By Peter Blackwell, 5th Class
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. He was brought up in a shanty village. His family was very poor. Black people had no rights back then. He went to school and university and trained to be a lawyer. His family was amazed. In 1944 Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress. Nelson Mandela was taken to Robben Island prison in1964 for protesting against the apartheid government. Mandela was moved to Pollsmor prison in 1982. He was finally released from prison in 1990. In 1991 Nelson Mandela was elected president of the ANC. Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Black people in South Africa were able to vote for the first time in 1994, which was also when Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa. Mandela retired as president about five years later. Nelson Mandela died aged 94 in 2013. Nelson Mandela changed the lives of black people in South Africa forever.
Togher Boys' National School 