Nelson Mandela
...Island for opposing apartheid. Nelson Mandela personified struggle throughout his life. He is still leading the fight against apartheid after spending nearly three decades of his life behind bars. He has sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains South Africa's best known and loved hero.
Nelson Mandela was born in a village near Umtata in the Transkei on July 18, 1918. His father was the principal councilor to the Acting Paramount Chief of Thembuland. After his fathers death, the young Rolihlahla became the Paramount Chiefs ward to be groomed to assume high office. However,
influenced by the cases that came before the Chief s court, he was determined to become a lawyer. Hearing the elders stories of his ancestors struggles during the wars of resistance gave him dreams of making his own contribution to
the freedom struggle of his people (Ngubane).
After receiving a primary education at a local mission school, Nelson Mandela was sent to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school. He then enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare for the Bachelor of Arts Degree where he was
elected onto the Student's Representative Council. He was suspended from college for joining in a protest boycott. He went to Johannesburg where he entered politics by joining the African National Congress in 1942 (Woods).
At the height of the Second World War, members of the African National Congress set themselves the task of transforming ANC into a mass movement. In September of 1944 they came together to form the African National Congress
Youth League. Mandela soon impressed his peers by his disciplined work and consistent effort and was elected to the Secretaryship of the Youth League in 1947 (Ngubane).
By painstaking work, the ANCYL was able to get support for its policies amongst the ANC members. At the 1945 annual...
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