Nelson Mandela and the Collapse of South Africa [2:39-7:40]

February 2, 1990, FW Declarek, who was president from 1989 to 1994, announced reversing the bands on liberal movements like the African National Congress and signaled the start of dismantling apartheid laws. In his own words, quote, I felt as did many others here at home and abroad that our nation needed to turn away from the past, establishing a true democracy was the only way to bring South Africa fully into the community of nations. After Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, he and Declarek shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa. The image of Mandela that spread around the world after his release was that of a patient statesman guiding his country toward reconciliation, but the movement he helped build did not begin that way. During the Cold War, the African National Congress maintained close relationships with communist governments. Soviet and Cuban advisors helped train many of its members and A&C leaders traveled through Eastern Black countries for political and military instruction. Mandela himself was involved in forming the organization's armed wing, Umkanto, Wiseesway. Mandela still led the anti-apartheid movement after his release from prison in 1990 and advocated reconciliation rather than retaliation. The A&C was not totally on board with a peaceful transition even after the April 27, 1994 general election that ended apartheid and white minority rule. Many conservative whites opposed Mandela's previous role in armed resistance as a terrorist leader and was once a member of the South African Communist Party. This information was withheld from public record about Mandela and was not publicly acknowledged even during his lifetime. By the early 1960s, many activists inside the A&C had lost faith that peaceful protest would end apartheid. In response, Mandela and several other leaders created a new organization, Umkanto, Wiseesway, meaning spear of the nation, the group launched a campaign of sabotage against infrastructure such as power stations and government facilities. The early operations focused on economic targets and attempted to avoid civilian casualties, though clashes with police soon followed. The South African government labeled the organization a terrorist movement, a designation that shaped Mandela's reputation abroad for decades. Mandela and the A&C were labeled as terrorists. United States also kept Mandela on its terrorism watch list until 2008, along with the A&C. Today, many consider the A&C's actions within the broader framework of armed resistance against a pressure regime rather than terrorism, though this is still debated. Violence within the broader anti-apartheid struggle intensified during the 1970s and 1980s, and the African National Congress was not immune from internal brutality. Individuals suspected of opposing the movement or acting as informants were sometimes killed without trial. In this climate, Nelson Mandela's wife, Winnie Medikezela Mandela, became one of the most controversial figures associated with the movement during the final years of apartheid. Winnie Mandela openly supported the practice known as necklacing, in which a tire filled with gasoline was placed around the victim's neck over his head and set on fire. At a rally in Minciville in April 1986, she declared, we have boxes of matches with our necklaces which are different in this country. At the same time, violence in black townships was escalating as militant youth groups targeted suspected collaborators, sometimes based only on accusations or personal disputes. During testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the late 1990s, Winnie did not deny making the remark, but stated she had spoken in anger during a violent period. Her bodyguard group, known as the Mandela United Football Club, was later implicated in several assaults and killings. In 1991, Winnie Mandela was convicted of kidnapping and accessory to assault, connected to the abduction of 14-year-old stompy sype. The boy's battered body was discovered on waste ground near her home in Soweto, a New Year's Eve, 1988. Witnesses stated that sype had been beaten and stabbed inside the house by members of the group. One of those witnesses was 16-year-old Ketiza Sivakulu. Nelson Mandela's personal physician, Dr. Abu Bakr Asbat, examined the injured teenager and warned that he needed to be taken to hospital or he would die. According to witness testimony, Winnie instructed her driver, Jom Amuti Morgan, to pick up the dog and dump him.