International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Nelson Mandela has become the icon of South Africa's successful transition to a political democracy. A leading figure in the African National Congress (ANC) , imprisoned for a quarter of a century on Robben Island, and the first president of a democratic South Africa beginning in 1994, Mandela has become the symbol and its lodestar of the struggle against apartheid . Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 in the small village of Mvezo in Thembuland to the local chief, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, and his third wife, Nonqaphi Nosekeni Nkedama. The kingdom had been annexed by the British within living memory, 40 years earlier, after a century of struggle to defend the land against British settlers. The child was named Rolihlala – “pulling the branch of a tree,” a metaphor for disturbing the established order. The name was significant; Gadla lost his position and the government stipend that went with it when he refused to account to the local British magistrate for his ruling in a dispute in Mvezo over cattle. He was pointedly demonstrating that his accountability lay not with the colonial administration but elsewhere – according to an African maxim, “a chief is a chief by the people.” The family was obliged to leave Mvezo. They moved to the district of Qunu, the home of Rolihlahla's mother. The boy took on herding duties at a young age: cattle were central to the economy of the ... log in or subscribe to read full text