Twenty-Seven Years
Nelson Mandela entered Victor Verster Prison on 12 June 1964, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. He would not leave as a free man until 11 February 1990 — 27 years, 6 months and 6 days later. In that time, he had become the most famous political prisoner in the world, the symbol of the global struggle against apartheid, and the man upon whom the hopes of millions of South Africans rested.
The Apartheid System
South Africa's apartheid system — the Afrikaans word meaning "separateness" — was a formal system of racial segregation enforced by law from 1948 until its dismantling in the early 1990s. It classified South Africans by race, restricted where people of colour could live, work, travel and be educated, and denied the Black majority any political representation in the country of their birth. The African National Congress, which Mandela had helped lead, was banned in 1960. Mandela was arrested in 1962.
The Pressure for Release
By the late 1980s, international pressure on South Africa was intense. Economic sanctions — including from the United States under the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 — were damaging the economy. The ANC's armed wing was sustaining a low-level insurgency. President F.W. de Klerk, who came to power in 1989, recognised that apartheid was unsustainable and began secret negotiations with Mandela in prison before announcing his release.
From Prison to President
Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990 beside Winnie Mandela, his raised fist a gesture seen on television screens around the world. Four years of complex negotiations followed. In April 1994, South Africa held its first fully democratic elections — and Mandela, at 75, became the country's first Black president. His presidency and his personal philosophy of reconciliation rather than revenge made him one of the most admired figures of the 20th century.
