de Klerk became president of South Africa in 1989, he released Mandela and many other people who opposed Apartheid, and began dismantling the Apartheid system. People were not allowed to marry people of a different race, and most black people were forced out of their homes and made to live in Bantustans and townships.Īfter F. ![]() Under Apartheid, the Afrikaners held all the power even though they made up less than 10% of the population, and blacks were not represented at all in the government. During his time in prison, Mandela became a symbol of the movement against Apartheid, the racist policies which took away the rights of black South Africans and made the white Afrikaners the ruling class. In 1962, he was arrested coming into the country with a fake passport, and spent 27 years in the prison on Robben Island. Starting in 1944, Mandela fought against discrimination as part of an association called the African National Congress (ANC). Nelson Mandela was actually called "Rolihlahla" ( Xhosa: "Troublemaker") by his dad, but at school his name was changed to Nelson as everyone had to have an English name. He was born on 18 July 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa. Mandela was elected president of South Africa in the country's first multiracial elections in 1994, and served until 1999. After being imprisoned for 27 years at Robben Island, he was released and became an important political figure. ![]() ![]() Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 - 5 December 2013) was a South African politician and activist who opposed Apartheid.
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