What was nelson mandela incarcerated for

They talked on phones as guards listened to every word. Letters were heavily censored, with words blacked out if they were not strictly personal. After prisoners found ways to read blackened content, censors began cutting out large portions of letters, reducing them to shreds. Prisoners breaking stones at Robben Island, They were not allowed to talk or sing while working. Although these precious letters do not reach [you], I shall nevertheless keep on trying by writing whenever that is possible….

It is some means of passing on to you my warmest love and good wishes, and tends to calm down the shooting pains that hit me whenever I think of you.

Neslon Mandela from a letter written to his daughters Zeni and Zindzi Mandela. Despite their treatment, the prisoners on Robben Island continued to resist the apartheid regime in thousands of ways.

Mandela and other prisoners advocated for improved conditions and rights for all prisoners, regardless of race. In , black prisoners secured the right to wear long pants instead of shorts. Eventually, prisoners were allowed to have a desk in their cells, and to read and study. They even planted a small garden. Prisoners also achieved the right to play soccer, tennis and volleyball.

Summer games were held at the prison, and prisoners took pride in organizing the events and creating intricate programs with limited materials.

Music became another way for prisoners to express their shared humanity. They created a record club and organized concerts for events and holidays. We regarded the struggle in prison as a microcosm of the struggle as a whole. We would fight inside as we had fought outside. The racism and repression were the same; I would simply have to fight on different terms. In , under increasing pressure, the government made an offer to release Mandela, on condition he renounce violence as a political tool.

Mandela rejected the offer. His youngest daughter, Zindzi Mandela, read his response at a mass rally in Soweto:. Mandela rejected this offer with powerful words. What freedom am I being offered when I may be arrested on a pass offence? What freedom am I being offered to live my life as a family with my dear wife who remains in banishment in Brandfort?

What freedom am I being offered when I must ask for permission to live in an urban area? What freedom am I being offered when I need a stamp in my pass to seek work? What freedom am I being offered when my very South African citizenship is not respected? I will return. Mandela was committed to achieving freedom for all South Africans, not just for himself. In , he began to quietly reach out to the South African government to see if there was interest in negotiating an end to apartheid.

Four years later, on February 11, , the most famous political prisoner in the world was released. He was 71 years old, but there was still work to do. Throughout this period, political violence and civil war threatened to engulf the country. In , South Africa adopted an interim constitution. Mandela would dedicate the remaining years of his life to transforming his country. He always acknowledged that there was still more to do — and that it was up to future generations to continue the struggle for freedom.

South Africans lining up to vote, 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. All except Goldberg are sent to Robben Island to serve their sentences. Goldberg, as the only white person convicted in the trial, is held in Pretoria Central Prison. Mandela is forbidden from attending his son's funeral.

Rejects President PW Botha's offers to release him and other political prisoners if they renounce violence. It was a day which shook the world - Sunday, February 11, Nelson Mandela was released unconditionally from prison after 27 years. He then appeared before 50, people on the balcony of City Hall and thanked the "millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my release".

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