Last week, on Friday, July 18, it was Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Pretty much everywhere I turned there were events and good wishes for this great man. A local radio station has a happy birthday song you can listen to (if you saw the 466/64 concert then you probably heard U2 play it already), but here is the link...http://www.skit.co.za/view_video.php?viewkey=066b82ab86dff8a46af6
A little about Nelson Mandela...Mr Mandela was born into the royal family of the Tembu at Qunu, near Umtata, on 18 July 1918. The capital of the former Transkei, and now of the Eastern Cape Province. Umtata was named after the Mtata River upon whose banks it was formed. His father was the principal councillor, to the Acting Paramount Chief of Thembuland. However, influenced by the cases that came before the Chiefs court, he was determined to become a lawyer. Hearing the elders stories of his ancestors valour during the wars of resistance in defence of their fatherland, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. At the height of the Second World War, a small group of young Africans banded together. These young people set themselves the formidable task of transforming the ANC into a mass movement. Deriving its strength and motivation from the unlettered millions of working people in the towns and countryside, the peasants in the rural areas, and the professionals.
In April 1944 they came together to found the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). Their goal of political organisation and action was the achievement of true democracy,i.in South Africa and ii.in the rest of the African continent. In such a true democracy all the nationalities and minorities would have their fundamental human rights guaranteed in a democratic Constitution. In order to achieve this the Congress Youth League and/or the National Movement struggles for:a.the removal of discriminatory laws and colour bars;b.the admission of the Africans into the full citizenship of the country so that they have direct representation in parliament on a democratic basis.
Mandela soon impressed his peers by his disciplined work and consistent effort. He was elected to the Secretaryship of the Youth League in 1947. In 1948 the National Party came to power in Southern Africa. 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.
Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment. He started his prison years in the notorious Robben Island Prison, a maximum security prison on a small island 7Km off the coast near Cape Town
Mandela rejected an offer of release on condition that he renounce violence. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Only free men can negotiate, he said. In April 1984 he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. 1988 he was moved the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. He was released on 11 February 1990. 466 was his prison number when he was jailed in 1964.
In April 1944 they came together to found the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). Their goal of political organisation and action was the achievement of true democracy,i.in South Africa and ii.in the rest of the African continent. In such a true democracy all the nationalities and minorities would have their fundamental human rights guaranteed in a democratic Constitution. In order to achieve this the Congress Youth League and/or the National Movement struggles for:a.the removal of discriminatory laws and colour bars;b.the admission of the Africans into the full citizenship of the country so that they have direct representation in parliament on a democratic basis.
Mandela soon impressed his peers by his disciplined work and consistent effort. He was elected to the Secretaryship of the Youth League in 1947. In 1948 the National Party came to power in Southern Africa. 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.
Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment. He started his prison years in the notorious Robben Island Prison, a maximum security prison on a small island 7Km off the coast near Cape Town
Mandela rejected an offer of release on condition that he renounce violence. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Only free men can negotiate, he said. In April 1984 he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. 1988 he was moved the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. He was released on 11 February 1990. 466 was his prison number when he was jailed in 1964.
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