1.

What unintended effect was produced by decades of

oppression?

Answer: The decades of oppression made him a strong person.

He set out the goal to liberate the people of South Africa from
continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering and other
discrimination. He decided to have freedom and justice for all.

2. What pained Nelson Mandela on becoming the

President of South Africa?

Answer: Nelson Mandela was sad for not being able to thank
those African patriots who had fought for independence and
sacrificed their lives for it. This pained him that they were not
able to see what their sacrifices had brought.

3. When did Mandela’s hunger for self-turn into a hunger

for freedom for all his people?

Answer: Mandela gradually realized that freedom was curtailed

for those people who looked like he did, but not for the whites.
Consequently, he joined the African National Congress, and that
was when his “hunger for freedom” became a “greater hunger.”

4. Why is 10th May 1994 important for South Africa?

Answer: 10th May 1994 is important for South Africa because first
democratic non-racial government elections were held on this day
in the country. Nelson Mandela became the first black president
of the country.

5. What ideals does Mandela set out for the future of

South Africa in his speech?

Answer: The ideal Mandela set out for the future of South Africa
in his speech was to liberate the people of South Africa from
continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and
other discriminations.

6. What did Nelson Mandela pledge when he was sworn in

as President?
Answer: Nelson Mandela pledged to uphold the Constitution of
his country and devote him to liberate his people from the
bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other
discriminations. There would be freedom and justice for all.

7. What did Nelson Mandela remember on the day of the

Inaugural Ceremony?

Answer: He remembered the history — the birth Apartheid, its

effect on his people and long fight for freedom. He remembered
the freedom fighters that suffered and sacrificed for freedom. He
also remembered what freedom meant to him at different stages
of life and his hunger for freedom.

8. Why was the 10th of May, 1994 a red-letter day in the

history of South Africa

Answer: 10th of May 1994 was a red-letter day in the history of

South Africa. It was the day when the hated regime of apartheid
came to an end. A new democratically elected non-racial
government under Nelson Mandela was to be sworn in. Many
international leaders and dignitaries came to pay their respect to
the new government.

9. Where did the ceremonies take place? What had it been

for decades?

Answer: The ceremonies of the inauguration of the new

government took place at the lovely sandstone amphitheatre in
the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The same place had remained the
seat of white supremacy for decades.

10. How was that site a rainbow gathering of different

colours and nations?

Answer: The end of the apartheid regime was a common victory

for peace, justice and human dignity. Leaders and dignitaries of
all nations irrespective of their colour, race and religion had
gathered there to celebrate that victory. So, the site presented a
rainbow gathering of different colours and nations.
11. Who were the persons sworn in on the 10th of May?
What did Mandela pledge to obey?

Answer: Mr. de Klerk was first sworn in as second Deputy

President. Then Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as first Deputy
President. Then, in the end, Mr Nelson Mandela was sworn in as
the President of the Republic of South Africa. He pledged to obey
and uphold the constitution and devote himself to the well being
of the Republic and its people.

12. What was born out of the experience of an

extraordinary human disaster? Why should humanity be
proud of it?

Answer: The apartheid regime was an extraordinary human

disaster for the blacks of South Africa. The end of the apartheid
laid down the foundation of a non-racial democratic regime in
South Africa. This government based on human equality and
dignity would be an ideal one of which all humanity will be proud.

13. Who was given the rare privilege to be host to the

nations of the world on their own soil?

Answer: Those who were outlaws not so long ago were given the
rare privilege. They had the privilege of hosting and welcoming
nations of the world on their soul. The blacks were no more
outlaws now but enjoyed equality and human dignity.

14. After achieving political emancipation what does

Mandela want to do in South Africa?

Answer: South Africa and the blacks have achieved their political
emancipation. Mandela pledges to liberate his people from the
bondage of poverty, want, suffering, gender and other
discriminations. South Africa will never ever experience the
oppression of one by another. He wishes the reign of freedom will
never die in South Africa.

15. What did the display of jets and military salute

symbolise?
Answer: There was a spectacular show of South African jets and
troop carriers over the Union Buildings. The highest generals of
the military and police saluted President Mandela. It was a clear
demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy, to a free
and fairly elected government.

16. Why did the same generals salute Mandela who would
have arrested him not so many years ago?

Answer: In the apartheid regime, Nelson Mandela was a rebel

and was in prison for many years. After the end of the apartheid,
he was the head of the non-racial democratically elected
government of South Africa. The same generals who would have
put him in prison not so long ago were obliged to salute the
president of the new Republic of South Africa.

17. What did the playing of two national anthems

symbolise?

Answer: On the historic day of the inauguration ceremony of the

Republic of South Africa, two national anthems were played. The
whites song `Nkosi Sikelel-i-Africa’ and the black sang ‘Die Stem’.
Neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem they once despised.
They would soon know the words by heart.

18. Why was Mandela overwhelmed with a sense of history

and what bad thing happened in the first decade of the
10th century?

Answer: Mandela is overwhelmed with a sense of history and

remembers when the hated apartheid policy was introduced in
South Africa. After the Boer war, the white people of South Africa
patched up their differences. They set up a system of racial
domination against the black people of their own race.

19. Why was the apartheid regime in South Africa was one
of the harshest and most inhuman systems in the world?

Answer: The apartheid regime was based on the racial

discrimination and exploitation of blacks in South Africa. The basic
or fundamental rights were only for the whites and the blacks
were deprived of these freedoms. Oppression, torture and
exploitation of the blacks were common features of the apartheid
regime.

20. Why does Nelson Mandela call himself simply the sum
of those African patriots who had gone before him?

Answer: Nelson Mandela gratefully acknowledges the sacrifices

of thousands of his people who fought against the apartheid
regime. Their suffering and courage can never be cemented or
repaid. Mandela humbly believes that he was simply the sum of
all those African patriots who had gone before him.

21. How did the policy of apartheid create a deep and

lasting wound in South African blacks?

Answer: No doubt, the policy of apartheid created a deep and

lasting wound in South Africa and the blacks. It would take many
years to recover from that profound hurt. The racial discrimination
unleashed a reign of terror, oppression and brutality on the blacks
of South Africa.

22. How did the policy of apartheid and deep oppression

produce patriots of extraordinary, courage, wisdom and
generosity?

Answer: The policy of apartheid unleashed a reign of terror and

oppression on the black people but they could not break their
resolution and determination. The deep oppression produced
patriot of extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity. It
produced thousands of Tambos, Sisulus, Sadoos, Fischer’s and
Sobukwes of their time.

23. What is the greatest wealth of a country according to

Nelson Mandela?

Answer: South Africa is rich in minerals and gems. But minerals

and gems are not the greatest wealth of a nation. Mandela thinks
that the greatest and real wealth of a nation is its people. They
are finer and truer than the purest diamonds.

24. How does Mandela define courage and from where did
he learn the meaning of courage?
Answer: Nelson Mandela learnt the meaning of courage from
great patriots and comrades in the struggle. They risked their
lives and stood up to attacks and tortures of the apartheid
regime. He learned that courage was not the absence of fear but
the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who doesn’t feel
afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

25. How can people be taught to love? Which comes

naturally to the human heart — love or hate?

Answer: No one is born hating another person because of his

colour or race. People are taught to hate. And if they learn to
hate, they can be taught to love. Love comes more naturally to
the human heart than hatred.

26. What are the twin obligations every man has in life?

Answer: Mandela thinks that every man has twin obligations in

life. The first is his obligation to his family, to his parents, to his
wife and children. The second duty is his duty to his people, his
community and his country. Each man has to fulfil these two
obligations according to his position and abilities.

27. Why was it impossible for a man of Mandela’s birth

and colour to fulfil the twin obligations?

Answer: In South Africa, no black could fulfil the twin obligations.

If a black who tried to live as a human being was punished and
isolated. A person who tried to fulfil his duty to his people was
separated from his family and was forced to live in secrecy and
rebellion.

28. Was Mandela born with a hunger to be free? What did

freedom mean to him in childhood?

Answer: Nelson Mandela was not born with a hunger to be free.

In childhood, freedom has a very limited concept. He felt that he
was free to run in the fields, free to swim in the stream near his
village and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as
he obeyed his father and the customs of his life, he was a free
man.
29. What were the transitory freedoms that Nelson
Mandela yearned for as a young man? Why did he feel that
his boyhood freedom was an illusion?

Answer: Nelson Mandela felt that his boyhood freedom was an

illusion. His freedom had already been taken from him. Then he
began to hunger for it. At first, he wished the transitory freedoms
of staying out. Later on, he yearned for basic needs of earning,
marrying and having a family.

30. When and how did Mandela’s hunger for his own
freedom becomes the greater hunger for the freedom of
his people?

Answer: Mandela realised that not only was he not free, but his
people were not free. When he joined the African National
Congress, then his hunger for his own freedom became the
greater hunger for the freedom of his people.

31. What, according to Mandela, is ‘true freedom’?

Answer: When Mandela was a boy, freedom for him meant to run
freely in the fields and to swim in the streams. As a young man,
he wanted basic and honourable freedoms, eg. to earn his living,
too many and to have a family. According to Mandela, true
freedom means freedom not to be obstructed in leading a lawful
life.

32. What animated Mandela’s life and transformed a

frightened young lawyer into a bold criminal?

Answer: It was the desire for the freedom of his people to live
their lives with dignity and self-respect that animated his life. It
transformed a frightened young man into a bold one. It drove a
law-abiding attorney to be a criminal. It turned a family loving
husband to live like a monk.

33. Freedom is “indivisible”, said Mandela. How were the

chains on anyone were the chains on all of his people?

Answer: Mandela thought that he is not more virtuous than the

others. He thought that “freedom is indivisible”. The chains on
any one of his people were chains on all of them. The chains on
all of his people were the chains on him.

34. Why did Nelson Mandela feel that both the oppressor
and the oppressed are robbed of their humanity and
hence, both of them must be liberated?

Answer: Nelson Mandela rightly believes that both the oppressor

and the oppressed are robbed of their humanity. A man who
takes away another’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred. He is locked
behind the bars of prejudice and hate. A person can never be free
if his freedom is taken away. Hence, the oppressed and the
oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech used these two

words ‘an extraordinary human disaster’ and so ‘glorious
human achievement’. What did he mean by that?

Answer: The extraordinary disaster was the rule of Apartheid in

South Africa. This disaster of racial discrimination brought
oppression, deprivation, cruelty and suffering for the black people
of South Africa. Blacks were not allowed to visit the places
reserved for the whites. They led a life of humiliation.

At last on 10 May 1994, after more than three centuries of white

rule, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress Party won the
elections. Nelson Mandela became the first black President of
South Africa. The coming into power of non-racial government
was a glorious human achievement.

2. What were the difficulties faced by Nelson Mandela in

achieving freedom for his people?

Answer: In his endeavour to get freedom for his countrymen

from the rule of Apartheid, Nelson Mandela had to undergo many
hardships and suffered a lot. This great patriot had to sacrifice the
comfort of his home and loving family. He was declared an outlaw
for demanding equality for all his fellow black Africans. He was
punished, isolated and put into jail. He and his comrades were
oppressed and tortured beyond tolerance. He suffered hunger,
oppression and injustice but kept the flame of independence
burning in his heart. His undaunted courage, persistent struggle
and unparallel sacrifice bore fruit and South Africa got freedom
from the rule of Apartheid on 10 May 1994.

3. Give the character-sketch of Nelson Mandela.

Answer: Nelson Mandela is a great patriot. He loves his country

and countrymen. For him, the greatest wealth of South Africa is
her people.
He has a sacrificing nature. He sacrificed his life of comfort, family
and home and plunged into the struggle for freedom. He believes
in equality for all. He opposed the rule of Apartheid for which he
was declared an outlaw. He was oppressed and tortured in jail for
several years but he never broke. It shows his traits of tolerance,
courage and perseverance.

5. The inauguration ceremony symbolised a common

victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity against
the most hated apartheid regime based on racial
discrimination. Comment.

Answer: The inauguration ceremony of the installation of a

democratically elected government in South Africa was of great
historical importance. After the Boer war, the white ‘peoples’,
patched up their differences. They imposed the domination of the
whites through the apartheid based on racial discrimination. The
inauguration ceremony attracted worldwide recognition.
International leaders and dignitaries from more than 140
countries assembled at the amphitheatre in the Union Buildings in
Pretoria.

The whole world hailed it as a common victory for justice, for

peace, for human dignity. The grand struggle of the black patriots
against the most hated regime of apartheid succeeded. There was
a spectacular display of jets and the salute by the bedecked
generals with ribbons to President Mandela. It showed the
military’s loyalty to democracy. The playing of the two national
anthems symbolised a new regime based on equality irrespective
of race and colour.
6. Why was Nelson Mandela overwhelmed with a sense of
history? Give the birth and finally the burial of the
apartheid regime in South Africa.

Answer: On the day of the inauguration of the Republic, Nelson

Mandela was overwhelmed with a sense of history. It was quite
natural for a man who taught against the hated regime for
decades. After the Boer war, the white groups patched up their
differences. They imposed the domination of the whites over the
majority population of South Africa. The birth of the apartheid was
the birth of one of the harshest and inhumane regimes in the
world. It was based on racial discrimination and oppression.

Deep oppression and atrocities produced thousands of black

patriots who were ready to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of
their fellow men. The determined struggle of these black heroes
ended in their victory. A democratically elected government
headed by President Nelson Mandela was installed on the 10th of
May, 1994.

7. The apartheid regime, the whites created in South

Africa, was one of the harshest and most inhumane
societies the world has ever known. Elucidate.

Answer: The apartheid regime symbolised oppression,

exploitation and an extraordinary human disaster. The white
regime was based on racial discrimination. The blacks in South
Africa were deprived of their rights, equality and human dignity.
After the Boer war, the white groups in South Africa patched up
their differences. They imposed a system of racial discrimination
against the black people of their own land. It was one of the
harshest and most inhumane regimes the world has ever known.

The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in South

Africa and its people. Thousands of black patriots sacrificed their
lives fighting for the rights and freedom of their people.
Thousands of Tambos, Sisulus, Dads, Fishers and Sobukwes
suffered deep oppression and tortures but never gave up their
cause. Ultimately, their struggles and sacrifices led the blacks to
victory under Nelson Mandela. Their victory was a common
victory of humanity, for peace, for justice and for human dignity.
8. Which twin obligations does Nelson Mandela mention in
the lesson? Why were he and the rest of blacks able to
fulfil those obligations?

Answer: Nelson Mandela that every man has twin obligations in

life. The first obligation of a man is to his family, to his parents, to
his wife and children. He has another obligation also. He has an
obligation to his people, his community and his country. Every
man is to do his duty according to his situation and strength.

But in South Africa, it was impossible for a man like Mandela or

other blacks to fulfil those obligations. If a man tried to live as a
human being, he was punished and isolated. If any person in
South Africa tried to do his duty to his people, he was forcefully
separated from his family and his home. He was forced to lead a
life of secrecy and rebellion. Nelson Mandela placed his people
above his family. In attempting to serve his people, he was
prevented from fulfilling his obligations as a son, a brother, a
father and a husband.

9. How was Mandela’s concept of freedom was different in

boyhood and youth than what it was in his mature age?
How were ‘transitory freedoms’ changed into his hunger
for the freedom of his people?

Answer: Nelson Mandela was not born with a hunger to be free.

In his boyhood, he felt free until he obeyed his father and tribe.
The concept of freedom was limited only to run in fields, swim in
the local stream and ride on the slow-moving bulls. When he was
a youth, he realised that his boyhood freedom was an illusion. His
freedom had already taken away from him. He yearned to enjoy
‘transitory freedoms’ like staying out at night, reading and going
anywhere as he pleased. When he joined the African National
Congress, only then his own freedom became the greater hunger
for his people. He desired that his people should live their lives
with dignity and self-respect. This hunger for freedom forced him
to be a rebel and live in secrecy away from his family.

10. Why does Mandela say that freedom is indivisible?

How are the oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed
of their humanity?
Answer: Nelson Mandela believes that freedom is indivisible. His
hunger for his own freedom became the greater hunger for the
freedom of his people. He couldn’t live his life with dignity and
self-respect if his own people were bound in chains. The chains on
any one of his people were the chains on all of them. The chains
on all of his people were the chains on him. Mandela realised that
the oppressor must be liberated as surely as the oppressed. A
man who takes away another’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred,
prejudice and narrow mindedness. He is not truly free if he is
taking away someone else’s freedom. Surely, he is not free when
his freedom is taken away from him. Thus the oppressed and the
oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

11. Describe the contribution of Nelson Mandela in the

struggle for independence of the blacks of his country
against the hated apartheid regime.
OR
Draw a character-sketch of Nelson Mandela highlighting
his struggle against the apartheid regime for the human
rights of his people.

Answer: Nelson Mandela was the tallest of all the black heroes
who waged a relentless fight against the racial-regime in South
Africa. He suffered untold sufferings and tortures in prison but led
the country to install the first democratically elected government
in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was not born with a hunger to be
free. Later on, he realised that his boyhood freedom was an
illusion. He also realised his concept of freedom in his youth was
also ‘transitory’ and was limited to his personal freedom.

Only when he joined the African National Congress, his own

freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of his
people. Only then, a frightened young lawyer was transformed
into a bold `criminal’. A family-loving husband was forced to lead
the life of a monk in secrecy. Nelson Mandela is grateful in
acknowledging the unimaginable sacrifices of thousands of black
heroes for the freedom of their people. Modestly, he realises that
freedom is indivisible. He realised that he could not lead a free
and honourable life if his people were in chains.

Nelson Mandela had a wider vision of humanity. For him, freedom

was comprehensive and couldn’t be divided. It shows his
greatness that both the oppressor and the oppressed should be
liberated. Both of them alike are robbed of their humanity.