Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Nelson Mandela.The first black president in South Africa. A uniter of people. Most of all, a great man. Mandela was born 18th July, 1918. He served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. One of the many awards won by Mandela is the great Nobel Peace Prize that he won in 1993. 

He was born in Mvezo, a small village located in the district of Umata, the Transkei capital. After the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which supported the apartheid policy of racial segregation, Mandela began participating in politics actively. In 1952 he prominently led the African National Congress(ANC)' Defiance Campaign and in 1955 the Congress of the People. Mandela was arrested with around a 150 other activists in 1956. He was arrested for treason. While serving time in prison he was accused of sabotage and other felonies. He was sentenced to life in prison on Robben Island. While in prison he¨s reputation grew around South Africa and he became known as one of the main black leaders. on Robben island black prisoners and political prisoners were kept away from the other prisoners and received fewer privileges. Since Mandela was both black and a political prisoner, he was treated terribly. 

In 1989, South Africa reached a crossroads when current President Botha suffered a stroke and was replaced as president by Frederik Willem de Klerk. De Klerk was not against the ANC like the previous presidents. He announced Mandela's release in February 1990. South Africa's first multi-racial elections in which full enfranchisement was granted were held on 27 April 1994. ANC won most of the votes and Nelson Mandela was elected President of the Republic of South Africa. Nelson Mandela decided to retire after his 5 years in office. He was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki. After his presidency he continued to fight for human rights. Mandela has made several appearances in human rights movements and other occasions like the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.

South Africa was a country filled with Apartheid and racial segregation. Black individuals were treated worse than white. this happened all around the country. Blacks were not allowed to vote until the 1994 election when Mandela won. In 1994 the 300 year long apartheid of racial segregation were ended. Some say this is only because of Nelson Mandela.

The racial segregation in South Africa was a global challenge. It was, because South Africa was not the only country suffering from this. The United States was also a country ruled by apartheid. the UN opened ratification for people responsible for apartheid. Apartheid is now illegal in every UN country. this law was set to prevent: inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.