Nelson Mandela was the first black President of South Africa who fought against apartheid. The chapter describes his inauguration ceremony in 1994, the first democratic election after the end of apartheid. It discusses Mandela's early life and involvement in fighting against apartheid, for which he was imprisoned for 27 years. The chapter pays tribute to other leaders of the anti-apartheid movement and remembers the sacrifices made by thousands of people to establish democracy in South Africa.

1. A Long Walk to Freedom
By Nelson Mandela
Created by:
Mrs. Mousmi Majumdar

2. Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013)

3. Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was the first black President of
South Africa. He was an anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and
philanthropist.
Mandela was born to the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, Union of South Africa. He
studied law and began working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. There he became
involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics, joining the ANC(African
National Congress) in 1943 and co-founding its Youth League in 1944.
After the National Party's white-only government established ‘Apartheid’, he and
the ANC committed themselves to its overthrow. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment in 1962 after which he spent 27 years in jail and was finally released
in 1991 after widespread protests all over the world.
He contested the first fully representative democratic elections in SA in 1994 and
became the country’s first black Head of State.
Over the course of his life, Mandela was given over 250 awards including the Nobel
Peace Prize. In 1990, India also awarded him the Bharat Ratna.

4. Introduction to the Chapter
The chapter ‘Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ is an extract from the
autobiography of Nelson Mandela “Long Walk to Freedom”. First published in
1994, the book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in
prison.
The chapter ‘Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ contains excerpts which
include a description of the inauguration ceremony, citations from his speech, his
journey to being a freedom fighter, the struggle, along with a tribute to other
freedom fighters and countless other people who fought for their freedom.
The chapter falls under the non- fiction genre.

5. Some Important Events
•Anglo Boer War(11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902) – It was
fought between the British Empire and two independent Boer states,
the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, over the British
Empire's influence in South Africa. The trigger to the war was the
discovering of diamonds and gold in the Boer states. Initial Boer attacks
were successful, and although British reinforcements later reversed these,
the war continued for years with Boer guerrilla warfare, until harsh British
counter-measures including a ’scorched earth’ policy brought the Boers to
terms. It was after this war that the relations between the Whites and the
other native races turned sour. It prepared the grounds for the
establishment of the brutal system of “Apartheid”.

6. Some Important Events
• Apartheid, meaning segregation or aparthood. was a system
of racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early
1990s. The system of Apartheid ensured that South Africa was dominated
politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white
population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens
had the highest status, followed in descending order by Asians, Coloureds,
and black Africans.
Apartheid saw the segregation of public facilities and social events, and the
distribution of housing and employment opportunities by race.

7. The Opening of the Chapter
•The chapter opens with the description of the day of the
‘Inauguration’- the establishment of the first Democratic and
non-racial Government in South Africa and the swearing-in
ceremony of the President and the other Ministers.
• The ceremonies take place in the sandstone amphitheatre in
Pretoria.
•Mr. F. W. de Klerk was sworn in as the second deputy President
and Mr. Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as the first deputy President.

8. The Speech
•African soil witnessed an extraordinary human disaster (Aparthied) for a
century. Having overthrown the racial government and its policy of
Apartheid, what follows should be a society that must set an example for
the world to be proud of.
• South Africa was an outlawed country until a few years ago(because of its
brutal policy of Apartheid). But today it has got the rare privilege to host so
many different countries on its soil.
• Mr. Mandela thanks all the distinguished International Guest and the
people of the country for having come for the inauguration and calls it a
common victory of justice, peace and human dignity.
• He pledges to eradicate poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other
discrimination.
•No one will be oppressed in this country ever again.
•This glorious human achievement(abolition of Apartheid; establishment of
Democracy) will never come to an end.

9. After the Swearing In Ceremony
• The highest Generals of South African defense force and police
saluted Mr. Mandela and pledged their allegiance to him. This
were the same people who would have arrest Mr. Mandela a few
years ago.
•South African jets, helicopters and troop carriers flew in perfect
formation over the Union Building to demonstrate the military’s
loyalty to the newly elected Democratic Government. A
chevron(V shaped formation) of Impala Jets gave out smoke in
the colours of the South African Flag.
• Two National Anthems were sung. The Whites sang ‘ Nkosi
Sikelel iAfrica’ and the Blacks sang ‘Die Stem’.

10. His Thoughts
•In the first decade of the 20th century, i.e. in the 1910s, a few
years before Mr. Mandela was born, the white skinned people
of South Africa came together and created one of the harshest,
most inhumane societies ever by erecting a system of racial
domination against the black skinned people of their own
country.
•The system(Apartheid) has finally been over thrown in the last
decade of the century, i.e in 1994, when the first democratic
elections were held in South Africa and the first Democratic
government was established.
About History

11. His Thoughts
Remembering the Sacrifices
•He remembers the sacrifices made by thousands of people.
•He calls himself the sum of all those sacrifices African
patriots had made before him. He believes that this
Democracy is the result of the sacrifices made.
•He is pained for not being able to thank them as they aren’t
alive anymore.
•He is pained that they can’t see the result of their sacrifices.

12. His Thoughts
About the Great Leaders
• Apartheid had created a deep and lasting wound in the country and it
would take years to recover from the profound hurt.
•Decades of oppression had also created great leaders.
•He talks about men like Walter Sisulu, Oliver Thambo, Robert Subukwe,
Chief Luthuli, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer, etc. and calls them ‘men of
such extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity that their like may
never be known again’.
•Mr. Mandela mentions these names in plural. He wants to say that not
only these illustrious leaders but there are also many other people like
them whose names aren’t known but they contributed to the cause with
the same amount of courage and wisdom.
•He believes that although his country is rich in minerals and gems, the
true wealth of the country are its people.

13. His Thoughts
•He believes that Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it is the
ability to overcome or conquer it.
•Brave men are normal people like us. They are also afraid of
certain things. What makes them brave is their habit of not
succumbing to the fear and trying to get hold of it.
About Courage

14. His Thoughts
About Love and Hate
•He says that no one is born hating another based on the colour
of his skin, his background or religion.
• If men can be taught to hate, they can easily be taught to love
as love is a feeling that comes more naturally to human heart
than hatred.
•There is an inherent flame of goodness inside man which can
be hidden but never extinguished.

15. His Thoughts
Twin Obligations
•Every man has twin obligations in his life: one is the
obligation to his family, his wife, his parents, his children; the
other is to his people, his community, his country.
•In a normal society, a man is able to fulfill both the duties.
•But in South Africa, a man of colour is never able to fulfill
both his duties. A man who tries to live a peaceful family life
with dignity would be punished and humiliated. And a man
who would want to serve his country would be ripped away
from his family and home.

16. His Thoughts
Ideas about Freedom
•When he was a young, he believed that freedom was running around in the
fields, swimming in the clear stream that ran through his village, roasting
mealies under the stars and riding the broad backs of slow- moving bulls.
•When he was a student, that is when he came to know that his freedom had
already been taken away from him and that is when he started desiring
freedom. As a student, he desired more transitory freedoms like being able
to stay out at night, read what he pleased and go wherever he chose to go.
•As a young man and lawyer in Johannesburg, he wanted the basic and
honourable freedoms of achieving his potential, of earning his keep, of
marrying and having a family, the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful
life.

17. His Thoughts
The African National Congress
• He joined the African National Congress when he saw and
realised that not only he but everyone around him was living
under shackles. The hunger for his own freedom became the
greater hunger for freedom for everyone.

18. His Thoughts
Oppressor and the Oppressed
•According to him, Freedom is also mandatory for them who
were suppressing others in the past. They also have the right
to have it because the snatcher of others’ freedom is a
prisoner of the same.
•The oppressor is as much a prisoner as the oppressed. The
oppressor and the oppressed, both have been robbed off
their humanity.