How many years nelson mandela

He is released and skips the country. The indictment against the 10 others is quashed. They are immediately rearrested. Justice Quartus de Wet refuses bail to Kantor and Bernstein. The case is remanded to 12 November. Yutar presents a new indictment splitting the sabotage charges into two parts. The case is remanded to 25 November. The alleged acts of sabotage are reduced to The defence applies to have the new indictment quashed.

Mandela makes his famous "Speech from the Dock", in which he says he is "prepared to die" for a democratic South Africa. Mandela has clearly lost weight since the s; both his face and his body are leaner than when he was a sturdily built boxer decades ago. At 71, his face is creased with two thick lines that frame his strong, confident smile.

But he said further steps - including the lifting of the state of emergency and release of all political prisoners - must be taken before talks can begin. The ANC shares these demands. Mandela was the last well-known political prisoner in South Africa.

Six of his ANC colleagues who had been imprisoned for more than 25 years, including Walter Sisulu, were released in October. In the mids, Mandela rejected offers to go free in exchange for a renunciation of violence. Still, his determination and wit were clearly undiminished.

His lawyer George Bizos saw it at first hand. And the thing that was odd about it is that, unlike any other prisoner I have ever seen, he was setting the pace at which this group was coming towards the consulting room. And then with all gravitas he said 'You know, George, this place really has made me forget my manners. I haven't introduced you to my guard of honour'.

University behind bars. After the first few months on the island, life settled into a pattern. Over time, and varying according to who was running the prison, so-called privileges would be granted.

Those who wanted could apply for permission to study. Although some subjects such as politics and military history were forbidden, Robben Island became known as a "university behind bars".

He persuaded me by saying,' Mac, we are in for a protracted war. You can't dream of ambushing the enemy if you can't understand the general commanding the forces. You have to read their literature and poetry, you have to understand their culture so that you get into the mind of the general. When Nelson Mandela reflected on his Robben Island experiences on returning there in he said: "Wounds that can't be seen are more painful than those that can be seen and cured by a doctor.

One of the saddest moments of my life in prison was the death of my mother. Men and women of all races found themselves in the dock in the marathon trial that only ended when the last 28 accused, including Mandela, were acquitted on 29 March On 21 March police killed 69 unarmed people in a protest in Sharpeville against the pass laws. Mandela and his colleagues in the Treason Trial were among thousands detained during the state of emergency.

During the trial Mandela married a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, on 14 June They had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in Days before the end of the Treason Trial, Mandela travelled to Pietermaritzburg to speak at the All-in Africa Conference, which resolved that he should write to Prime Minister Verwoerd requesting a national convention on a non-racial constitution, and to warn that should he not agree there would be a national strike against South Africa becoming a republic.

After he and his colleagues were acquitted in the Treason Trial, Mandela went underground and began planning a national strike for 29, 30 and 31 March. In the face of massive mobilisation of state security the strike was called off early. In June he was asked to lead the armed struggle and helped to establish Umkhonto weSizwe Spear of the Nation , which launched on 16 December with a series of explosions. He travelled around Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle.

He was charged with leaving the country without a permit and inciting workers to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, which he began serving at the Pretoria Local Prison. Within a month police raided Liliesleaf, a secret hideout in Rivonia, Johannesburg, used by ANC and Communist Party activists, and several of his comrades were arrested.

On 9 October Mandela joined 10 others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. While facing the death penalty his words to the court at the end of his famous "Speech from the Dock" on 20 April became immortalised:.