The African National Congress
Entry
"Nelson Mandela, while already politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944. He rose through the ranks quickly due to his intelligence, determination, and ambition. In the April of 1944, the ANC launched the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), with Mandela as one of the boards of the executive committee."
-from The Nelson Mandela Foundation
-from The Nelson Mandela Foundation
"There was no membership to boast about, no records, and the treasury was empty."
-Alfred Xuma, from Mandela: A Critical Life
The ANC Youth League
"He rose through the ranks of the ANCYL quickly, and the help of his colleagues, the Programme of Action was launched in 1949. In 1952, he was chosen at the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint case between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labor, in addition, he was also suspended for two years. A two-year diploma in law allowed Nelson Mandela to practice law, and in August of 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first law firm ran by blacks named Mandela and Tambo. At the end of 1952, he was banned for the first time. Nelson Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial."
-From The Nelson Mandela Foundation
-From The Nelson Mandela Foundation
Though it takes us years, we are prepared to continue the Campaign until the six unjust laws we have chosen for the present phase are done away with."
-Nelson Mandela, from ANC.org's "We Defy"
The Oppressor's Point of View
The oppressors (white South Africans) thought it was morally and ethically right to treat blacks as if their place is under them.
"Their churches found theological justification for apartheid. And their assorted theoreticians, academics and others argued the case for the separation of colours. So it was basically through this determinism - found both in social science and religion - that apartheid was justified."
- from BBC.com's "The Birth and Death of Apartheid"
"Their churches found theological justification for apartheid. And their assorted theoreticians, academics and others argued the case for the separation of colours. So it was basically through this determinism - found both in social science and religion - that apartheid was justified."
- from BBC.com's "The Birth and Death of Apartheid"
The Sharpeville Massacre
On March 21st, 1960, the South African police killed 69 unarmed civilians in a protest against the pass laws held at Sharpeville. This led to the country’s first countrywide tension for the segregated, which resulted in the banning of the ANC on April 8th. Nelson Mandela and his colleagues in the Treason Trial were amongst the thousands detained during the state of emergency.
"We do not recognize the validity of this law, and we shall not submit to it. The African National Congress will carry on in its own name to give leadership and organisation to our people until freedom has been won and every trace of the scourge of racial discrimination has been banished from our country." -ANC Official Press Release (1960)
"We do not recognize the validity of this law, and we shall not submit to it. The African National Congress will carry on in its own name to give leadership and organisation to our people until freedom has been won and every trace of the scourge of racial discrimination has been banished from our country." -ANC Official Press Release (1960)
"Naked force and violence is the weapon openly used by the South African government to beat down the struggles of the African people and to suppress their aspirations." |
Birth of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
"In all these campaigns we repeatedly stressed the importance of discipline, peaceful and non-violent struggle. ... But the situation has now radically altered."
-Nelson Mandela, from the Address at the Conference of the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (1962)
Umkhonto we Sizwe was the military division of the African National Congress. It was formed as a reception to the Sharpeville Massacre. It was co-founded by Nelson Mandela as a symbol that the ANC could no long limit itself to non-violent protest; the organization's goal was to fight the South African government. After MK's first guerrilla attack against government on December 16th, 1961, it was immediately classified as a terrorist group by the South African government and banned.
Mandela Leaves South Africa
"On January 11th,1962, using his adopted name David Motsamayi, Nelson Mandela left South Africa secretly. He travelled around Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle. He also went to Morocco and Ethiopia, where he received military training. Mandela returned to South Africa in July, 1962. He was arrested in a police roadblock outside Howick on the August 5th while returning from KwaZulu-Natal, where he briefed ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli about his secret trip.
He was charged with leaving the country illegally and encouraging workers to rebel. He was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment which he began serving in the Pretoria Local Prison. Within a month, National Party police raided a secret MK hide-out in Rivonia used by ANC and Communist Party activists, plans and clues of sabotage were found, and several ANC and Communist Party activists were arrested."
-From The Nelson Mandela Foundation
He was charged with leaving the country illegally and encouraging workers to rebel. He was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment which he began serving in the Pretoria Local Prison. Within a month, National Party police raided a secret MK hide-out in Rivonia used by ANC and Communist Party activists, plans and clues of sabotage were found, and several ANC and Communist Party activists were arrested."
-From The Nelson Mandela Foundation