Life of nelson mandela in prison

Features correspondent

In an exclusive clip from the BBC Archive, watch Nelson Mandela speak about his historic release from prison, which was a watershed moment for South Africa in its transition to democracy.

On 11 February , at local time, Nelson Mandela, once South Africa's most wanted man, walked out of Victor Verster Prison hand-in-hand with his then wife Winnie, after spending 27 years behind bars. Huge crowds had waited for hours in the sweltering heat in anticipation of catching sight of him. Mandela had been largely hidden from view during his long years of imprisonment. The government had not released any photos of him while he had been in captivity, in the hope of curbing his growing fame since his conviction.

Despite this, in the years that followed he had become an international symbol of resistance against the apartheid regime that oppressed South Africa's black population. By he had taken on an almost mythic status. Hundreds of supporters thronged the street outside the prison, many of them waving the green, gold and black flags of recently unbanned African National Congress (ANC). The crowd broke out into euphoric cheers as the Mandelas emerged, determined and unbowed, and punched the air in a victory salute. His release that day was a moment of history. But it almost didn't happen.

Born in in the eastern Cape of South Africa, Mandela had led the ANC's nonviolent protest against the apartheid legislation which enforced a racial hierarchy that subjugated South Africa's black majority. It governed every aspect of life for non-white South Africans who were subjected to forced removals, "pass laws" that restricted their free movement and the denial of their basic human rights. This had made Mandela a frequent target of the all-white government who sought to harass, intimidate and, at times, arrest him to undermine

Mandela went to prison because he opposed South Africa’s apartheid laws.

Apartheid means “apartness” in the Afrikaans language. Apartheid laws separated South Africans into four different racial categories: “white/European,” “black,” “coloured (people of mixed race),” or “Indian/Asian.” White people – 15 percent of the South African population – stood at the top of society, wielding power and wealth. Black South Africans – 80 percent of the population – were relegated to the very bottom. 

Many South Africans defied apartheid. Tactics included civil disobedience campaigns, national strikes and boycotts. Nelson Mandela joined this struggle in the s as a young lawyer. By the s, he had become an important leader in the struggle against apartheid. 
 

The South African government responded to demands for equality and freedom with repression and violence. They shot and killed unarmed demonstrators and detained and arrested many others. 

Defiance of apartheid had started peacefully, but Mandela now believed that armed struggle was the only way forward. He and others formed an armed resistance group called Umkhonto weSizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), also known as MK. Mandela spent 17 months underground trying to gain support for the armed struggle, but was arrested in Then, in , Mandela was put on trial for a number of charges. He and seven of his colleagues were sentenced to life in prison. 
 

Mandela and his compatriots were sent to a maximum security prison on Robben Island in There were no white prisoners on Robben Island. Mandel

23 July

Mandela returns to South Africa via Botswana.

5 August

He is arrested at a roadblock near Howick, KwaZulu-Natal.

7 November

He is sentenced to five years in prison, for incitement and leaving the country illegally. He begins serving his sentence at Pretoria Local Prison and is assigned the prisoner number /

27 May

Transferred to Robben Island Prison.

12 June

Transferred to Pretoria Local Prison.

9 October

Appears, for the first time, with 10 other