ZCZC
BFF-11
SAFRICA-MANDELA-POLITICS-ANNIVERARY-HISTORY
Key dates in the life of Nelson Mandela
JOHANNESBURG, July 15, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – On the 100th anniversary of his
birth, here are key dates in the life of the late anti-apartheid hero Nelson
Mandela, South Africa’s first black president.
– July 18, 1918: He is born into the Thembu royal family in the rural
Transkei.
– 1943: Joins the African National Congress (ANC), co-founding its Youth
League the following year.
– 1952: Mandela leads a campaign of defiance against the apartheid system,
installed four years earlier. He and Oliver Tambo open the first black law
firm in Johannesburg.
– 1958: Marries his second wife, anti-apartheid figure Winnie Madikizela,
whom he divorces in 1996.
– 1961: Mandela and other activists are acquitted on treason charges laid
five years earlier. The ANC launches its armed wing with Mandela as commander
in chief.
– 1962: He is captured and sentenced to prison for incitement and leaving
the country illegally.
– 1964: Mandela and other senior anti-apartheid leaders are tried and
sentenced to life for sabotage. He is sent to Robben Island prison off Cape
Town.
– 1985: Refuses pardon offered by president P. W. Botha on condition he
renounce violence.
– 1990: After 27 years in jail, Mandela is released.
– 1991: He is elected ANC president.
– 1993: Mandela and the last apartheid-era president, F.W. de Klerk, are
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
– 1994: The ANC wins the first all-race elections and Mandela is
inaugurated as president.
– 1998: Marries Graca Machel, widow of former Mozambican president Samora
Machel.
– 1999: He steps down after one term.
– December 5, 2013: After months of intensive medical care, Mandela dies
aged 95.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1018 hrs