A world icon and probably the most respected statesman to have ever lived, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know the name ‘Nelson Mandela’.
And, having celebrated the global Mandela Day yesterday (which would’ve been his 101st birthday) the inspirational leader is still fresh in our minds.
While you may know a lot about ‘Tata’ and his long walk to freedom, here are a few snippets of information that you might have missed!
1. The award-winning Madiba
His 67 years dedicated to activism, philanthropy and self-sacrifice for others has, understandably, earned Nelson Mandela roomfuls of accolades.
During his lifetime, Nelson Mandela received in excess of 695 awards – including the Nobel Peace Prize shared with former president, FW de Klerk.
In addition to this, his name has been bestowed upon more than 25 schools, universities, and educational institutions; 19 scholarships and foundations are named after him; and there are more than 95 recognised sculptures, statues, or artworks that represent him or have been dedicated to him.
There is even a bird named after him – the Australopicus nelsonmandelai is a prehistoric woodpecker that was named in 2012.
2. A man of many names
His birth name is Rolihlahla Mandela meaning ‘pulling the branch of a tree’, but his primary school teacher couldn’t pronounce this and named him ‘Nelson’ after the British admiral, Horatio Nelson.
He is also known affectionately as ‘Tata’, representative of his role as ‘father of the nation’, as well as ‘mkhulu’ meaning ‘grandfather’, and ‘Madiba’, the Mandela family name for a respected elder.
3. A man of many firsts
There are so many ways that Mandela broke ground, making him a man celebrated for many ‘firsts’.
In 1952, Mandela opened the first black law firm in South Africa having started studying law at the University of Witwatersrand (later finishing his law degree through UNISA while in prison).
His 1994 inauguration was also filled with historic firsts, such as Mandela being the first democratically-elected president; the country’s first black president; the oldest person elected to office; and the inauguration itself being the biggest gathering of heads of state since president John F. Kennedy’s funeral in 1963.
4. US terrorist until 2008
A gargantuan legislative blunder on America’s side saw Nelson Mandela’s name – alongside other ANC comrades – on the US Terrorist Watchlist until 2008, when he was 89 years old.
The underground ANC support from the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, as well as retaliatory action taken against the apartheid regime by MK, saw the Department of Defence billing the ANC as a ‘key regional terrorist group’.
However, despite bringing an end to apartheid and negotiating a peaceful transition, Mandela and comrades experienced travel restrictions through to 2008.
5. A man of principle
Mandela agreed to the role as a Sowetan school teacher at the end of Spike Lee’s iconic 1992 film, Malcolm X.
The role required that he recite one of Malcolm X’s famous speeches on human rights which reads: ‘We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.’
However, his commitment to pacifism – and concern that the South African government might use the words against him – meant Mandela refused to say the line ‘by any means necessary’ at the end.
This prompted Lee to include a cut to a clip of Malcolm X saying the line instead.
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