The Struggle Against the Apartheid State of South Africa

Mandela's childhood was very important in shaping him to be the man he

was. His father losing his land in 1919 would have affected Mandela's

opinion of how the country works as he grew up, and when he was 16 the

main speaker at his circumcision told that "Blacks were slaves in

their own country". He grew up with the opinion that his country

needed a better rule, because of how unfair it was to Black people.

His earliest decisions to fight for Black liberation were made here.

Another turning point was when Chief Jongintaba died in 1942. He then

stayed in Johannesburg instead of moving back to Mqhekezweni, this

showed he wanted to make an impact on the country as a whole instead

of just his tribe or area; he was beginning to see that the duty was

to his people as a whole, and ethic loyalties gave way to a common

purpose. This is where Mandela's campaign for equality for Blacks

began.

This reason was not only important for him at the time, but it led to

Mandela's ideas about a multi-racial South Africa, directing him

towards the formation of the ANC Youth League; the Youth League being

important because it was the most active sector of the party - it had

the best chance of causing reform in South Africa.

Another turning point in Mandela's life was the formation of the MK,

or Spear of the People, when he realised that peaceful protest wasn't

going to work (after seeing the Sharpeville and Langa massacres). It

was from this that he was sentenced to jail in 1964, important because

he achieved the world stage that would make him a symbol of unity for

the worldwide anti-apartheid movement.

Mandela's release in 1990 was the ...

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...ft wing he would have been labelled as a liberal and his

plans would not have worked. He took a great risk to his political

career in 1992 by having a referendum on whether or not to end

apartheid and this risk paid off because 70% voted "Yes"! F.W. de

Klerk also began laying the groundwork for South Africa's first-ever

multiracial elections, which were held in 1994, where Mandela's ANC

party (freed by de Klerk) won.

De Klerk was therefore more important in ending apartheid because of

the risks that he, as President, needed to take and he even kept the

CODESA talks going when even Mandela wanted to end them! De Klerk put

effort throughout his career as President into paving the way for

apartheid rule to become abolished; Mandela took the glory for freeing

South Africa from apartheid but de Klerk did most of the work.