// The Chapters
From Mvezo to the Union Buildings
Six acts. Ninety-five years. From a chief's son to a prisoner to a president. The long walk to freedom.
1918 - 1943 · The Formation
A Chief's Son
Born Rolihlahla — "troublemaker" in Xhosa. His teacher gave him the name Nelson. The original name proved more accurate.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, a small village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. His father Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa was a chief of the Thembu people. When Gadla lost his chieftainship in a dispute with a colonial magistrate, the family moved to Qunu. After his father's death when Nelson was nine, the regent Jongintaba Dalindyebo raised him at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni. He attended the University of Fort Hare — the only residential higher-education institution for Black South Africans — but was expelled for participating in a student boycott. He fled to Johannesburg to avoid an arranged marriage, completed his BA by correspondence, and enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand to study law. In 1943, he joined the African National Congress.
The Great Place
1927 · Mqhekezweni, Thembuland
Nine-year-old Rolihlahla arrives at the regent's court after his father's death. He watches tribal meetings where every man speaks and the chief speaks last. "A leader is like a shepherd," he will later write. "He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead." The leadership model is set before he turns ten.
Fort Hare and the Boycott
1940 · University of Fort Hare, Alice
Mandela is expelled from Fort Hare for participating in a student council boycott. He could have submitted. He chose principle over diploma. He will spend the rest of his life making the same choice — principle over comfort, conscience over safety — until it costs him 27 years.
Johannesburg
1941 · Johannesburg, South Africa
A 23-year-old Mandela arrives in Johannesburg — a gold-mining metropolis built on cheap Black labor. He works as a night watchman, articling clerk, and eventually a lawyer. He encounters the full apparatus of apartheid for the first time. He meets Walter Sisulu, who introduces him to the ANC. The revolutionary education begins.
1944 - 1962 · The Struggle
The Freedom Fighter
He tried nonviolent protest. Sharpeville proved the government would shoot. He founded a guerrilla army. Then they caught him.
Mandela co-founded the ANC Youth League in 1944, pushing the organization toward mass action. The National Party came to power in 1948 and formalized apartheid — racial segregation as law. Mandela led the Defiance Campaign of 1952, organized stay-at-homes, and became the ANC's most visible leader. After the Sharpeville Massacre on March 21, 1960 — police killed 69 unarmed protesters — the ANC was banned. Mandela went underground, adopting disguises (he was called the "Black Pimpernel"). He co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) — "Spear of the Nation" — the ANC's armed wing. He trained in Algeria and Ethiopia, then returned to South Africa. He was arrested on August 5, 1962, near Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, after 17 months underground.
The Sharpeville Massacre
March 21, 1960 · Sharpeville, Transvaal
Police open fire on a crowd of 5,000 to 7,000 unarmed protesters demonstrating against pass laws. 69 people are killed. Many are shot in the back while running. The world is horrified. The ANC is banned. Mandela concludes that nonviolent protest alone cannot defeat a government willing to massacre its own people. Umkhonto we Sizwe is born.
The Black Pimpernel
1961-1962 · Underground, South Africa
Mandela lives underground for 17 months, evading the largest police dragnet in South African history. He wears disguises — chauffeur's uniform, workman's overalls, a chef's hat. He travels the country organizing MK cells. The press calls him the Black Pimpernel. He is the most wanted man in Africa. He is also having the time of his life.
"I Am Prepared to Die"
April 20, 1964 · Palace of Justice, Pretoria
At the Rivonia Trial, facing the death penalty, Mandela delivers a four-hour speech from the dock. "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony. 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." He is sentenced to life imprisonment.
Off the Record
The CIA reportedly tipped off South African security services about Mandela's location in 1962, leading to his arrest. A former CIA officer confirmed this to a reporter in 1990. The United States government designated the ANC as a terrorist organization until 2008 — Mandela was on the U.S. terrorism watch list until he was 90 years old. The irony that America's terrorism list included a Nobel Peace laureate and the world's most revered statesman is still breathtaking.
1964 - 1990 · The Island
Prisoner 46664
27 years. A cell seven feet by nine feet. He went in as a fighter. He came out as a sage. The prison made the president.
Robben Island. Cell number 5, Section B. Seven feet by nine feet. A straw mat on the floor. A bucket for a toilet. For 18 years, Mandela broke rocks in a lime quarry. The glare damaged his tear ducts permanently. He was allowed one visit and one letter every six months. His mother died in 1968. His eldest son Thembi died in a car accident in 1969. He was not allowed to attend either funeral. Yet on Robben Island, something extraordinary happened. Mandela read. He studied Afrikaans — the language of his oppressors. He talked to his guards. He organized classes for fellow prisoners. He earned the nickname "Madiba" — a term of respect and endearment. The prison was supposed to break him. Instead, it forged the man who would save South Africa.
The Lime Quarry
1964-1982 · Robben Island
For 18 years, Mandela and his comrades break rocks in a blindingly white lime quarry. The guards call them "terrorists." Mandela organizes. He turns the quarry into a university — prisoners teach each other law, history, economics. The lime destroys his eyesight. The experience builds his character. They call it "Mandela University."
Learning Afrikaans
1960s-1970s · Robben Island
Mandela studies Afrikaans — the language of the Boer oppressors — and reads Afrikaner history and poetry. His comrades are baffled. He tells them: "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you must work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." He will use this knowledge to negotiate with the men who imprisoned him.
The Secret Negotiations
1985-1990 · Victor Verster Prison
Transferred to Victor Verster Prison, Mandela begins secret negotiations with the apartheid government. He meets President P.W. Botha, then his successor F.W. de Klerk. He negotiates alone, without ANC authorization, risking being called a sellout. He knows what his comrades don't: apartheid is unsustainable, and both sides need a way out.
Off the Record
In 1985, President Botha offered Mandela conditional release — if he renounced violence. His daughter Zindzi read his reply at a Soweto rally: "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." The crowd roared. He stayed in prison for five more years. He could have been free. He chose to wait until his people could be free with him.
1990 - 1994 · The Walk to Freedom
Free at Last
He walked out of prison on February 11, 1990. Four years later, he walked into the presidency. The miracle was that the country survived the journey.
F.W. de Klerk unbanned the ANC and released Mandela on February 11, 1990. An estimated 600 million people watched him walk free. But freedom did not mean peace. The next four years were the most dangerous in South African history — negotiations, assassinations, massacres, and the constant threat of civil war between the ANC, the National Party, and the Inkatha Freedom Party. Chris Hani, the ANC's most popular leader after Mandela, was assassinated in April 1993. The country nearly exploded. Mandela went on national television and called for calm. He held. On April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first democratic election. Millions of Black South Africans voted for the first time. The lines stretched for miles. Mandela won with 62.6% of the vote.
The Walk
February 11, 1990 · Victor Verster Prison, Paarl
At 4:14 PM, Nelson Mandela walks through the prison gates holding Winnie's hand, fist raised. He is 71 years old. He has been in prison for 10,052 days. 600 million people watch on television worldwide. He hasn't given a public speech in 27 years. He walks slowly, blinking in the sunlight. The long walk to freedom enters its final chapter.
10,052 days imprisoned
600M TV viewers
After Hani's Murder
April 10, 1993 · National broadcast
Chris Hani is assassinated by a white extremist. South Africa teeters on the edge of civil war. It is Mandela — not President de Klerk — who addresses the nation on television. "Tonight I am reaching out to every single South African, Black and White, from the very depths of my being." The country listens. The riots fade. In this moment, Mandela becomes the de facto leader of South Africa before he is elected.
The Vote
April 27, 1994 · South Africa
For the first time in history, every South African citizen can vote regardless of race. The lines stretch for miles. People wait for hours in the sun. Many are crying. Nelson Mandela casts his ballot at Ohlange High School in Durban — near the grave of John Dube, the ANC's first president. He wins with 62.6%. On May 10, he is inaugurated as President. "Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another."
62.6% of the vote
19.7M votes cast
1994 - 1999 · The Presidency
The Rainbow Nation
He wore a Springbok jersey to the Rugby World Cup final. In that moment, he united a divided nation with a game.
Mandela served one term — and only one. He could have been president for life. He chose to step down, establishing the precedent of democratic transfer of power in the new South Africa. His presidency was defined by reconciliation: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the inclusion of former apartheid officials in his government, and the famous moment at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Rugby was the sport of white South Africa — the Springboks' green jersey was a symbol of apartheid. Mandela walked onto the field at Ellis Park wearing the Springbok jersey with captain Francois Pienaar's number 6. The overwhelmingly white crowd chanted "Nelson! Nelson!" as he handed Pienaar the trophy. Pienaar said: "We didn't have the support of 63,000 South Africans today. We had the support of 43 million."
The Springbok Jersey
June 24, 1995 · Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Mandela walks onto the field wearing the Springbok jersey. The overwhelmingly white crowd of 63,000 chants "Nelson! Nelson!" He hands the Webb Ellis Cup to Francois Pienaar. The symbol of apartheid becomes the symbol of reconciliation. One jersey. One handshake. A nation exhales. It is the greatest act of political theater in modern history.
Truth and Reconciliation
1996-1998 · South Africa
Archbishop Tutu chairs the TRC. Perpetrators of apartheid-era crimes testify publicly in exchange for amnesty. Victims confront their torturers. Some forgive. Some don't. It is messy, incomplete, and imperfect. It is also the most ambitious experiment in transitional justice in human history. The alternative was Nuremberg or Rwanda. Mandela chose a third path.
Off the Record
Mandela personally called the Springboks' captain Francois Pienaar weeks before the World Cup final and asked him to learn the words of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" — the ANC anthem that was now part of the national anthem. Pienaar taught the entire team. When the Springboks sang it before kickoff, Black South Africans watching on television wept. The gesture was small. The impact was immeasurable. Mandela understood that symbols can do what legislation cannot.
1999 - 2013 · The Elder
Madiba's Twilight
He stepped down. He fought AIDS when his own government wouldn't. He became the conscience of the world.
Mandela retired from the presidency in 1999 at 80, establishing the precedent that African leaders should serve limited terms. He devoted his final years to the fight against HIV/AIDS — a cause his successor Thabo Mbeki disastrously mishandled through denialism. Mandela's grandson died of AIDS in 2005; Mandela publicly said so, breaking the stigma. He established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and became a global elder statesman. His last public appearance was at the 2010 FIFA World Cup closing ceremony in Johannesburg. He died on December 5, 2013, at age 95. World leaders from 91 countries attended his memorial. Barack Obama spoke. Tens of thousands gathered at FNB Stadium. The man who spent 27 years as a prisoner number — 46664 — was mourned by the entire world.
The Memorial
December 10, 2013 · FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
91 world leaders. Tens of thousands of mourners. Rain pours on FNB Stadium — the same venue where Mandela gave his first speech after release in 1990. Obama speaks. Raul Castro and Obama shake hands. Even in death, Mandela brings adversaries together. The crowd sings "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika." God bless Africa. God bless Madiba.