Nelson Mandela – Hannes

1 Worksheet: Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela’s biography

Who was Nelson Mandela? Why is he seen as one of the most inspirational figures in history?
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 in a small village in South Africa and died in 2013. He became a lawyer, a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and, in 1994, the first Black president of his country. Many people see him as one of the most inspiring people ever because he never accepted injustice, even when it cost him 27 years of his life in prison. When he was finally free, he did not want revenge but worked for peace between Black and white South Africans. For this he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Choose one of his revolutionary acts and describe it. Why is it striking?
The Defiance Campaign (1952): Mandela was one of the leaders of a big campaign of non-violent disobedience. Thousands of people broke apartheid laws on purpose – for example, they used “whites only” entrances, ignored curfews and walked into areas without a pass – and let themselves be arrested. It is striking because ordinary people stood up peacefully against an unfair system and filled the prisons, and it made the ANC a mass movement with many thousands of new members.

Nelson Mandela’s funeral

How did they mourn him?
After Mandela’s death on 5 December 2013, South Africa mourned him for ten days. Thousands of people came together in the streets, outside his home in Johannesburg and in Soweto. Instead of being quiet, many of them sang freedom songs and danced to celebrate his life. World leaders from almost 100 countries came to the memorial service in Soweto, and he was buried in Qunu, the village where he grew up.

What was remarkable about Obama’s speech and his behaviour prior to it?
On his way to the stage, Obama shook hands with Raúl Castro, the leader of Cuba – a country the USA had had no good relations with for over 50 years. This was a symbol of Mandela’s message of reconciliation. In his speech Obama said Mandela was “a giant of history” and asked world leaders not only to honour him with words but to follow his example. The audience reacted with huge applause.

In which way did the pouring rain suit the occasion?
For many South Africans, rain at a funeral is a good sign. It is believed that the rain shows that the person is welcomed by the ancestors and that heaven opens its gates for them. So the rain did not spoil the ceremony – people said it was a blessing for Mandela, and it also reflected the tears of a whole nation.

Quotation

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Mandela himself got a good education and studied law, which gave him the tools to fight apartheid in court and in politics. Under apartheid, Black children got a much worse education on purpose, so that they would stay poor and powerless. Mandela knew that education is the key to freedom. I chose this quote because I think it is still true today: as a student, I can see that learning gives you more chances in life.

2 Apartheid in 90 seconds – summary

From 1948 to the early 1990s, South Africa was ruled by a white minority that introduced apartheid, a policy of strict racial separation. Every person was classified by race, and Black, Coloured and Indian people faced discrimination everywhere. They had to live in separate townships, carry pass books and use different public facilities like schools, hospitals and beaches. They had no right to vote, and marriages between races were illegal. After the police killed protesters in Sharpeville (1960) and Soweto (1976), the resistance became more radical. Mass protests at home and sanctions from abroad finally made apartheid crumble, and in 1994 free elections took place.

3 Mandela: His Life – questions

1. He means that as a boy in the countryside he felt completely free – he could run, swim and ride wherever he wanted. Later, when he grew up, he realised that Black people in South Africa were not really free, and this is where his hunger for freedom came from.
2. Because his father was a chief, he was raised to become an advisor to the king and therefore got a much better education than most Black children.
3. Johannesburg is where he experienced racism and discrimination for the first time, in 1941. Later this discrimination became official law. This experience turned him into a political activist.
4. First he worked at a mine, then as a clerk in a law firm. He also became a member of the ANC.
5. They called it “good neighbourliness”.
6. The Freedom Charter was written by the ANC in 1955. It described a future South Africa that is free, democratic and multi-racial, where every race has the same rights.
7. He was charged with high treason in 1956, because he was one of the leaders behind the Freedom Charter.
8. In Sharpeville, people protested against the pass laws. The police opened fire and killed 69 people.
9. Because the government reacted to peaceful protests with brutal violence, so the ANC thought peaceful protest was useless and Mandela started a violent fight with sabotage.
10. It is his prisoner number on Robben Island – the 466th prisoner who arrived in 1964.
11. Countries like Great Britain put sanctions on South Africa, and artists organised big anti-apartheid concerts. Inside South Africa, people from all walks of life – also white people and church leaders – protested and were sent to prison.
12. In 1990 Mandela was set free after 27 years in prison.
13. In 1994 there were the first free elections for all races, and Mandela became president.

4 Trevor Noah – two gigs

Gig 1: “Afraid of the Dark” (Netflix special, 2017) – Noah talks about travelling the world and how languages and accents work. He imitates many different accents and shows that speaking someone’s language makes people trust you and connects you. He also makes jokes about American politics and Donald Trump from an outsider’s point of view. Message: language can build bridges between cultures.

Gig 2: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2012) – Here Noah tells the story of his childhood in apartheid South Africa. His mother was Black and his father white and Swiss, which was against the law back then, so he says he was “born a crime”. His parents had to hide their relationship – his mother even pretended not to know him when police were around. He makes the audience laugh about something very serious and shows how ridiculous racism is.