Loading
NM![]()
author
Nelson Mandela
Born in 1918, NELSON MANDELA joined the African National Congress in 1944. Together with Walter Sisulu, and others, he helped form the ANC Youth League and was elected its general secretary. In 195...view moreBorn in 1918, NELSON MANDELA joined the African National Congress in 1944. Together with Walter Sisulu, and others, he helped form the ANC Youth League and was elected its general secretary. In 1952 Mandela was arrested. That same year he was elected ANC deputy national president. In 1956 Mandela and 155 others were arrested on charges of high treason; after five years the defendants were acquitted. Mandela continued his anti-apartheid activities after the ANC’s banning in 1960 and was forced to cease public activity in 1961. In August 1962 Mandela was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment. After other ANC leaders were arrested at Rivonia in 1963, Mandela – already in prison – was tried for sabotage. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment along with seven others. After refusing Pretoria’s offers for his conditional release, he was released without conditions on 11 February 1990. Elected ANC deputy president shortly after his release, Mandela was chosen the organisation’s president at the ANC’s 1991 congress. He was president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.view less