Nelson Mandela bio je južnoafrički borac protiv aparthejda, socijalist, politički vođa i filantrop koji je obnašao dužnost predsjednika Južne Afrike od 1994. do 1999. godine. Bio je prvi šef te države crne rase i prvi koji je izabran na demokratskim izborima na kojima su mogli sudjelovati svi građani bez obzira na boju kože. Njegova se vlada fokusirala na uklanjanje naslijeđa aparthejda borbom protiv institucionaliziranog rasizma i promicanjem pomirenja među rasama.

Tijekom studija prava na Witwatersrand Sveučilištu započeo je svoju revolucionarnu djelatnost. Bio je jedini crni afrički student na tom sveučilištu i suočio se s rasizmom. Počeo je sudjelovati u Omladinskoj ligi Afričkog nacionalnog kongresa, koja je i danas omladinsko krilo Afričkog nacionalnog kongresa (ANC), čiji su prvi ciljevi bili okupiti sve stanovnike Južne Afrike kao jedan narod, te obraniti njihova prava i slobode.

Na općim izborima u Južnoj Africi 1948. godine, na kojima je samo bijelcima bilo dopušteno glasati, stranka kojom dominiraju bijeli Afrikaneri – Herenigde Nasionale Party – preuzela je vlast, ubrzo se ujedinivši sa Afrikaner Party u novu Nacionalnu stranku. Bila je rasistička stranka koja je ozakonila aparthejd i širila rasnu segregaciju. Mandela, koji je postajao sve važniji u svojoj Stranci, počeo je zagovarati izravno djelovanje protiv aparthejda, bojkotom i štrajkovima. Mandela je kasnije rekao da su on i njegove kolege „vodili ANC na radikalniji i revolucionarniji put“.

Mandela je odbijao radikalizam dijela crnaca koji nije dopuštao bijelcima da se pridruže borbi protiv aparthejda, već je podupirao ideju o višerasnoj zajedničkoj fronti protiv aparthejda. Pod utjecajem prijatelja i potpore Sovjetskog Saveza narodnooslobodilačkim ratovima, počeo je čitati literaturu Marxa, Lenjina i Maoa, podržavajući ideju dijalektičkog materijalizma. Mandela je rekao kako „[se] našao snažno privučen idejom društva bez klasa koje je, prema [njegovom] mišljenju, bilo slično tradicionalnoj afričkoj kulturi u kojoj se živjelo zajedno.“

Inspiriran djelovanjem Pokreta 26. srpanj Fidela Castra i kubanskom revolucijom, Mandela je 1961. godine zajedno s drugim aktivistima protiv aparthejda suosnovao „Umkhonto we Sizwe“ („Koplje nacije“ ili skraćeno MK). Postajući vođa militantne skupine, Mandela je koristio ideje iz literature o gerilskom ratovanju Che Guevare. Iako je u početku MK službeno proglašen odvojenim od ANC-a, kako ne bi utjecao na ugled stranke, MK je kasnije bio široko priznat kao oružano krilo ANC-a.

Djelujući kroz samostalne male grupe, MK je planirao provoditi sabotaže kako bi izvršio maksimalni pritisak na vladu s minimalnim gubicima. Tako su noću, kada nije bilo civila, postavili bombe kod vojnih instalacija, elektrana, telefonskih linija i prometnih veza. Mandela je izjavio da su odabrali sabotažu jer je to bila najmanje štetna akcija, koja nije uključivala ubojstva, a nudila je nadu za kasnije rasno pomirenje. Međutim, priznao je da bi, ukoliko ovo nije bilo uspjelo, gerilski rat možda bio potreban.

Dana 5. kolovoza 1962. godine policija je privela Mandelu. Bilo je dvojbi u vezi s tim tko im je dao podatke o njegovoj lokaciji. Nakon dosta godina, Donald Rickard, bivši američki diplomat, otkrio je da je CIA, koja se plašila Mandelove povezanosti s komunistima, obavijestila južnoafričku policiju o njegovoj lokaciji. Zatvoren u Marshall Square zatvoru u Johannesburgu, optužen je za poticanje štrajkova radnika i ilegalni izlazak iz zemlje. Osuđen je na 5 godina zatvora.

Dana 11. srpnja 1963. godine policija je pretresla farmu koju je koristila MK, uhitivši one koje su tamo pronašli i otkrivši dokumente o aktivnostima MK-a, od kojih su neki spominjali Mandelu. „Suđenje u Rivoniji“ je počelo na Vrhovnom sudu u Pretoriji u listopadu, a Mandela i njegovi drugovi optuženi su za četiri slučaja sabotaže i zavjeru za nasilno svrgavanje Vlade. Mandela i ostalih petorica optuženih priznali su sabotažu, ali su negirali da su ikada planirali pokrenuti gerilski rat. Iskoristili su suđenje kako bi javnosti predstavili svoje političke stavove; na dijelu suđenja koje je na raspolaganju obrani Mandela je održao svoj trosatni govor pod nazivom „Pripremljen sam na smrt“. Taj govor, koji je bio inspiriran Castrovim govorom „Povijest će me osloboditi“, objavljen je u tisku i pored službene cenzure. Suđenje je dobilo međunarodnu pažnju; bilo je globalnih poziva, iz Ujedinjenih naroda i Svjetskog vijeća za mir, na oslobađanje optuženih. Dana 12. lipnja 1964. godine Mandela i dvojica njegovih suoptuženika proglašeni su krivima po sve četiri optužbe. Iako je tužiteljstvo zatražilo izricanje smrtne kazne, sudac ih je osudio na doživotni zatvor.

Mandela i njegovi suoptuženi su 1964. godine prebačeni iz Pretorija u zatvor na otoku Robben, gdje su ostali sljedećih 18 godina. Izoliran od nepolitičkih zatvorenika, Mandela je bio zatvoren u vlažnu betonsku ćeliju dimenzija 2,4m sa 2,1m, sa slamnatim madracem na kojem je mogao spavati. Maltretirani verbalno i fizički od strane nekoliko zatvorskih čuvara bijele rase, zatvorenici iz „Suđenja u Rivoniji“ provodili bi dane razbijajući kamenje u šljunak, sve do siječnja 1965. godine kad su preusmjereni na rad u proizvodnji vapna.

U ožujku 1980. godine, slogan „Oslobodite Mandelu!“ novinara Percy Qoboza, potakao je međunarodnu kampanju koja je dovela do toga da Vijeće sigurnosti UN-a zatraži Mandelino puštanje na slobodu.

Svijet je sada ponovno bio na njegovoj strani. No, unatoč sve većem pritisku koji su stvarale strane zemlje, Vlada ga je odbila osloboditi zbog utjecaja svojih saveznika u hladnom ratu, američkog predsjednika Ronalda Reagana i britanske premijerke Margaret Thatcher. U njihovim je očima Mandelin ANC bila teroristička organizacija povezana s komunizmom koju je trebalo zaustaviti.

U travnju 1982. godine, Mandela je zajedno s visokim čelnicima ANC-a premješten u zatvor Pollsmoor u Tokai, Cape Town. Vjerovali su da će njihovom izolacijom ukloniti njihov utjecaj na mlađe aktiviste na otoku Robben. U prosincu 1988. Mandela je premješten u zatvor Victor Verster u blizini Paarla.

Predsjednik Južne Afrike P. W. Botha je 1989. godine doživio moždani udar te ga je zamijenio Frederik Willem de Klerk. Kako je novi predsjednik smatrao aparthejd neodrživim, oslobodio je određeni broj zatvorenika ANC-a. Nakon pada Berlinskog zida u studenom 1989. godine, de Klerk je okupio svoj kabinet kako bi raspravljali o legalizaciji ANC-a i oslobađanju Mandele. U prosincu se sastao s Mandelom kako bi s njim razgovarao o situaciji. U veljači 1990. legalizirao je sve ranije zabranjene političke stranke i najavio puštanje Mandele.

Nakon što je izabran za predsjednika Južne Afrike, vladajući tijekom tranzicije iz aparthejda i manjinske vladavine u multietničku demokraciju, Mandela je pomirenje nacionalnih zajednica istaknuo kao prioritet svoje vlade. Nije želio osvetu bivših mučitelja, kao što se najčešće događaju kroz povijest. Vidio je da su neke postkolonijalne afričke ekonomije pretrpjele velike štete odlaskom bijelih elita, stoga je radio na stvaranju povjerenja stanovništva Južne Afrike bijele rase da će biti zaštićeni i zastupljeni u novoj „Naciji Duge“. Dužnost predsjednika imao je samo jedan mandat, iako mu je popularnost omogućavala ponovni izbor da je to želio.

Mandela je, radi promicanja pomirenja i pravde u novom društvu, potaknuo stvaranje Komisije za istinu i pomirenje za istraživanje zločina počinjenih u vrijeme aparthejda, i od strane Vlade i od strane ANC-a. Komisija je stvorena 1995. godine, a sa saslušanjima započetim 1996. godine. Dvije je godine održavala saslušanja u kojima su detaljno bila opisana silovanja, mučenja, bombaški napadi i atentati, prije nego što je u listopadu 1998. izdala završni izvještaj. Mandela je pohvalio rad Komisije, navodeći da je „pomogla da se odmaknemo od prošlosti kako bi se koncentrirali na sadašnjost i budućnost“.

Borba Nelsona Mandele je borba čovjeka za svijet bez diskriminacije, nejednakosti i nepravde. Posvetiti svoj život cilju poboljšanja svijeta u kojem živimo, a pritom izbjeći da nas moć zaludi, nešto je uistinu vrijedno divljenja. Njegov život i njegova borba uvijek će biti primjer nade i primjer novim generacijama da se stvari mogu promijeniti.

 

 

 

Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010. Mandela Day is a global call to action that celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world, the ability to make an impact.

Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, socialist, political leader and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and promoting racial reconciliation.

While studying Law in the University of the Witwatersrand he began his revolutionary activity. He was the only black African student and faced racism. He started participating in the African National Congress Youth League, which today still is the youth wing of the African National Congress, whose first objectives were to bring all Africans together as one people, to defend their rights and freedoms.

In the South African general election in 1948, in which only whites were permitted to vote, the Afrikaner-dominated Herenigde Nasionale Party took power, soon uniting with the Afrikaner Party to form the National Party. It was a racist party which codified and expanded racial segregation with new apartheid legislation. Mandela who was becoming more important in his party, began advocating direct action against apartheid, through boycotts and strikes. Mandela later related that he and his colleagues had "guided the ANC to a more radical and revolutionary path."

Mandela rejected radical Africanism, which did not allow whites to join the fight against apartheid, and embraced the idea of a multi-racial front against apartheid. Influenced by friends and the Soviet Union’s support for National Liberation wars, he began reading literature by Marx, Lenin and Mao, supporting the idea of dialectic materialism. Mandela said he… "found [himself] strongly drawn to the idea of a classless society which, to [his] mind, was similar to traditional African culture where life was shared and communal."

Inspired by the actions of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the Cuban Revolution, in 1961 Mandela with other anti-apartheid activists co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation", abbreviated MK). Becoming chairman of the militant group, Mandela used the ideas of literature on guerrilla warfare by Che Guevara. Although initially declared officially separate from the ANC in order not to affect the party’s reputation, MK was later widely recognised as the party's armed wing.

Operating through a cell structure, MK planned to carry out acts of sabotage that would put maximum pressure on the government with minimum casualties; they bombed military installations, power plants, telephone lines, and transport links at night, when civilians were not present. Mandela stated that they chose sabotage because it was the least harmful action, did not involve killing, and offered the best hope for racial reconciliation afterwards. However, acknowledged that should this have failed then guerrilla warfare might have been necessary.

On 5 August 1962, police captured Mandela. There were doubts regarding who gave them the information about where Mandela was. In later years, Donald Rickard, a former American diplomat revealed that the CIA, who feared Mandela's associations with communists, had informed the South African police of his location. Jailed in Johannesburg's Marshall Square prison, he was charged with inciting workers' strikes and leaving the country without permission. He was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.

On 11 July 1963, police raided a farm who was used by MK, arresting those they found there and uncovering paperwork documenting MK's activities, some of which mentioned Mandela. The Rivonia Trial began at Pretoria Supreme Court in October, with Mandela and his comrades charged with four counts of sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government. Mandela and the other five accused admitted sabotage but denied that they had ever agreed to initiate guerrilla war. They used the trial to show to the people their political cause; at the opening of the defence's proceedings, Mandela gave his three-hour "I Am Prepared to Die" speech. That speech, which was inspired by Castro's "History Will Absolve Me", was reported in the press despite official censorship. The trial gained international attention; there were global calls for the release of the accused from the United Nations and World Peace Council. On 12 June 1964, Mandela and two of his co-accused were found guilty on all four charges; although the prosecution had called for the death sentence to be applied, the judge instead condemned them to life imprisonment.

In 1964, Mandela and his co-accused were transferred from Pretoria to the prison on Robben Island, remaining there for the next 18 years. Mandela was isolated from non-political prisoners and imprisoned in a damp concrete cell measuring 2.4 m. by 2.1 m., with a straw mat on which to sleep. Verbally and physically harassed by several white prison wardens, the Rivonia Trial prisoners spent their days breaking rocks into gravel, until being reassigned in January 1965 to work in a lime quarry.

In March 1980, the slogan "Free Mandela!" was developed by journalist Percy Qoboza, sparking an international campaign that led the UN Security Council to call for his release. The world was now once again in his side. Despite increasing foreign pressure, the government refused to release him, becauseo of its Cold War allies US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In their eyes, Mandela's ANC was a terrorist organisation linked to communism, it had to be stopped.

In April 1982, Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town, along with senior ANC leaders, they believed that they were being isolated to remove their influence on younger activists at Robben Island. in December 1988, Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl.

In 1989, P. W. Botha, the President, suffered a stroke and was replaced by Frederik Willem de Klerk. The new president considered apartheid unsustainable and released a number of ANC prisoners. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, de Klerk called his cabinet together to debate legalising the ANC and freeing Mandela.  He met met with Mandela in December to discuss the situation. He legalized all formerly banned political parties in February 1990 and announced Mandela release.

After being elected for President of South Africa, ruling from the transition from apartheid minority rule to a multiethnic democracy, Mandela stablished ethnic reconciliation as the priority of his government. He did not look for revenge on the former oppressors, as we have seen throughout history. He saw some post-colonial African economies damaged by the departure of white elites, so he worked to reassure South Africa's white population that they were protected and represented in "the Rainbow Nation". He only ruled for one period, although his popularity would have allowed him to extend himself in power.

Mandela in order to promote reconciliation and justice among this new society, encouraged the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate crimes committed under apartheid by both the government and the ANC. Created in 1995, with the hearings starting in 1996, it held two years of hearings detailing rapes, torture, bombings, and assassinations, before issuing its final report in October 1998. Mandela praised the Commission's work, stating that it "had helped us move away from the past to concentrate on the present and the future.

Nelson Mandela’s struggle is the people struggle for a world without discrimination, inequalities nor injustice. To devote your life to a cause to improve the world we live in, without falling ill for power, it is something truly admirable. His life and his struggle will always be a hope and an example for new generations that things can be changed.