Nelson Mandela grew up in the village, or kraal, of the Tembu royal family in the Transkei area of South Africa. He went to university, but he was expelled for political activities and, instead of returning to the kraal, he went to live in the black township of Soweto, near Johannesburg. He studied for a Law degree and set up South Africa's first black law practice.

He was soon arrested and banned, which meant that he was forbidden to attend any meetings or be a member of a political organisation. This did not stop him, with the result that he was one of 156 defendants at a mass trial in Johannesburg in 1961. All were found not guilty. After this he realised thatthe only way to change apartheid was armed resistance. He went overseas secretly for military training and became Commander-in-Chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe (The Spear of the Nation). In 1962, he was arrested, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison on Robben Island, mostly in hard labour. His qualities of leadership shone through and he had a profound effect on everyone he met.

When black majority rule arrived, Mandela insisted on peaceful reconciliation between all races. As a result, bloody civil war and revenge for apartheid were avoided.

“In the English-speaking World”