It is with deep sadness that we mourn the passing of the father of South Africa’s democracy. The man who was to become one of the world’s greatest icons was born in Mvezo, Transkei on 18 July 1918, to Nongaphi Nosekeni and Henry Gadla Mandela. His father was the key counsellor/advisor to the Thembu royal house. After his father’s death in 1927, the young Rolihlahla became the ward of Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu nation. It was at the Thembu royal homestead that his personality, values and political views were shaped. There can be no doubt that the young man went on to bring about some of the most significant and remarkable changes in South African history and politics.
It is through Mandela that the world cast its eyes on South Africa and took notice of the severe and organized repression of black South Africans. Yet it was also through Mandela that the world would learn the spirit of endurance, the triumph of forgiveness and the beauty of reconciliation. Indeed, the story of Nelson Mandela is so much the story of South Africa.
When he was only 25 years old, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress. His political career would span decades more – as he himself said: “The struggle is my life.” The young Mandela also qualified and practiced as a lawyer. Together with Oliver Tambo he opened the first black legal practice in Johannesburg.
Mandela married Evelyn Nomathamsanqa Mase in 1945. They were married for fourteen years and had four children: Thembekile (1946), Makaziwe (1947), who died at nine months, Makgatho (1951) and Makaziwe (1954). The couple divorced in 1958.
He was instrumental in the formation of the radical African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in the 1940s which was determined to change the face of politics. Mandela was elected the league’s National Secretary in 1948 and President in 1952.
Much of the years that followed saw Mandela deeply involved in activism, rallying for political change against the increasingly aggressive apartheid government. He was a key player in the ANC’s Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws in 1952 and the Treason Trial in 1961. During this time he was incarcerated several times under the apartheid laws and banned from political activity. Realising that the ANC needed to prepare for more intensive struggle, he became an instrumental force behind the formation of a new section of the liberation movement, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), as an armed nucleus with a view to preparing for armed struggle. Mandela was commander in chief of MK.
On 14 June 1958 Nelson and Winnie Madikizela were married at a local Bizana church. They had two children, Zenani (1958) Zindziswa (1960). In April 1992 they were separated and finally divorced in 1996.
He left the country in 1962 and traveled abroad to arrange guerilla training for members of Umkhonto weSizwe. On his return to South Africa he was arrested for illegal exiting the country and incitement to strike. Mandela decided to represent himself in court.
While on trial, Mandela was charged with sabotage in the Rivonia Trial. This is his famous statement from the dock made in 1964: “I have fought against White domination, and I have fought against Black domination. 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.”
In the same year Mandela and the other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial and sent to Robben Island, near Cape Town. While in prison, Mandela rejected offers made by his jailers to be released on condition that he renounced violence. “Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Only free men can negotiate,” he said. He served a total of 27 years in prison for his conviction to fight apartheid and its injustices.
Released on 11 February 1990, Mandela plunged wholeheartedly into his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after being banned for decades, Nelson Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation’s National Chairperson.
In a life that symbolises the triumph of the human spirit, Nelson Mandela accepted the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize (along with FW de Klerk) on behalf of all South Africans who suffered and sacrificed so much to bring peace to our land.
The era of apartheid formally came to an end on the April 27, 1994, when Nelson Mandela voted for the first time in his life – along with his people. However, long before that date it had become clear, even before the start of negotiations at the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park, that the ANC was increasingly charting the future of South Africa.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was inaugurated as President of a democratic South Africa on 10 May 1994.
This world icon worked tirelessly even after the achievement of democracy in South Africa to continue improving lives. Even as he retired from politics, his attention shifted to social issues such as HIV and AIDS and the wellbeing of the nation’s children. As a testimony to his sharp political intellect, wisdom and unrelenting commitment to make the world a better place, Mandela formed the prestigious group of called The Elders – an independent group of eminent global leaders, who offer their collective influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity.
He passed on peacefully in the company of his family on the 5th of December 2013. Mr Mandela is survived by his wife Graça, three daughters, 18 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of South Africa. He was 95.
12 Condolences for Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Condolences(12)
David Cameron says
December 5, 2013 at 17:02A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a towering figure in our time; a legend in life and now in death – a true global hero. Across the country he loved they will be mourning a man who was the embodiment of grace. Meeting him was one of the great honours of my life.
George W. Bush says
December 5, 2013 at 17:11President Mandela was one of the great forces for freedom and equality of our time. He bore his burdens with dignity and grace, and our world is better off because of his example. This good man will be missed, but his contributions will live on for ever.
William Jefferson Clinton says
December 5, 2013 at 17:13Today the world has lost one of its most important leaders and one of its finest human beings. History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation.
We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life. All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived. He proved that there is freedom in forgiving, that a big heart is better than a closed mind, and that life’s real victories must be shared.
Barack Obama says
December 5, 2013 at 17:15At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela closed his statement from the dock saying, ‘I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. 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.’
And Nelson Mandela lived for that ideal, and he made it real. He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home.
And we have lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us – he belongs to the ages.
Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa – and moved all of us. His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the promise that human beings – and countries – can change for the better.
His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives.
And the fact that he did it all with grace and good humour, and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable. As he once said, ‘I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.’
I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s life. My very first political action, the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics, was a protest against apartheid. I studied his words and his writings. The day that he was released from prison gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they’re guided by their hopes and not by their fears.
And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set. And so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him.
To Graca Machel and his family, Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathy and gratitude for sharing this extraordinary man with us.
His life’s work meant long days away from those who loved him the most. And I only hope that the time spent with him these last few weeks brought peace and comfort to his family.
To the people of South Africa, we draw strength from the example of renewal and reconciliation and resilience that you made real. A free South Africa at peace with itself – that’s an example to the world. And that’s Madiba’s legacy to the nation he loved.
We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. So it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set: to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice.
For now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived – a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice. May God Bless his memory and keep him in peace.
Tony Blair says
December 5, 2013 at 17:19Mandela was a great man who had made racism not just immoral but stupid. I worked with him closely and remember well his visits to Downing Street. He was a wonderful man to be around, with a sharp wit, extraordinary political savvy and a lovely way of charming everyone in a building.
He would delight in making sure that the person on the door or serving the tea would feel at home with him and be greeted by him with the same kindness and respect he would show a leader. So the warmth of his personality was equal to the magnitude of his contribution to the world.
Gordon Brown says
December 5, 2013 at 17:22Nelson Mandela was the greatest leader of our generation. A leader of magnanimity, fortitude, unshakeable optimism and, most of all, the most courageous man I ever met.
True courage requires not only strength of will but strength of belief. What motivated Nelson Mandela and drove him to risk his life for freedom was a burning passion that, irrespective of colour, race and background, all people are created equal – and his list of historic achievements starts with a multiracial South Africa.
Every accolade in the world was awarded to him, but the one he prized most was Children’s Champion. As he said in his book, he had climbed one mountain, but there is another still to climb – dignity for every child. He was the greatest of Africans. He had greatness as vast as the continent he loved. He had within him the greatness of the human soul.
Condoleezza Rice says
December 5, 2013 at 17:24Throughout history, a few special people have been able to transcend differences and change the world for the better. Nelson Mandela was one of those people who had a vision for human rights and equality.
Those beliefs made him the father of multi-ethnic democracy in South Africa. All freedom-loving people will miss him, but we will never forget his sacrifice and his achievements.
François Hollande says
December 5, 2013 at 17:26Nelson Mandela made history, that of South Africa and that of the whole world. A tireless fighter against apartheid, he defeated it with his courage, his obstinacy and his perseverance.
Throughout all these years, Nelson Mandela has incarnated the South African nation, the cement of its unity and the pride of Africa. He mobilised all his strength to put his country in its rightful place among the main world powers … right to the end of his life he served peace. Nelson Mandela’s message will not disappear.
He will continue to inspire those who fight for freedom and give confidence to people who defend just causes and universal rights. He showed that human will could not only break chains of subjugation, but free the energy to succeed in building a common destiny. France shares the infinite sadness of the South African people.
Manmohan Singh says
December 5, 2013 at 17:28A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India’s loss as South Africa’s. He was a true Gandhian. His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul.
Shinzo Abe says
December 5, 2013 at 17:31Nelson Mandela was a great leader who fought with a strong will to eliminate apartheid and achieved a great deal by putting national reconciliation at the centre of his nation-building. I wish to express my heartfelt respect for the achievements of the former South African president and hope that the government and people of South Africa will overcome their grief and go on to further develop their country.
Shimon Peres says
December 5, 2013 at 17:32Mandela was a builder of bridges of peace and dialogue who paid a heavy personal price for his struggle in the years he spent in prison and fighting for his people.
Terry says
January 27, 2026 at 21:23He was a hero indeed, he’s forever going to be in our hearts, he may not be with us right now but he left a legendary story that will for sure remain in our hearts 💯
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