists in plans for guerrilla warfare, and they were brought to trial for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy. Mandela and seven other defendants narrowly escaped the death sentence and were instead sentenced to life imprisonment during the so-called Rivonia Trial.

In his iconic four-hour-long defence speech, Mandela admitted to some of the charges against him while defending the ANC's actions and denouncing the injustices of apartheid. He ended with the following words:

> "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Organising campaigns of mass civil disobedience

In the 1940s, Nelson Mandela joined the struggle against South Africa's apartheid laws as a young lawyer. By the 1950s, he had become a prominent leader in the fight for racial equality. Mandela helped organise the Defiance Campaign in 1952, which encouraged Black South Africans to defy apartheid laws. Over 8,000 people, including Mandela, were imprisoned for violating curfews, refusing to carry identification passes, and other offenses.

Mandela's commitment to the anti-apartheid movement led to his involvement in the African National Congress (ANC). As a leader within the ANC, he organised nonviolent strikes, boycotts, marches, and other acts of civil disobedience. Mandela's activism resulted in multiple arrests and, in 1962, he was given a life sentence for his anti-apartheid efforts. Despite the harsh prison conditions, he continued his activism while incarcerated, leading to the eventual abolition of apartheid and his election as South Africa's first Black president in 1994.

One notable example of Mandela's civil disobedience during his imprisonment was his leadership of a movement of civil disobedience at Robben Island Prison, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in jail. Through this movement, Mandela and his fellow prisoners coerced South African officials into significantly improving their living conditions. They advocated for rights and better treatment for all prisoners, regardless of race. As a result of their efforts, black prisoners won the right to wear long pants, and all prisoners were allowed to have desks in their cells and to read and study. They also gained the right to play soccer, tennis, and volleyball, and even planted a small garden.

Mandela's unwavering commitment to the fight for racial equality, both during his imprisonment and after his release, serves as a testament to his leadership and dedication to creating a more just and equitable society.

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