write a biography of Nelson Mandela
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Nelson Mandela made his first speech as the first black President of South Africa on this extraordinary transition. "Historical enemies succeeded in negotiating a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy exactly because we were prepared to accept the inherent capacity for goodness in the other. My wish is that South Africans never give up on the belief in goodness, that they cherish that faith in human beings, which is the cornerstone of our democracy."
After the emergence of a new democratic South Africa, the leaders appealed to their people to forgive the whites for the atrocities committed by them, and appealed the people to build a new South Africa based on equality of all races, and men and women on democratic values.
After long discussions and debates, they came out with one of the finest constitutions in the world. This new constitution gave exclusive rights to the citizens.
The South African constitution has inspired the democrats all over the world. This was made possible by the determination of the people of South Africa to transform the bitter experience into an ideal nation.
Speaking on the South African constitution, Mandela said: "The Constitution of South Africa speaks of both the past and the future. On the one band, it is a solemn pact in which we, as South Africans, declare to another world that we shall never permit a repetition of our racist, brutal and repressive past, But it is more than that It is also a charter for the transformation of our country into one which is truly shared by all people-a country which in the fullest sense belongs to all of us, black and white, women and men."
Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape, on 18 July 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni1.
Hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.
He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names.
He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated.
Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest.
On his return to the Great Place at Mqhekezweni the King was furious and said if he didn’t return to Fort Hare he would arrange wives for him and his cousin Justice. They ran away to Johannesburg instead, arriving there in 1941. There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, he was introduced to Lazer Sidelsky. He then did his articles through a firm of attorneys – Witkin, Eidelman and Sidelsky.
He completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943.
Meanwhile, he began studying for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission he was a poor student and left the university in 1952 without graduating. He only started studying again through the University of London after his imprisonment in 1962 but also did not complete that degree.
In 1989, while in the last months of his imprisonment, he obtained an LLB through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town.