Nelson Mandela: From Prisoner To President Note

Nelson Mandela: From Prisoner to President
Documentary directed by Peter Davis (1986)

The documentary starts with Zindzi Mandela being honored for the name she bears in the sports stadium in
Soweto. The South African government has banned Mandela’s quotes and images from being published or
displayed, but he remains the supreme symbol of black liberation. Though the South African government
had tried to turn Mandela into a non-person, his name is known throughout the world. He has become an
idea that cannot be killed.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Qunu, Transkei, South Africa, and is of the royal blood of the
Tembu. Arthur Mandela, a relative, shows the director the Rolihlahla family’s old farm and tombstones. His
sister, Mabel Notameu, says that she knew he would be noticed by the world. Recognizing his brightness,
their father invited the then Paramount Chief Jong'intaba to their house and asked him to take Nelson into
his service. He was taken to the Chief’s palace and was taught the duties of a chief.
At school, he was taught about Western culture and the education based on it, whereas in his house, he was
taught traditional values. He absorbed both worlds but put Western culture to the service of Africa. Mandela
studied law and went into partnership with his friend Oliver Tambo in Johannesburg. People were excited to
see a black lawyer, and their offices were always crowded, says Chief Mtikrakra.
As a lawyer, he had to work to navigate the legal system established by the whites, intended to exploit
African labor. The laws created by white people ensured that blacks would never compete against them and
would always be troubled by the police. Mandela endeavored to defend his people from the apartheid system
in which they were trapped.
Adelaide Tambo remembers that Nelson was sympathetic towards everyone's plight.
Mandela was appalled at the conditions blacks lived in the townships. He always dressed impeccably and
was courteous towards everybody, including whites, believing that everyone deserves respect. Paul Joseph,
an inmate, recounts an incident where Nelson Mandela helped a white woman, and she gave him money
back, even though he was dressed in a suit. Instead of getting angry, he refused the money courteously.
His concern for his fellow Africans led him to be a part of the African National Congress, and he organized a
great disobedience movement in the fifties. Oliver Tambo says that the civil disobedience movement led by
Mandela involved people breaking laws in order to get arrested as a way of protesting against the horrible
system. Jackson Nkosiyane says that whenever they wanted to do anything political, they used to discuss it
with Mandela. His leadership became a threat to the whites, and as a result, in 1956, he was arrested along
with 155 other activists and accused of high treason.
In prison, they wouldn’t address him as Nelson or N-word; instead, they referred to him as Mr. Mandela
only. That’s the respect he garnered. Helen Joseph, another accused, highlights the funny and respectful man
in him.
After 5 years of trial, the ANC became a banned organization, and Mandela had to go underground. Mary
Benson met him in hiding. He met her as a chauffeur, and even though the car could have broken down, he
was not at all bothered about the danger of being discovered. The newspapers called him "The Black
Pimpernel." He was never seen depressed, even though he had struggled a lot during those times.
As a hunted man, he traveled from one end of the country to the other, organizing general strikes. Black
people stayed home, and whites had to do menial jobs. The government brought in the military to crush the
strike by forcing the strikers to go back to work. The climax of the strikes was the “Sharpeville Massacre.”
The South African Police (SAP) opened fire on a crowd as it advanced toward the fence around the police
station. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. That's
when the ANC decided to become consciously violent.
Mandela and others formed the underground resistance Umkhonto-we-Sizwe, the Spear of the Nation.
Mandela was the commander in chief. They aimed to respond to violence with sabotage, targeting symbols
of apartheid power.
In 1964, he was caught with others and charged with sabotage and revolution. During the trial, Mandela
didn’t refuse the charges; instead, he attacked the authority of the white court and the legitimacy of the
police state. He gave a one-and-a-half-hour speech with the famous ending, “I’ve dedicated my life to
achieving harmony in this country, and to fight for the rights of all persons. It is a belief which I hope to see
achieved, but if needs be, it is a belief for which I am prepared to die.”
The accused were sentenced to life in prison and were sent to the notorious Robben Island. Fikile Bam,
another prisoner, says he is naturally polite and exceptionally tolerant, displaying a willingness to listen to
everyone.
He led the fight for prisoners’ rights, especially for the denial of education to them. Winnie Mandela, his
wife, says that he had given a great deal of focus on the upliftment of youth there, and turned “Robben
Island into Mandela University.” Winnie was one of the few who got to see Mandela during his
imprisonment. During this time, she herself made sure that her husband is never forgotten.
When Fatima Meer visited him, he was curious to know what was happening outside. Usually, prisoners
tend to subside, but Mandela grew stronger during his imprisonment. Even though he stayed in prison for 27
years, people didn’t forget him, and he didn’t forget his people either. The demonstration in which the chant
“Free Mandela” is heard is evidence of that. He remained a symbol of hope for the entire country. Even as a
prisoner, his power grew, and to restrict this power, the South African government offered him restricted
freedom that would drive a wedge between him and the ANC.
Zindzi at Soweto stadium reads his reply “My father says, "I am a member of the African National
Congress. I have always been a member of the African National Congress, and I will remain a member of
the African National Congress until the day I die. I am in prison as the representative of the people, and of
your organization, the African National Congress, which was banned. What freedom am I being offered
whilst the organization of the people remains banned? I cherish my own freedom dearly. But I care even
more for your freedom. I am no less life-loving than you are, but I cannot sell my birthright, nor am I
prepared to sell the birthright of the people to be free." My father says, "I cannot, and will not, give any
undertaking at a time when I and you, the people, are not free. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated. I
will return!"
Zindzi Mandela delivered her father's speech on February 10, 1985. After 5 more years of needless strife, the
South African Government gave in. On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. He
had been behind bars for 27 years. In 1994, in fully democratic elections, Nelson Mandela becomes South
Africa's first black President.

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Nelson Mandela: From Prisoner to President

Documentary directed by Peter Davis (1986)

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