The Historical Significance of Nelson Mandela: A Legacy That Endures
The First in a Series of Essays Examining His Impact Amidst the Mandela Effect
Introduction
This is the first part in a series of essays that were written in 1998, which I have serialised from my third-year dissertation, for my BA in History and Literature, at the University of Essex1.
When I wrote this essay, Nelson Mandela, was still serving as the President of South Africa (1994-1999), so please bear this in mind when reading this series of essays.
Photo credit: Minenhle Shelembe
I cannot publish an essay on Nelson Mandela without acknowledging the strange phenomenon of ‘the Mandela Effect’ which, in case you have not heard of, it is described as follows:
The Mandela effect refers to a situation in which a large mass of people believes that an event occurred when it did not. The term was originated in 2009 by Fiona Broome, after she discovered that she, along with a number of others, believed that Nelson Mandela had died in the 1980’s (when he actually died in 2013).2
I would love to know in the comments, when you believed that Nelson Mandela actually died. I am in the UK and I think most people that I know here also believed that he died in 2013. So, if you remember him dying in prison in 2009, like Fiona Broome, and a great many others, it might also help to say whereabouts in the world that you are from. Or, if you have any other ‘Mandela Effect’ stories, please let us know in the comments. When I was 21 years old writing this dissertation, I could not have imagined that Mandela’s name would have been posthumously associated with such a weird phenomenon.
The original essay begins here with these quotations:
Nelson Mandela “is perhaps the single most vital symbol not only of liberation from the tyranny of apartheid, but of a new way of life in South Africa.”
“Mandela emulates the few great political leaders such as Lincoln and Gandhi, who go beyond mere consensus and move out ahead of their followers to break new ground.”
I was inspired to base this project on Nelson Mandela’s early involvement in South African politics after I read his fascinating, recently published autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, aptly described by one critic as “an active political document as well as a political history.” In his autobiography, Mandela gracefully traces his epic life story which is inextricably bound up in the dramatic events of twentieth century black politics. He maps out his life beginning with his pastoral childhood in rural South Africa during the 1920’s (where he “learned to stick-fight - essential knowledge to any rural African boy”), to his victorious inauguration as the country’s first black president on May 10 1994.
I have been very interested in Mandela’s life and the turbulent history which has characterised it since I took part in a British celebration held in April 1990 in occasion of his release from prison after 27 years of confinement. Mandela recalls this particular tribute in Long Walk to Freedom:
I flew to London to attend a concert at Wembley, held in my honour. Many international artists, most of whom I didn’t know, were performing and the event was to be televised worldwide. I took advantage of this to thank the world’s anti-apartheid forces for the tremendous work they had done in pressurising for sanctions; for the release of myself and for the genuine support and solidarity they had shown the oppressed people of my country.
This music concert, held in celebration of Mandela’s release, serves as an illustration to highlight the considerable international significance that he possesses. Mandela has been fashioned into an almost godlike figure of “mythical standing” by his numerous supporters and admirers, black leaders “invoked his name in heroic terms”, thus demonstrating the enormous popular appeal that he commands all across the world. In South Africa both “young and old composed songs about him,” black teenagers wear T-shirts with his picture on and his name is scribbled on walls. Mandela has in fact had a profound influence upon popular culture; not only has he been celebrated by popular musicians in the West, but a great amount of poetry has also been written in praise of him. Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian poet, wrote a collection of poems about him in 1998 called Mandela’s Earth and Other Poems and he has also been the subject of other African poetry. Parks and buildings have been named in Mandela’s honour, in Britain there is “Mandela Park” in Hull, and housing developments have been named after him in the London boroughs of Hackney and Haringey. Statues have also been erected to remember him by in many cities in the world.
Mandela’s international appeal can also be understood in terms of the honours and awards which have been bestowed upon him from across the world despite describing himself as a man who has “never cared very much for personal prizes.” Mandela has been awarded with honorary law doctorates from the University of Lesotho in 1979 and from City College of New York in 1983. Many other honorary degrees have been conferred upon him and he has also received the freedom of the cities of Glasgow in 1981 and of Aberdeen in 1984. Perhaps most outstandingly in 1993, he was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with de Klerk upon which Mandela later reflected that, “[t]he Nobel Peace Prize has a special meaning to me because of its involvement with South African history…Chief Albert Luthuli was [also] awarded the prize in 1960”, as was Desmond Tutu in 1984.
While in prison Mandela provided a focal point for world-wide pressure calling for the establishment of democracy and freedom in South Africa. The ‘Release Mandela Campaign’ set up in 1982, also demonstrates how Mandela’s imprisonment unintentionally provided a point of convergence around which both South Africans and people all around the world could rally together and exert international pressure on the South African government. Mandela’s and the other political prisoners’ plight quickly became a global concern. One of Mandela’s fellow prisoners on Robben Island commented that “international pressure has helped keep up our morale.”
Mandela has played a truly fundamental role in twentieth century South African politics. He attracted an enormous amount of international attention from both the public an the media when he was finally released from prison; Beinart describes the event:
Mandela’s slow walk to freedom, followed by a cavalcade of cars, was an emotional moment, a televised event of almost religious intensity - the raising of a man from another world who seemed to carry the promise of salvation.
Beinart’s description underlines the heroism and nobility which has been constructed around Mandela’s character; he is often portrayed as a “living legend”. One observer has commented that “Mandela could not hope to live up to the heroic image which had been constructed around him, and since Mandela has been released from prison he has been open to much more criticism as he has assumed “the burden of his country’s hope”. He has been attacked by his critics for his conciliatory measures towards men like de Klerk and other white oppressors, and he has been criticized for his announcement that the voting age should be fourteen. His embarrassing mistake of confusing rand with dollars led to his remark that the United States’ aid contribution was “peanuts” in 1994 despite their donation of $171.4 million. Nonetheless, Mandela is still widely considered to be a hero despite the rebukes that he has received.
Certainly Mandela’s biographers (Mary Benson and Fatima Meer) offer very uncritical accounts of Mandela’s life, and their portrayals are probably somewhat responsible for the often idealised views that some people hold of him. Indeed, Meer and Benson have a tendency to place rather too much emphasis upon Mandela’s fighting spirit. Mandela was not born into the struggle. Meer and Benson also exclude his original toleration of white dominance in South Africa. Mandela’s autobiography however, does go some way to countering these myths that have emerged around him.
Mandela’s inspiration to others is enormous. Many of his friends and followers have been inspired by him, ‘Mac’ Maharaj, who was imprisoned with Mandela on Robben Island, commented that Mandela’s “morale has been such that he has been one of the men that has inspired all who come into contact with him.” Another prisoner has pointed to Mandela’s inspiration in campaigning for improvements of conditions while they were in prison. Mandela’s own inspirations are people of equally heroic stature. Mahatma Gandhi was one such inspiration. Gandhi’s non-violent protests in India inspired the Youth League’s Programme of Action, and upon receiving the Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1980, Mandela wrote that Gandhi “‘had exerted and incalculable influence’ on the history of the peoples of both India and South Africa.” Walter Sisulu also appears to have made a great impact on Mandela’s thinking. It was Sisulu who first advocated multiracial collaboration and was gradually followed by other Youth Leaguers like Mandela.
Mandela’s life has been very dramatic: born on 18 July, 1918, in the Transkei, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (often called “Madiba” as a respectful way of addressing him using his clan name) was placed in the care of his cousin David Dalindyebo (the acting Paramount Chief of the Thembus) after his father’s death in 1927. Mandela was given a Christian education and in 1939 he was enrolled at the University College Fort Hare (“the major educational institution for blacks”). He was expelled from Fort Hare in 1940 because of his involvement in a student protest. Perhaps Mandela’s behaviour on this issue was an early indication of his commitment to those principles in which he firmly believed, and also marked a new phase of his politicization.
With his cousin Justice, Mandela ran away to Johannesburg, thereby defying the regent’s wishes. Again, Mandela can be seen to demonstrate his dedication to seeking his ambitions: independently if necessary. It was while he was in Johannesburg that Mandela began his political radicalization in earnest by becoming actively involved in the African National Congress (ANC). Indeed, in 1947 he was elected national secretary of the ANC Youth League, and in 1949 Mandela played a prominent role in the drawing up of the “Programme of Action”. During this time Mandela also made the acquaintance of Walter Sisulu who helped him to find employment with a legal firm. In 1952, Mandela and Oliver Tambo established the first black law firm in South Africa and Mandela involved himself in the ANC’s Defiance Campaign. However, his arrest in 1952 under the Suppresion of Communism Act (introduced in 1950) saw Mandela banned from attending gatherings. In 1954 he introduced the M-Plan which would allow the ANC to direct organisation from underground if necessary. In 1956, Mandela was tried for treason with 155 others in what popularly became known as “The Treason Trial”. In 1961 Mandela and some other members of the ANC set up Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation, also referred to as MK), discerning a new and more violent phase of the struggle. In August 1962, Mandela was arrested again and tried in October 1963 in the famous Rivonia Trial and in June 1964 was sentenced to life imprisonment, along with Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Ahmed Kathrada, Elias Motsoaledi, Andrew Mlangeni and Denis Goldberg.
Mandela’s importance to South African history is profound and therefore most worthy of consideration. He has been personally responsible to a great extent for directing the course of events for more that half a century. He is a venerated figure, widely respected for his enormous contribution to the struggle for African liberation in South Africa.
Please be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to ensure that you receive the next essay in the Mandela series, which focuses on Mandela’s political radicalisation:
Mandela’s political evolution was shaped from a very early age. During his childhood at Mqhekezweni, in the Transkei, Mandela would listen to the stories of his tribal elders recounting the tales of African resistance against white colonialism and domination.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
The Christian Science Monitor
The Guardian
Karis, T., and Carter, G., eds. From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa 1882-1964 (four volumes), (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1972-77)
Mandela, N., R., Long Walk to Freedom (Abacus, 1995)
Mandela, N., R., No Easy Walk to Freedom (edited by Ruth First, Heinman, 1990)
Mandela, N., R., The Struggle is My Life (IDAF, 1986) a documentary collection of Mandela’s speeches and writings.
The Times
Secondary Sources:
Beinart, W., Twentieth-Century South Africa (OUP, 1994)
Beinart, W., and Dubow, S., Segregation and Apartheid in Twentieth-Century Souith Africa, 1913-36 (London, 1995)
Benson, M., Nelson Mandela (Penguin, 1986)
Benson, M., The African Patriots: The Story Of The African National Congress of South Africa (London, 1963)
Carter, G., The Politics Of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948 (London, 1962)
Crais, C., White Supremacy and Black Resistance in the Pre-Industrial South Africa: The Making of the Colonial Order in the Eastern Cape, 1770-1865 (Cambridge University Press, 1992)
Davenport, T. R. H., South Africa: A Modern History (London, 1991, 4th edn.)
Davis, S. M., Apartheid’s Rebels: Inside South Africa’s Hidden War (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987)
Delius, P., “Sebatakgomo and the Zoutpansberg Balemi Association: The ANC, The Communist Party And Rural Organization, 1939-55”, Journal of African History, 34, (1993)
Delius, P., “Sebatakgomo; Migrant Organization, The ANC And The Sekhukhueland Revolt,” JSAS, 15/4, (Oct., 1989)
Frederikse, J., The Unbreakable Thread: Non-Racialism in South Africa (London, 1990)
Gastrow, S., Who’s Who In South African Politics (3rd revised edition, 1990)
Gerhart, G. M., Black Power in South Africa: The Evolution of an Ideology (Berkley: University of California Press, 1978)
Gilomee, H. & Schlemmer, L., From Apartheid To Nation-Building (Cape Town: OUP, 1990)
Henderson, W., “‘The Struggle Is My Life’ : Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography”, African Affairs, 95/379, (April, 1996)
Hirson, B., Yours For The Union: Class And Community Struggles In South Africa, 1930-1947 (Witwatersrand University Press, 1989)
Johnstone, F., “White Prosperity and White Supremacy in South Africa Today”, African Affairs, 69 (1970)
Lodge, T. and Nasson, B., All Here and Now: Black Politics in South Africa in the 1980s (London, 1992)
Lodge, T., Black Politics in South Africa Since 1945 (London, 1983)
Martin, P. M. and O’Meara, P. (eds.) Africa (Currey: London, 1995, 3rd edition)
Mabin, A., “Comprehensive Segregation: The Origins Of The Group Areas Act And Its Planning Apparatuses”, JSAS, 18/2, (June, 1992)
Marks, S., and Trapido, S., (eds.) The Politics of Race, Class and Nationalism in Twentieth-Century South Africa, (London, 1987)
Mbeki, G., South Africa: The Peasants’ Revolt (Penguin)
Really sadly, I have lost all the footnotes for this essay, and some of the bibliography, but on the whole the bibliography is really quite thorough and any of the references for this essay would only have been taken from those books, publications and articles, because this was written before the internet - imagine that!