Early Life
Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918 at Mvezo, a village near the banks of river Mbashe in the district of Umata. He was given the name Rolihlahla, which in the Xhosa language means ‘troublemaker.’ Although his relatives associated his name with the problems he caused, he never believed that a name could decide one’s future. He was a part of the Xhosa Nation. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was appointed as chief of Mvezo. His mother’s name was Nosekani Fanny. In total, his father had thirteen children, four boys and nine girls. His father was an acknowledged custodian of the Xhosa history. He served as an advisor in royal matters. Nelson Mandela also had an interest in history which was encouraged by his father. His father and other chiefs had a high respect for education. His father was strict when it came to disciplining his children. Once, someone lodged a complaint against his father involving an ox. His father was called upon by the magistrate but he refused which resulted in losing the title as a chief. His father lost most of his herd and land. After that, Nelson Mandela and his mother moved to the village of Qunu where he spent the best days of his childhood. In Qunu, the concept of education was still a foreign one. Nelson Mandela spent most of his time playing with other boys of the village. Corn, sorghum, beans and pumpkins constituted the largest portion of the diet because of financial limitations. Rich people included tea, coffee and sugar in their diet. Such items were exotic luxuries at the time. He became a herd-boy at the age of five. As a child, he learned skills essentials for survival- using a slingshot, gathering edible fruits, roots and honey, fishing and stick-fight. Kids made their own toys using clay. Kids a deep sense of dignity and believing humiliating a person is making them suffer an unnecessary cruel fate. The most popular game among the kids was thinti which is a resemblance of war. After playing such games he would go home and his mother would tell him Xhosa legends which are passed down from numberless generations. Later under the influence of the people who became christians, His mother decided to do the same. In fact, the name ‘Fanny’ is her christian name she was given in a church. Nelson Mandela followed the same path and was baptized at Wesleyan Church. Some of the educated and converted-christians suggested that he should go to school. Due to lack of education, his father immediately decided to send him to school. He was seven at the time. On the first day of school all the students were given English names and that’s how he got the name Nelson. When he was nine his father passed away because of lung disease. Shortly after his father’s death, Xhosa chief Jongintaba offered to adopt Nelson Mandela. His mother didn’t turn down the offer as there would be more opportunities to grow. He moved to Mqhekeweni, the provincial capital of Thembuland leaving behind the village of Qunu and his mother. He often used to listen to the court hearings. He observed that each person’s opinion is taken into consideration leading to a fair consensus. At the age of sixteen, with several other boys, he underwent a circumcision ritual to mark the transition from a boy to a man.
Education
1933- Clarkebury Boarding Institute for secondary education.
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1937- Wesleyan college at Healdtown
Passion/ Interest
During the years in University College of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela aspired to be “a clerk or an interpreter in Native Affairs Department”. At that time, this was the highest a black man could aspire to. When he returned to Mphakanyiswa, his father told him that he had arranged a marriage for him in accordance with the customs. He thought that it was wrong of his father to force him into marriage against his will. Without giving a second thought, he devised a plan with his brother, justice, to run away to Johannesburg. Since he wanted to become a lawyer he joined a law firm and began practicing law. Alongside working as an apprentice lawyer, he pursued his B.A. degree at UNISA or University of South Africa and completed the degree in 1942. During his academic years he realized that teachers turned away topics like racism, lack of opportunities for Africans, etc. As an apprentice lawyer, he came closer to a colleague, Gaur. Gaur talked about the white oppression over the blacks and argued that education alone can’t free this nation. Gaur was a prominent member of ANC or African National Congress, an organisation established in 1912, that focused on eradicating racism and “Africans as full citizens of South Africa”. Though he lacked formal education, he was a powerful speaker. This made a huge impact on Nelson Mandela. All these years his ultimate goal was to become educated and get a job with a decent salary that wasn’t the case anymore. Now Mandela wanted to serve his people and became increasingly interested in politics. In early 1943 he enrolled himself in The University of Witwatersrand for a degree of LL.B. Later, he left the university and became a full- time worker at the ANC. Eradicating apartheid became his goal in life. He envisioned South Africa as a “free and democratic society in which all people live in harmony with equal opportunities.” He once said, “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.”
Setbacks/ Obstacles
As a black person in general, Mandela faced racism on a regular basis. Once, he saw “an elderly white woman's car sandwiched between two other cars”, he rushed to help the woman, “she said, “Thank you, John(whites used to address Africans as John)”” and offered him a sixpence coin but Mandela “politely refused.” The woman “then exclaimed, “You refuse a sixpence. You must want a shilling but you shall not have it!”” impling Mandela wanted more money as an offering. Also as a black attorney, he wasn’t “guaranteed respect at court either.” Judges would ask him to produce his qualification certificate and “white witnesses would refuse to answer to a black attorney.” Mandela ignored the regular racism because it would have been foolish to act on his own at the moment. In the 1960’s Mandela was tried for “inciting workers against the government and causing mass rebellion.” First he was sent to a jail in Pretoria and then transferred to Robben Island where he spent the next 27 years of his life. At Robben Island, there were “no white prisoners and no black warders.” Mandela and his colleagues were called political prisoners. Prisoners were placed in different categories from A to D. The category affected a prisoner’s privileges. A was the highest classification while D was the lowest. All political prisoners were placed in D and received the most unjust treatment. Mandela and his colleagues protested against the unjust treatment but all the efforts were in vain. To keep himself busy, Mandela often read novels. Mandela also took up gardening and made his own mini garden. While in prison, Mandela never lost hope of a bright future
Qualities of a soulful leader
Willingness to fight for one’s goals
Non-violence was becoming ineffective against British and Mandela believed that the struggle required a change. In 1952, Mandela raised his concerns about the need for change in the struggle. Unlike Gandhi, he believed that non-violence is just a tactic which must be removed once it becomes ineffective against the oppression. Again in June 1961, he expressed his views about the need for change in the struggle. He said, “Sebatana ha se bokwe ka diatla(the attacks of the wild beast cannot be averted with only bare hands). He argued that “it was wrong and immoral to subject the people to armed attacks by the state without offering them some kind of alternative” implying an armed struggle is necessary. He successfully convinced the ANC to form an independent military organisation under the control of the ANC known as “Umkhonto we Sizwe(The Spear of the Nation).”
Person of substance and depth
Aims for the well-being of all not just privilege a few.
In the British South Africa, the whites legally dominated the non-whites or blacks specifically by a segregation policy called apartheid. Mandela always aimed to eradicate apartheid and establish a non-racial and democratic society. After being released from Robben Island, Mandela ran for presidency and won the elections by 62.6% votes. Many whites feared that the blacks would retaliate and start killing the whites. Regardless of everyone’s expectations about black domination, Mandela invited the whites to work together towards a better future for South Africa.
Powerful as a communicator
During a speech in Uganda, Mandela talked about South Africa’s past, “the brutal massacres that were committed against the people.” He talked about “Bulhoek in 1921, when the army and the police killed one hundred and eighty three unarmed peasants, to Sharpeville forty years later.” He also talked about “the birth of Umkhonto we Sizwe, explaining that all the opportunities of peaceful struggle had been closed.” Mandela “was met with loud cheers.” People were convinced “that freedom fighters in South Africa had no alternative but to take up arms.”
“We” Leadership
On January 31, 1985 the government agreed to free Nelson Mandela on the condition that he “unconditionally rejected violence as a political instrument.” Mandela “wrote a letter to the foreign minister, Pik Botha, rejecting the conditions of the release.” He rejected his own freedom because he believed it was useless when the organizations of the South African people are still banned. He wanted to work towards a solution as a whole society and not just one man. He reassured the ANC that his “loyalty to the organization was beyond question.” He reassured that he will probably resort to violence when he gets out of the prison if the situation is unchanged. He said, “Your(South Africans’) freedom and my freedom cannot be separated.” This shows that Mandela was not willing to “sell the birthright of the people to be free.
Leads with Humanity
Soon after Mandela raised his concerns for the need of an armed struggle, an organization named Umkhonto We Sizwe was formed. The goal of the organization was to sabotage the government by destroying power plants, power cables and other installations. Guerilla warfare was an option but it was never implemented. Mandela valued human life and was not willing to risk causing a civil war.
Skills I want to emulate
Anticipation
Since the ANC and other significant organisations were working towards freeing South Africa, it posed a threat to the white South African government. Mandela anticipated that the government would eventually ban the ANC. Mandela devised a plan which others called “Mandela-plan or simply M-plan” that would enable the ANC to operate in secret and keep working towards making Africa independent. I would like to emulate this quality because it would help me take calculated risks in life and increase my chance of success.
Kindness
After Mandela was elected as The President of South Africa
Sources
- Autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom by ‘Nelson Mandela’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
- https://nigerianstalk.org/2013/12/15/mandela-the-personification-of-humility/
- https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Friedman-Mandela-did-big-things-using-humility-5052556.php
How Mandela assessed his success
When Mandela was in Robben Island, the government banned any articles or newspapers that featured his pictures. For 27 years, no one saw Nelson Mandela or his picture and South Africans had no idea what he looked like. They considered him a messiah who was responsible for all the protests against Apartheid. At The Oprah Winfrey Show, Mandela commented, “that is one of the things that worried me, to be raised to the position of a semi-God, because then you are no longer a human being.” Mandela wanted people to remember him by his name, Mandela, who was not “something other than an ordinary human being.” Mandela never claimed all the credit by himself but said that the Anti-Apartheid movement’s success was a result of the the dedication and the hard work of the South African. Mandela showed his humility by recognizing his mistakes. “Self-mockery” was a part of his humor. “He never shied away from his flaws.” Mandela believed that all of us are nothing but human beings. When Mandela became The President of South Africa, he urged the black South Africans to welcome the whites and not retaliate. His humility is shown in the movie “Invictus.” In the film, the sports committee asks Mandela “to change the name and colors of the almost all-white Springboks(South African rugby team). so that it represented the post-apartheid South African identity.” However, Mandela denied and replied that they shouldn’t give whites what they are expecting(revenge) but “surprise them with restraint and generosity.' To summarize, Mandela centered his leadership around South Africans rather than himself and gave all the credit to others for making Anti-Apartheid movement a success.
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