The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela

(1936–2012). Academic, and political and anti-apartheid activist. Founder of the National Liberation Front against the apartheid government. Convicted of sabotage in 1962 and imprisoned on Robben Island for ten years. Awarded the Lingua Pax Prize for his contribution to the promotion of multilingualism in post-apartheid South Africa, 2008.

ANC

Established as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) in 1912. Renamed African National Congress (ANC) in 1923. Following the Sharpeville Massacre in March 1960, the ANC was banned by the South African government and went underground until the ban was lifted in 1990. Its military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), was established in 1961, with Mandela as commander-in-chief. The ANC became South Africa’s governing party after the nation’s first democratic elections on 27 April 1994.

Aucamp, Brigadier

Based in Pretoria, he was in charge of security in all prisons that had political inmates. He would visit Robben Island Maximum Security Prison several times a year. He was also a member of the Prison Board which had the task of monitoring prisoners and to recommend them for a higher grade. In Mandela’s autobiography written in prison, he wrote: ‘Brig. Aucamp: (a) Did well as officer commanding (b) position of Security Officer difficult – changes man’s personality (c) had direct access to Minister (d) became quite unpopular (e) allowed correspondence between self and Zami [Winnie Mandela]’.

Ayob, Ismail

(1942–). Qualified as a barrister in London and returned to South Africa where he practised law from 1969, acting mainly for opponents of the apartheid regime. He served as an attorney for Mandela while he was in prison and for some years after his release. The pair split acrimoniously in 2004.

Benson, Mary

(1919–2000). A friend of Mandela’s, Benson was a journalist, author, and anti-apartheid activist. After serving as an aide to various generals in World War II she settled in England. She returned to South Africa in 1957 and worked to raise funds for the defence of Mandela and 155 other accused in the Treason Trial. Mandela visited her in London on his clandestine trip out of South Africa in 1962. Among her books is Mandela: The Man and the Movement (New York: W. W. Norton, 1986).

Bernstein, Lionel (Rusty)

(1920–2002). Architect and anti-apartheid activist. Leading member of the Communist Party of South Africa. Founding member and leader of the Congress of Democrats, one of the participating organisations in the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted. Defendant in the 1956 Treason Trial. After being acquitted in the Rivonia Trial, he and his wife, Hilda, went into exile (they crossed into neighbouring Botswana on foot). He remained a leading member of the ANC, whilst practising as an architect.

Bizos, George

(1927–). Greek-born human rights lawyer. Member and co-founder of the National Council of Lawyers for Human Rights. Committee member of the ANC’s Legal and Constitutional Committee. Legal advisor for the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. Defence lawyer in the Rivonia Trial. Also acted for high-profile anti-apartheid activists, including the families of Steve Biko, Chris Hani, and the Cradock Four during the trials of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Appointed by Mandela to South Africa’s Judicial Services Commission.

Botha, P. W.

(1916–2006). Prime minister of South Africa, 1978–84. First executive state president, 1984–89. Advocate of the apartheid system. In 1985 Mandela rejected Botha’s offer to release him on the condition that he rejected violence. Botha refused to testify at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1998 about apartheid crimes.

Brandfort

A small town in the Free State province that was established in the mid-1800s in honour of President Brand of the then Orange Free State (now Free State) after he visited a church on a farm. It housed a British concentration camp for Boer women and children during the Second Boer War (1899–1902). Prime Minister H. F. Verwoerd completed his high school education in the town. Winnie Mandela was banished there by the apartheid regime in 1977 and lived there until 1985.

Buthelezi (née Mzila), Irene

A family friend and also the wife of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Mandela also refers to her as Mndhlunkulu and Umdlunkulu, a royal term. When Mandela worked in the mines in 1942 and 1943 he stayed at the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association Compound. It was here that he met Irene Mzila, the daughter of the compound manager.

Buthelezi, Mangosuthu Gatsha (also called by his clan name Shenge; Mandela sometimes spelled his surname Butelezi and sometimes spelled his first name as Mangosutu)

(1928–). South African politician and Zulu prince. Founder and president of the Inkatha Freedom Party in 1975. Chief minister of the KwaZulu Bantustan. Appointed South African minister of home affairs 1994–2004, and acted as president several times during Mandela’s presidency.

Cachalia (née Asvat), Amina (also referred to as Aminabehn or Aminaben – ben is the Gujarati word for ‘sister’)

(1930–2013). Anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. Member of the ANC and Transvaal Indian Congress. Co-founder and treasurer of the Federation of South African Women. Founder of the Women’s Progressive Union. Married Yusuf Cachalia. Banning orders from 1963 to 1978 prevented her from attending social gatherings or political meetings, entering any place of education or publishing house, and leaving the magisterial district of Johannesburg.

Cachalia, Ismail Ahmad (Maulvi)

(1908–2003). Anti-apartheid activist. Leading member of the South African Indian Congress, Transvaal Indian Congress and ANC. Key participant in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign. Deputy volunteer-in-chief to Mandela in the 1952 Defiance Campaign, and amongst the twenty accused in the Defiance Campaign Trial. With Moses Kotane, he attended the Bandung Conference, a meeting of African-Asian states focused on peace, decolonisation, and African-Asian economic development, in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955. Fled to Botswana in 1964 and set up ANC offices in New Delhi. His father, Ahmad Mohamed Cachalia, was a close associate of Gandhi’s and was chairperson of the Transvaal British Indian Association, 1908–18.

Cachalia, Yusuf

(1915–95). Political activist. Secretary of the South African Indian Congress. Brother of Maulvi Cachalia. Husband of Amina Cachalia. Co-accused with Mandela and eighteen others in the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial. They were convicted and sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years. Banned continuously from 1953.

Carlson, Joel

(1926–2001). One of Mandela’s attorneys who began representing opponents of apartheid after his 1957 exposé of the brutal working conditions of farmworkers. He presented nearly 100 cases of torture to the courts. Several attempts were made on his life and he left South Africa in 1971 and lived in the United States of America.

Chiba, Isu (Laloo)

(1930–2017). Anti-apartheid activist. Member of the South African Communist Party and Transvaal Indian Congress. Platoon commander of MK. Tortured by the South African security police causing him to lose the hearing in one of his ears. Member of MK’s Second National High Command, for which he was sentenced to eighteen years’ imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island. Assisted in transcribing Mandela’s autobiographical manuscript in prison. Released in 1982. Member of the United Democratic Front. MP, 1994–2004. Received the Order of Luthuli in Silver in 2004 for his lifetime contribution to the struggle for a non-racial, non-sexist, just, and democratic South Africa.

Coetsee, Hendrik (Kobie)

(1931–2000). South African politician, lawyer, administrator, and negotiator. Deputy minister for defence and national intelligence, 1978. Minister of justice, 1980. Held meetings with Mandela from 1985 about creating the conditions for talks between the National Party and the ANC. Elected president of the Senate following South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.

Communist Party South Africa (Communist Party of South Africa)

(See South African Communist Party.)

Congress Alliance

Established in the 1950s and made up of the ANC, South African Indian Congress, Congress of Democrats and the South African Coloured People’s Organisation. When the South African Congress of Trade Unions was established in 1955, it became the fifth member of the Alliance. It was instrumental in organising the Congress of the People and mobilising clauses for inclusion in the Freedom Charter.

Congress of the People

The Congress of the People was the culmination of a year-long campaign where members of the Congress Alliance visited homes across the length and breadth of South Africa recording people’s demands for a free South Africa, which were included in the Freedom Charter. Held 25–26 June 1955 in Kliptown, Johannesburg, it was attended by 3,000 delegates. The Freedom Charter was adopted on the second day of the Congress.

Cyprian, King Bhekuzulu Nyangayezizwe kaSolomon

(1924–68). King of the Zulu nation from 1948 until his death in 1968. He succeeded his father, King Solomon kaDinizulu. He was the father of the current king of the Zulus, Goodwill Zwelithini.

Dadoo, Dr Yusuf

(1909–83). Medical doctor, anti-apartheid activist and orator. President of South African Indian Congress. Deputy to Oliver Tambo on the Revolutionary Council of MK. Chairman of the South African Communist Party, 1972–83. Leading member of the ANC. First jailed in 1940 for anti-war activities, and then for six months during the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign. Was among the twenty accused with Mandela in the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial. He went underground during the 1960 State of Emergency, and into exile to escape arrest. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1955 at the Congress of the People.

Dalindyebo, Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi a Sabata

(1964–). The son of Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, he reigned as Thembu king from 1989 until December 2015 when he was imprisoned for offences including culpable homicide, kidnapping, arson, and assault. He was customarily dethroned as a result.

Dalindyebo, Chief Jongintaba

(d. 1942). Chief and regent of the Thembu people. Became Mandela’s guardian following his father’s death. Mandela went to live with him at the Great Place at Mqhekezweni when he was twelve years old.

Dalindyebo, King Sabata Jonguhlanga

(1928–86). Paramount chief of the Transkei, 1954–80. Leader of the Democratic Progressive Party. Nephew of Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Fled to Zambia in 1980 after being convicted of violating the dignity of President Matanzima of the Transkei. Sabata was the great-grandson of King Ngangelizwe.

Daniels, Edward (Eddie; Mandela sometimes refers to him as Danie)

(1928–2017). Political activist. Member of the Liberal Party of South Africa. Member of the African Resistance Movement which sabotaged non-human targets as a statement against the government. Served a fifteen-year sentence in Robben Island Prison where he was held in B Section with Mandela. He was banned immediately after his release in 1979. Received the Order of Luthuli in Silver from the South African government in 2005.

de Klerk, Frederik Willem (F. W.)

(1936–). Lawyer. President of South Africa, 1989–94. Leader of the National Party, 1989–97. In February 1990 he unbanned the ANC and other organisations and released Mandela from prison. Deputy president with Thabo Mbeki under Mandela from 1994 to 1996. Leader of New National Party, 1997. Awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in 1992 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Nelson Mandela, for his role in the peaceful end to apartheid.

Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws (Mandela also refers to it as the Defiance Campaign)

Initiated by the ANC in December 1951, and launched with the South African Indian Congress on 26 June 1952, against six apartheid laws. The campaign involved individuals breaking racist laws such as entering premises reserved for ‘whites only’, breaking curfews, and courting arrest. Mandela was appointed national volunteer-in-chief and Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. Over 8,500 volunteers were imprisoned for their participation in the Defiance Campaign.

Dingake, Michael Kitso

(1928–). Joined the African National Congress in 1952 and went into hiding after the Rivonia arrests in 1963. He left South Africa to work underground. As he was born in the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (Botswana) he had the protection of the British government. Nevertheless, in 1965 he was taken off a train in Southern Rhodesia and unlawfully handed over to South African police. He was driven to South Africa where he was tortured, charged, and convicted for sabotage. He was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment which he served in the same section on Robben Island as Mandela. In late 1967 he was transferred from the island to Pretoria where he was again tortured for information. A few weeks later he was returned to Robben Island. On his release in 1981 he was repatriated to Botswana.

Eprile, Cecil L.

(1914–93). Journalist and editor. Wrote and edited for Arthur Barlow’s Weekly, the Sunday Times, and Sunday Express. Editor-in-chief of Golden City Post (Drum magazine’s sister paper), 1955–67, where he trained many prominent black South African journalists.

Fischer, Abram (Bram)

(1908–75). Lawyer and political and anti-apartheid activist. Leader of the Communist Party of South Africa. Member of the Congress of Democrats. Charged with incitement for his involvement in the African Mine Workers’ Strike for better wages in 1946. Successfully defended Mandela and other leading ANC members in the Treason Trial. Led the defence in the Rivonia Trial, 1963–64. Continually subjected to banning orders, and in 1966 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for violating the Suppression of Communism Act and conspiring to commit sabotage. Awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967.

Freedom Charter

A statement of the principles of the Congress Alliance, adopted at the Congress of the People in Kliptown, Soweto, on 26 June 1955. The Congress Alliance rallied thousands of volunteers across South Africa to record the demands of the people. The Freedom Charter espoused equal rights for all South Africans regardless of race, as well as land reform, improved working and living conditions, the fair distribution of wealth, compulsory education, and fairer laws. The Freedom Charter was a powerful tool used in the fight against apartheid.

Goldberg, Denis

(1933–). Anti-apartheid and political activist. Member of the South African Communist Party. Co-founder and leader of the Congress of Democrats. Technical officer in MK. Arrested at Rivonia in 1963 and subsequently served a life sentence in Pretoria Local Prison. On his release in 1985 he went into exile in the UK and represented the ANC at the Anti-Apartheid Committee of the United Nations. Founded Community HEART in 1995 to help poor black South Africans. Returned to South Africa in 2002 and was appointed special advisor to Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils, who was named as a co-conspriator in the Rivonia Trial.

Gumede, Archibald Jacob

(1914–98). The son of Josiah Tshangana Gumede a founder of the South African Native National Conference (SANNC), a precursor to the ANC, Gumede, an anti-apartheid activist and lawyer, joined the ANC in 1949. He was an accused with Nelson Mandela and 154 others in the infamous 1956 Treason Trial which went on for four and a half years and resulted in all the accused being acquitted. In 1983 he was elected as a joint president with Albertina Sisulu and Oscar Mpetha of the United Democratic Front. He and a group of activists famously sought refuge in the British consulate in Durban in 1984 when the security police threatened to detain them, which they did when they left the building after ninety days. They were charged with high treason. Charges against Gumede and eleven others were withdrawn in December 1985 and also for the four remaining accused in June 1986.

Guzana, Knowledge (Mandela refers to him as Dambisa)

(1916–). A fellow student at University College of Fort Hare with Mandela, he went on to a political career in the Transkei after qualifying as an attorney. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party in the Transkei which rejected ‘independence’ of black homelands or Bantustans. He led the party until 1976 when he was replaced by Hector Ncokazi.

Gwala, Harry (also called by his clan name Mphephetwa) Themba

(1920–95). Known as ‘The Lion of the Midlands’, he was a school teacher and activist in the South African Communist Party and the ANC Youth League. In 1964 he was arrested and charged with sabotage for recruiting people to MK. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and served his sentence on Robben Island until 1972. He was arrested again in 1975 and sentenced to life imprisonment and sent again to Robben Island. He contracted motor neuron disease, which led to the loss of the use of his arms. As a consequence of his illness he was released in 1988. In 1992 he was awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe.

Healdtown

Healdtown was a boarding school in Fort Beaufort, run by the Methodist Church. Nelson Mandela enrolled there in 1937 and completed his matric there in 1938. He took up long-distance running there and in his second year became a prefect.

Hepple, Bob

(1934–2015). Lawyer, academic, and anti-apartheid activist. Member of the Congress of Democrats and South African Congress of Trade Unions. Assisted Mandela to represent himself in 1962 following his arrest for leaving the country illegally and for inciting workers to strike. Arrested at Liliesleaf Farm in 1963, but the charges were dropped on the condition that he appeared as a state witness. Named as a co-conspirator in the Rivonia Trial. He subsequently fled South Africa. Knighted in 2004.

Joseph (née Fennell), Helen

(1905–92). Teacher, social worker, and anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. Founding member of the Congress of Democrats. National secretary of Federation of South African Women. Leading organiser of the1956 Women’s March of 20,000 women to Pretoria’s Union Buildings. An accused in the 1956 Treason Trial. Placed under house arrest in 1962. Helped care for Zindziswa and Zenani Mandela when their parents were both imprisoned. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

Jozana, Xoliswa

(1952–). A daughter of K. D. Matanzima’s by Princess Nosango. In 2017 she retired from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in South Africa where she was the chief director responsible for co-operation and development.

Kantor, James

(1927–75). Lawyer. Despite not being a member of the ANC or MK, he was put on trial at Rivonia, possibly due to the fact that his brother-in-law and business partner was Harold Wolpe who had been arrested at Liliesleaf Farm and named as a co-conspirator in the Rivonia Trial. Was later acquitted and fled South Africa.

Kathrada, Ahmed

(1929–2017). Anti-apartheid activist, politician, political prisoner, and MP. Leading member of the ANC and of the South African Communist Party. Founding member of the Transvaal Indian Volunteer Corps and its successor, the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress. Co-accused with Mandela in the Defiance Campaign Trial of 1952, and one of the last twenty-eight accused in the Treason Trial who were acquitted in 1961. Placed under house arrest in 1962. Arrested at Liliesleaf Farm in July 1963 and charged with sabotage in the Rivonia Trial. Imprisoned on Robben Island, 1964–82, then Pollsmoor Prison until his release on 15 October 1989. MP from 1994, after South Africa’s first democratic elections, and served as political advisor to President Mandela. Chairperson of the Robben Island Council, 1994–2006. Awarded Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, the ANC’s highest honour, in 1992; the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the President of India; and several honorary doctorates.

Kente, Gibson

(1932–2004). Considered by many to be the father of black theatre in South Africa, between 1960 and 1990 he produced more than twenty plays in the genre of what became known as the ‘township musical’. He wrote music for Miriam Makeba in the 1950s. Mandela refers to him as ‘nephew’ in his letter to him as they were both from the Madiba clan.

Kruger, James (Jimmy)

(1917–87). Politician. Minister of justice and police, 1974–79. President of the Senate, 1979–80. Member of the National Party. Infamously remarked that Steve Biko’s death in detention in 1977 left him ‘cold’.

Le Grange, Louis L.

(1928–91). Joined the cabinet of the ruling National Party in 1975. In 1979 to 1980 he served as minister of prisons and from 1979 to 1982 as minister of police. From 1982 to 1986 he was minister of law and order.

Lukhele, Douglas (Duggie)

Former legal colleague. Moved to Swaziland and became the attorney-general there. He did his articles at the firm Mandela and Tambo in the 1950s.

Luthuli, Chief Albert John Mvumbi

(1898–1967). Teacher, anti-apartheid activist, and minister of religion. Chief of Groutville Reserve. President-general of the ANC, 1952–67. From 1953 he was confined to his home by government bans. Defendant in the 1956 Treason Trial. Sentenced to six months (suspended) in 1960 after publicly burning his passbook and calling for a national day of mourning following the Sharpeville Massacre. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 for his non-violent role in the struggle against apartheid. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1955 at the Congress of the People.

Luthuli, Nokhukhanya

The wife of Chief Albert Luthuli. When Mandela writes Nkosikazi Luthuli, it means Mrs. Luthuli.

Madikizela, Columbus Kokani

Also known as C. K., he was Winnie Mandela’s father. In letters to his wife, Mandela referred respectfully to him as Bawo. A history teacher, he later became the minister of forestry and agriculture in the Transkei government under K. D. Matanzima.

Madikizela-Mandela, Nomzamo Winifred (Winnie, Nobandla, Nomzamo, Mhlope, Zami and Ngutyana)

(1936–). Social worker and anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. Member of the ANC. Married to Nelson Mandela, 1958–96 (separated 1992). Mother of Zenani and Zindziswa Mandela. First qualified black medical social worker at the Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg. Held in solitary confinement for seventeen months in 1969. Placed under house arrest from 1970 and subjected to a series of banning orders from 1962 to 1987. Established the Black Women’s Federation, 1975, and the Black Parents’ Association, 1976, in response to the Soweto Uprising. President of the ANC Women’s League, 1993–2003. ANC MP.

Maharaj, Satyandranath (Mac)

(1935–). Academic, politician, political and anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner, and MP. Leading member of the ANC, South African Communist Party, and MK. Convicted of sabotage in 1964 and sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment which he served on Robben Island. Helped to secretly transcribe Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and smuggled it out of prison when he was released in 1976. Commanded Operation Vulindlela (Vula), an ANC underground operation to establish an internal underground leadership. Maharaj served on the secretariat of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. Minister of transport, 1994–99. Envoy to President Jacob Zuma.

Maki

(See Mandela, Makaziwe.)

Mandela (née Mase), Evelyn Ntoko (also referred to as Mqwati or Ntoko)

(1922–2004). Nurse. Married to Nelson Mandela, 1944–57. Mother to Madiba Thembekile (1945–69), Makaziwe (1947) who died at nine months old, Makgatho (1950–2005) and Makaziwe (1954–). Cousin of Walter Sisulu who first introduced her to Mandela. Married a retired Sowetan businessman, Simon Rakeepile, in 1998.

Mandela, Madiba Thembekile (Thembi; Mandela also spells it Tembi sometimes)

(1945–69). Mandela’s eldest son to his first wife, Evelyn. Died in a car accident.

Mandela, Makaziwe

(1947). Mandela’s first-born daughter to his first wife, Evelyn. Died at nine months old.

Mandela, Makaziwe (Maki)

(1954–). Mandela’s eldest daughter to his first wife, Evelyn.

Mandela, Makgatho (Kgatho)

(1950–2005). Mandela’s second-born son to his first wife, Evelyn. Lawyer. Died of AIDS complications on 6 January 2005 in Johannesburg following the death of his second wife, Zondi Mandela, who died from pneumonia as a complication of AIDS in July 2003.

Mandela, Mandla Zwelivelile

(1974–). Mandela’s oldest grandson and first-born child of Makgatho Mandela. He is now Chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council.

Mandela, Nandi

(1968–). Mandela’s second grandchild and youngest daughter of Thembekile and Thoko Mandela. She was a year old when her father was killed in a car accident.

Mandela, Ndileka

(1965–). Mandela’s first grandchild and eldest daughter of Thembekile and Thoko Mandela. She was four years old when her father was killed in a car accident.

Mandela, Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla

(d. 1930). Chief, counsellor, and advisor. Descendant of the Ixhiba house. Mandela’s father. Deprived of his chieftainship following a dispute with a local white magistrate.

Mandela, Nolusapho Rose Rayne (referred to as ‘Rennie’)

The mother of Mandela’s grandson Mandela Mandela. She was married to Mandela’s second son Makgatho.

Mandela, Nosekeni Fanny

(d. 1968). Mandela’s mother. Third wife of Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela.

Mandela, Thoko (aka Molly de Jager)

The wife of Thembekile Mandela and the mother of their two daughters. She was in the car accident which killed her husband and her sister Irene Simelane. Her brother was injured in the same accident. Newspaper articles on the accident refer to her as Molly de Jager which is a name she adopted from a relative which meant she could be classified under apartheid laws as coloured and live in a better area. Mandela also refers to her as molokazana which means daughter-in-law. After her husband’s death she went back to her maiden surname of Mhlanga.

Mandela, Winnie

(See Madikizela-Mandela, Nomzamo Winifred.)

Mandela, Zenani (Zeni) Nomadabi Nosizwe

(1959–). Mandela’s first-born daughter to his second wife, Winnie. Her names mean ‘What have you brought?’ and Battle of the Nation. She is South Africa’s ambassador to Mauritius.

Mandela, Zindziswa (Zindzi)

(1960–). Mandela’s second-born daughter to his second wife, Winnie. Her first name means ‘well-established’; she is named after the daughter of the Xhosa poet, Mqhayi. She is South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark.

Mandela, Zoleka (1980–)

Mandela’s granddaughter and only daughter of Zindziswa Mandela.

Mandela, Zondwa (1985–)

Mandela’s grandson and oldest son of Zindziswa Mandela.

Masemola, Jafta Kgalabi (‘Jeff’)

(1929–90). Known as the ‘Tiger of Azania’, he was a member of the ANC Youth League and a founder of the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress. After being arrested in 1962 and charged with sabotage for blowing up power lines and smuggling freedom fighters out of South Africa, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on July 1963. On 13 October 1989, while still in prison, he met with Nelson Mandela at Victor Verster Prison. It was rumoured that they discussed unity between the ANC and the PAC. He was released from prison on 15 October 1989, and on 17 April 1990 he was killed in a mysterious car accident.

Matanzima, Kaiser Daliwonga (K. D.) (also referred to as Wonga)

(1915–2003). Thembu chief and politician. Mandela’s nephew. Member of the United Transkei Territorial Council, 1955, and an executive member of the Transkei Territorial Authority, 1956. Chief minister of the Transkei, 1963. Established and led the Transkeian National Independence Party with his brother George Matanzima. First prime minister of the Transkei Bantustan when it gained nominal independence in 1976. State president of the Transkei, 1979–86. He was the great-grandson of King Matanzima.

Matanzima, Mthetho

(d. 1972). A son of K. D. Matanzima’s by Princess Dade. He was educated at University College of Fort Hare, passing his law examination in 1968. Chief of the Noqayti region. He died in 1972.

Matthews, Frieda Deborah Bokwe

(1905–98). The daughter of Reverend John Knox Bokwe, a leading Xhosa intellectual and hymn writer of the 1880s. She was one of the first black women to earn a university degree in South Africa. A teacher herself, she married educationalist Z. K. Matthews. She published Remembrances in 1984.

Matthews, Vincent Joseph Gaobakwe (Bakwe)

(1929–2010). Matthews was the son of Professor Z. K. Matthews and Frieda Matthews. Both he and his father were charged with treason in 1956 along with 154 other anti-apartheid activists. He qualified as an attorney and while in exile became assistant attorney-general of Botswana. He returned to South Africa in 1992 and that year left the ANC. He was a member of Parliament for the Inkatha Freedom Party from 1994 and deputy minister of safety and security from 1994 to 1999.

Matthews, Professor Zachariah Keodirelang (Z. K.)

(1901–68). Academic, politician, and anti-apartheid activist. Member of the ANC. First black South African to obtain a BA degree at a South African institution, 1923. First black South African to obtain an LLB degree in South Africa, 1930. Conceptualised the Congress of the People and the Freedom Charter. Following the Sharpeville Massacre, with Chief Albert Luthuli he organised a ‘stay-away’, a national day of mourning, which took place on 28 March 1960. In 1965 he retired to Botswana, and became its ambassador to the USA.

Mbeki, Archibald Mvuyelwa Govan (clan name, Zizi)

(1910–2001). Historian and anti-apartheid activist. Leading member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party. Served on the High Command of MK. Father of Thabo Mbeki (president of South Africa, 1999–2008). Convicted in the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Released from Robben Island Prison, 1987. Served in South Africa’s post-apartheid Senate, 1994–1997, as deputy president of the Senate, and its successor, the National Council of Provinces, 1997–99. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1980.

Meer, Professor Fatima (also referred to as Fatimabehn and Fatimaben – ben means sister in Gujarati)

(1928–2010). Writer, academic, and anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. Married Ismail Meer, 1950. Established Student Passive Resistance Committee in support of the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign against apartheid. Founding member of Federation of South African Women. First black woman to be appointed as a lecturer at a white South African university (University of Natal), 1956. Banned from 1953 and escaped an assassination attempt. She embraced the Black Consciousness ideology. Founded the Institute of Black Research, 1975. First president of the Black Women’s Federation, established in 1975. Author of Higher Than Hope (published 1988), the first authorised biography of Mandela.

Meer, Ismail Chota I. C.

(1918–2000). Lawyer and anti-apartheid activist. He met and befriended Nelson Mandela in 1946 when they were studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He joined the Communist Party of South Africa while at university and played pivotal roles in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign and the 1952 Defiance Campaign as well as participated in the drawing up of the Freedom Charter. He was married to Professor Fatima Meer.

Mhlaba, Raymond (clan name, Ndobe)

(1920–2005). Anti-apartheid activist, politician, diplomat, and political prisoner. Leading member of ANC and South African Communist Party. Commander-in-chief of MK. Arrested in 1963 at Rivonia and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial. Imprisoned on Robben Island until he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in 1982. Released in 1989. He was involved in the negotiations with the National Party government leading to the democratisation of South Africa. Member of the ANC National Executive Committee, 1991. Premier of the Eastern Cape, 1994. South African high commissioner to Uganda, 1997. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

(See Umkhonto weSizwe.)

Mkwayi, Wilton Zimasile (clan name, Mbona; nickname, Bri Bri)

(1923–2004). Trade unionist, political activist, and political prisoner. Member of the ANC and South African Congress of Trade Unions. Union organiser for African Textile Workers in Port Elizabeth. Volunteer in the 1952 Defiance Campaign, and later active in the campaign for the Congress of the People. Escaped during the 1956 Treason Trial and went to Lesotho. Joined MK and had military training in the People’s Republic of China. Became MK’s commander-in-chief after the arrests at Liliesleaf Farm. Convicted and sentenced to life in what became known as the Little Rivonia Trial. He served his sentence on Robben Island. Released October 1989. Elected to the Senate in the National Assembly in 1994, then deployed to the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, where he served until his retirement from public life in 1999. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

Mlangeni, Andrew Mokete (clan name, Motlokwa; nickname, Mpandla)

(1926–). Anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner, and MP. Member of the ANC Youth League, ANC and MK. Convicted at the Rivonia Trial in 1963 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Served eighteen years on Robben Island and was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in 1982. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

Motlana, Ntatho Harrison

(1925–2008). Dr Ntatho Motlana, a medical doctor, community leader, political campaigner, businessman, and close friend of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. He entered extra-parliamentary politics in the 1940s and was appointed secretary of the ANC Youth League in 1949. Chargted with Mandela eighteen others in the Defiance Campaign Trial of 1952. He served two banning orders and one period of detention. In the 1970s he helped to establish the Black Parents’ Association to help those affected by the 1976 student uprising. He also founded the Committee of Ten, an influential organisation of Soweto residents. In the 1980s he led the Soweto Civic Association, a body affiliated to the broad-based United Democratic Front.

Motsoaledi, Elias (clan name, Mokoni)

(1924–94). Trade unionist, anti-apartheid activist, and political prisoner. Member of the ANC, South African Communist Party, and Council of Non-European Trade Unions. Banned after the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Helped to establish the South African Congress of Trade Unions in 1955. Imprisoned for four months during the 1960 State of Emergency and detained again under the ninety-day detention laws of 1963. Sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial and imprisoned on Robben Island from 1964 to 1989. Elected to the ANC’s National Executive Committee following his release. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

Mpetha, Oscar

(1909–94). A trade unionist and political activist from the Transkei, he joined the ANC in 1951 and in 1958 became president of the Cape ANC. In 1983 he was sentenced to five years in prison for inciting a riot in which two white people were killed. In the same year, he was elected as one of three co-presidents of the newly formed United Democratic Front. He served most of his prison sentence wheelchair-bound in hospital after both legs had been amputated due to diabetes. He was released on 15 October 1989 with a group of prisoners including the last remaining Rivonia trialists.

Naicker, Dr Gangathura Mohambry (Monty)

(1910–78). Medical doctor, politician, and anti-apartheid activist. Co-founder and first chairperson of the Anti-Segregation Council. President of the Natal Indian Congress, 1945–63. Signatory of the ‘Doctor’s Pact’ of March 1947, a statement of cooperation between the ANC, Transvaal Indian Congress, and Natal Indian Congress, which was also signed by Dr Albert Xuma (president of the ANC) and Dr Yusuf Dadoo (president of the TIC).

Naidoo, Indres Elatchininatha

(1936–2016). A member of the South African Communist Party and the Transvaal Indian Congress, he spent ten years on Robben Island for his activities on behalf of MK. On his release he published the book Island in Chains: Prisoner 885/63. A son of Ama and Thambi ‘Naran’ Naidoo and brother to Shanti Naidoo.

Naidoo, ‘Shanti’ Shanthivathie

(1935–). The eldest of five children of Ama and Thambi ‘Naran’ Naidoo, she became a political activist while still at school. She was a member of the Transvaal Indian Congress and the Federation of South African Women. Banned from the 1960s, she was detained in 1969. When she refused to testify against Winnie Mandela she was convicted and sentenced to two months in prison. Her banning orders meant that she could not visit her brother Indres Naidoo who was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1963 for ten years. She was refused permission to leave the country until 1972 and visited him in prison for the first time before she left South Africa. She lived in England and at the ANC’s school in Tanzania. She returned to South Africa with her husband Dominic Tweedie in 1991.

Nair, Billy

(1929–2008). Politician, anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner, and MP. Member of the ANC, Natal Indian Congress, South African Communist Party, South African Congress of Trade Unions, and MK. Named as co-consprirator in the Rivonia Trial, he was charged with sabotage in 1963 and imprisoned on Robben Island for twenty years. Joined the United Democratic Front on his release. Arrested in 1990 and accused of being part of Operation Vula, an underground operation to smuggle freedom fighters into South Africa and keep the lines of communication open with ANC leaders in prison, at home, or in exile. MP in the new democratic South Africa.

National Party

Conservative South African political party established in Bloemfontein in 1914 by Afrikaner nationalists. Governing party of South Africa, June 1948 to May 1994. Enforced apartheid, a system of legal racial segregation that favoured minority rule by the white population. Disbanded in 2004.

Ngoyi, Lilian Masediba

(1911–80). Politician, anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist, and orator. Leading member of the ANC. First woman elected to the ANC Executive Committee, 1956. President of the ANC Women’s League. President of Federation of South African Women, 1956. Led the Women’s March against pass laws, 1956. Charged and acquitted in the Treason Trial. Detained in the 1960 State of Emergency. Detained and held in solitary confinement for seventy-one days in 1963 under the ninety-day detention law. Continuously subjected to banning orders. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1982.

Njongwe, James ‘Jimmy’ Lowell Zwelinzima

(1919–76). One of the first two black male graduates of the University of the Witwatersrand medical school in 1946, he was the first black medical doctor to open a practice in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. He was on the executive of the ANC Youth League and later president of the ANC in the Cape. He was banned and forced to resign from his position. He left Port Elizabeth and established his practice in Matatiele in the Transkei. He was detained in the 1960 State of Emergency.

Nokwe, Philemon Pearce Dumasile Nokwe (Duma)

(1927–78). Political activist and advocate. Taught by O.R. Tambo at St. Peter’s High School, Johannesburg and was elected to the executive of the ANC Youth League while a student. He was, with Mandela, in the last group of accused in the 1956 Treason Trial. He attended Mandela’s marriage to Winnie Madikizela. Nokwe served as the secretary-general of the ANC from 1958 to 1969. Named as co-consprirator in the Rivonia Trial. He went into exile in 1963 and died in Zambia.

Omar, Abdulla ‘Dullah’

(1934–2004). Anti-apartheid activist and an advocate who attended to some of Mandela’s legal work while he was in prison. He was a member of the Unity Movement before he joined and became a leading member of the United Democratic Front from 1983. He was banned and detained by the apartheid regime which also tried to assassinate him. He served as democratic South Africa’s first minister of justice under Nelson Mandela from 1994. In 1999, under President Thabo Mbeki, he became minister of transport.

(See Tambo, Oliver.)

Pan Africanist Congress

Breakaway organisation of the ANC founded in 1959 by Robert Sobukwe, who championed the philosophy of ‘Africa for Africans’. The PAC’s campaigns included a nationwide protest against pass laws, ten days before the ANC was to start its own campaign. It culminated in the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960, in which police shot dead sixty-nine unarmed protesters. Banned, along with the ANC, in April 1960. Unbanned on 2 February 1990.

Paton, Alan

(1903–88). Teacher and author of the famous South African novel Cry, the Beloved Country (published 1948). Principal of the Diepkloof Reformatory, 1935–49. In 1953 he founded the Liberal Party of South Africa which fought against the apartheid legislation of the ruling National Party. He gave evidence in mitigation of sentence at the Rivonia Trial for Nelson Mandela and his colleagues.

Pogrund, Benjamin

(1933–). A journalist and friend of Mandela’s, he worked for the Rand Daily Mail from 1958 and covered the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960. Mandela soon told him of his belief that the days of non-violent protest were over. Pogrund moved to London in 1986.

Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison

Prison in the suburb of Tokai, Cape Town. Mandela was moved there along with Walter Sisulu, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni, and, later, Ahmed Kathrada in 1982.

Qunu

Rural village in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province where Mandela lived after his family moved from his birthplace of Mvezo.

Ramphele, Mamphela Aletta

(1947–). Anti-apartheid activist and a founding member of the Black Consciousness Movement, medical doctor, academic, and businesswoman. When she was the partner of Steve Biko she was banished in 1977 by the apartheid regime to Tzaneen in the then Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo province) where she remained until 1984. She joined the University of Cape Town as a research fellow in 1986 and one of its vice-chancellors in 1991. In 2000 she was appointed one of the four managing directors of the World Bank.

Rivonia Trial

Trial between 1963 and 1964 in which eleven leading members of the Congress Alliance were initially charged with sabotage and faced the death penalty. Named after the suburb of Rivonia, Johannesburg, where six members of the MK High Command were arrested at their hideout, Liliesleaf Farm, on 11 July 1963. Incriminating documents, including a proposal for a guerrilla insurgency named Operation Mayibuye, were seized. Mandela, who was already serving a sentence for incitement and leaving South Africa illegally, was implicated, and his notes on guerrilla warfare and his diary from his trip through Africa in 1962 were also seized. Rather than being cross-examined as a witness, Mandela made a statement from the dock on 20 April 1964. This became his famous ‘I am prepared to die’ speech. On 11 June 1964, eight of the accused were convicted by Justice Qartus de Wet at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria, and the next day were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Robben Island

Island situated in Table Bay, 7 kilometres off the coast of Cape Town, measuring approximately 3.3 kilometres long and 1.9 kilometres wide. Has predominantly been used as a place of banishment and imprisonment, particularly for political prisoners, since Dutch settlement in the seventeenth century. Three men who later became South African presidents have been imprisoned there: Nelson Mandela (1964–82), Kgalema Motlanthe (1977–87) and Jacob Zuma (1963–73). It is now a World Heritage Site and museum.

Sikhakhane, Joyce Nomafa

(1943–). Journalist and anti-apartheid activist. Wrote about the families of political prisoners, including Albertina Sisulu and Winnie Mandela, which resulted in her being arrested under the Protection Against Communism Act, then re-detained under the Terrorism Act and forced to spend eighteen months in solitary confinement. Banned on her release. She fled South Africa in 1973. Employed by the Department of Intelligence in the democratic South Africa. In his letter to her, Mandela calls her Nomvula as she was engaged to a relative of his, John Fadana. They never married, as after they registered the marriage at the Magistrates Court the security police accused her of having broken her banning and restriction orders by going to the court without permission and that therefore the marriage was invalid. John Fadana was banished to the Ciskei where he married another woman and later died.

Sisulu (née Thethiwe), Nontsikelelo (Ntsiki) Albertina

(1918–2011). Nurse, midwife, anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist, and MP. Leading ANC member. Married Walter Sisulu, whom she met through her nursing friend, Evelyn Mase (Mandela’s first wife), 1944. Member of the ANC Women’s League and Federation of South African Women. Played a leading role in the 1956 women’s anti-pass protest. The first woman to be arrested under the General Law Amendment Act, 1963, during which time she was held in solitary confinement for ninety days. Continually subjected to banning orders and police harassment from 1963. She was elected as one of the three presidents of the United Democratic Front at its formation in August 1983. In 1985 she was charged with fifteen other United Democratic Front and trade union leaders for treason in what became known as the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial. MP from 1994 until she retired in 1999. President of the World Peace Council, 1993–96. Recipient of the South African Women for Women Woman of Distinction Award 2003, in recognition of her courageous lifelong struggle for human rights and dignity.

Sisulu, Walter Ulyate Max (clan names, Xhamela – sometimes spelt by Mandela as Xamela and Tyhopho)

(1912–2003). Anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. Husband of Albertina Sisulu. Met Mandela in 1941 and introduced him to Lazer Sidelsky who employed him as an articled clerk. Leader of the ANC, and generally considered to be the ‘father of the struggle’. Co-founder of the ANC Youth League in 1944. Charged with Mandela and eighteen others under the Suppression of Communism Act for playing a leading role in the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Arrested and later acquitted in the 1956 Treason Trial. Continually served with banning orders and placed under house arrest following the banning of the ANC and Pan Africanist Congress. Helped establish MK, and served on its High Command. Went underground in 1963 and hid at Liliesleaf Farm, in Rivonia, where he was arrested on 11 July 1963. Found guilty of sabotage at the Rivonia Trial, and sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964. He served his sentence on Robben Island and at Pollsmoor Prison. Released on 15 October 1989. One of the ANC negotiating team with the apartheid government to end white rule. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

Sobukwe, Robert Mangaliso

(1924–78). Lawyer, anti-apartheid activist, and political prisoner. Member of the ANC Youth League and the ANC until he formed the Pan Africanist Congress based on the vision of ‘Africa for Africans’. Editor of the Africanist newspaper. Arrested and detained following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. Convicted of incitement and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Before he was released, the General Law Amendment Act No. 37 of 1963 was passed, which allowed for people already convicted of political offences to have their imprisonment renewed – this later became known as the ‘Sobukwe Clause’ – which resulted in him spending another six years on Robben Island. He was released in 1969 and joined his family in Kimberley, where he remained under twelve-hour house arrest and was restricted from participating in any political activity as a result of a banning order that had been imposed on the PAC. While in prison he studied law, and he established his own law firm in 1975.

South African Communist Party (also referred to as the Communist Party of South Africa)

Established in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa, to oppose imperialism and racist domination. Changed its name to the South African Communist Party in 1953 following its banning in 1950. The South African Communist Party was only legalised in 1990. The South African Communist Party forms one-third of the Tripartite Alliance with the ANC and Congress of South African Trade Unions.

South African Indian Congress

Founded in 1923 to oppose discriminatory laws. It comprised the Cape, Natal, and Transvaal Indian Congresses. Initially a conservative organisation whose actions were limited to petitions and deputations to authorities, a more radical leadership that favoured militant non-violent resistance came to power in the 1940s under the leadership of Yusuf Dadoo and Monty Naicker.

State of Emergency, 1960

Declared on 30 March 1960 as a response to the Sharpeville Massacre. Characterised by mass arrests and the imprisonment of most African leaders. On 8 April 1960 the ANC and PAC were banned under the Unlawful Organisations Act.

Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44, 1950

Act passed 26 June 1950, in which the state banned the South African Communist Party and any activities it deemed communist, defining ‘communism’ in such broad terms that anyone protesting against apartheid would be in breach of the Act.

Suzman, Helen

(1917–2009). Academic, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and MP. Professor of economic history, University of Witwatersrand. Founded a branch of the United Party at University of Witwatersrand in response to the apartheid state’s racist policies. MP for the United Party, 1953–59, then later the anti-apartheid Progressive Federal Party (1961–74). The only opposition political leader who was permitted to visit Robben Island. She continuously raised the issue of political prisoners in Parliament and first met Mandela and his comrades on Robben Island in 1967.

Tambo (née Tshukudu), Matlala Adelaide Frances (also referred to as Matlala and sometimes spells it Matlale)

(1929–2007). Nurse, community worker, and anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist. Married Oliver Tambo, 1956. Member of the ANC Youth League. Participated in the Women’s March, 1956. Lived in exile in London, UK, until 1990. Recipient of numerous awards including the Order of Simon of Cyrene, July 1997, the highest order given by the Anglican Church for distinguished service by lay people; and the Order of the Baobab in Gold, 2002.

Tambo, Oliver Reginald (OR) (Also referred to as Reggie, Reginald)

(1917–93). Lawyer, politician, and anti-apartheid activist. Leading member of the ANC and founder member of the ANC Youth League. Co-founder, with Mandela, one of South Africa’s first African legal practices. Became secretary-general of the ANC after Walter Sisulu was banned, and deputy president of the ANC, 1958. Served with a five-year banning order, 1959. Named as a co-conspirator in the Rivonia Trial. Left South Africa in 1960 to manage the external activities of the ANC and to mobilise opposition against apartheid. Established military training camps outside South Africa. Initiated the Free Mandela Campaign in the 1980s. Lived in exile in London, UK, until 1990. Acting president of the ANC, 1967, after the death of Chief Albert Luthuli. Was elected president in 1969 at the Morogoro Conference in Tanzania, a post he held until 1991 when he became the ANC’s national chairperson. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1992.

Thembu royal house

Nelson Mandela was a member of the Thembu royal house, descended from King Ngubengcuka (c.1790–1830) who united the Thembu nation before it was subjected to British colonial rule.

Timakwe, Nontancu Mabel

(1924-2002). Nelson Mandela’s sister.

Transkei

Transkei is a region of South Africa in what is now the Eastern Cape province. During the apartheid era, under Mandela’s nephew K. D. Matanzima it accepted nominal independence with the neighbouring Ciskei as a homeland or Bantustan set aside for people of Xhosa origin.

Treason Trial

(1956–61). The Treason Trial was the apartheid government’s attempt to quell the power of the Congress Alliance. From 5 December 1956, 156 individuals were arrested and charged with high treason. By the end of the trial in March 1961 all the accused either had the charges withdrawn or, in the case of the last twenty-eight accused including Mandela, were acquitted.

Tutu, Archbishop Desmond

(1931–). Archbishop Emeritus and anti-apartheid and human rights activist. Bishop of Lesotho, 1976–78. First black general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, 1978. Following the 1994 election, he chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate apartheid-era crimes. Recipient of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for seeking a non-violent end to apartheid; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, 1986; and the Gandhi Peace Prize, 2005.

Tutu (née Shenxane), Nomalizo Leah

(1933–). The wife of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They began dating while both were at St Thomas’s Teacher Training College in Johannesburg. They married on 2 July 1955. The daughter of a domestic worker, she became an activist for the rights of South African domestic workers. The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation was established in 2007 to support initiatives that promote peace, reconciliation and Ubuntu.

Umkhonto weSizwe (MK)

Umkhonto weSizwe, meaning ‘spear of the nation’, was founded in 1961 and is commonly known by the abbreviation MK. Nelson Mandela was its first commander-in-chief. It became the military wing of the ANC. After the 1994 elections, MK was disbanded and its soldiers incorporated into the newly formed South African National Defence Force with soldiers from the apartheid South African Defence Force, Bantustan defence forces, Inkatha Freedom Party’s self-protection units, and Azanian People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress.

University College of Fort Hare (UFH)

Originally the South African Native College, the University College of Fort Hare was founded on the site of an old fort through the initiative of the United Free Church of Scotland. Until 1960 it was the only university for blacks in the country. It offered training to students from all over Southern Africa and from as far afield as Kenya and Uganda. The National Party government took over control of the university from 1959 and turned it into an ethnic college for Xhosa speakers. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe, Robert Sobukwe, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and Oliver Tambo studied there.

University of South Africa (UNISA)

UNISA is one of the largest distance education institutions in the world, and the university through which Nelson Mandela achieved his LLB degree. After he was forced to end his studies through the University of London, he continued through UNISA and graduated, in absentia, in 1989. He was able to practise as a lawyer before he was imprisoned as, in those days, only a diploma in law was necessary.

Victor Verster Prison

Low-security prison located between Paarl and Franschhoek in the Western Cape. Mandela was transferred there in 1988, and lived in a private house inside the prison compound. There is a statue of Mandela just outside the prison gates. Now named Drakenstein Correctional Centre.

Wolsey Hall

Situated in Oxford, United Kingdom, and established in 1894, Wolsey Hall is a distance education provider which caters for students at various levels and through the University of London. Mandela began his correspondence LLB studies through the University of London.

Xaba, Niki Iris Jane Nondyebo

(1932–1985). Winnie Mandela’s eldest sister who was detained at the same time as her in 1969. Then unmarried and called Iris Madikizela, she brought a case against the government to stop her and her fellow accused being assaulted.

Zami

(See Madikizela-Mandela, Nomzamo Winifred.)

Zeni

(See Mandela, Zenani.)

Zindzi

(See Mandela, Zindziswa.)

8115 Orlando West

In 1944 when Mandela married his first wife, Evelyn Mase, they were allocated a two-roomed house in Orlando East, Soweto, and early in 1947 they moved to a red-brick three-roomed matchbox house at number 8115 Orlando West. He also lived there with his second wife, Winnie Mandela. The South African government declared it a national heritage site in 1999 and it is now a museum.

APPENDIX A

GLOSSARY