Nelson Mandela South African President and Civil Rights Activist
5 CHAPTER ONE When he took the oath of office Mandela made South African history THE JOURNEY BEGINS On May 10 1994 Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the president of South Africa The vast majority of South Africa’s population was black Yet Mandela was the first black president in the country’s history His election marked a great change A white minority had ruled South Africa for centuries The 1994 election was the first time many black citizens had been allowed to vote
A Diverse Country The history of South Africa includes the influences of many peoples Several ethnic groups lived in the area long before Europeans arrived People from other parts of Africa also settled there Modern South Africa is a diverse nation There are 11 official languages and many others are spoken informally 6 They elected Mandela Crowds of people gathered to celebrate the historic occasion Mandela sought to heal the wounds caused by discrimination For years inequality was everywhere in South Africa A system called apartheid made it law Mandela himself was just barely out of prison He had spent 27 years there for opposing racist policies But on the inauguration day the focus was on reconciliation People looked to their remarkable new president Mandela’s journey to that stage had been long and difficult Early Years Nelson Mandela was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18 1918 in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa He was born into the Thembu tribe The Thembu are one of the
Indian Ocean South Atlantic Ocean Lesotho Namibia Botswana Zimbabwe Mozam bique Swazi land 7 Xhosa peoples They had lived in that area for a very long time Rolihlahla means troublemaker in the Xhosa language In some ways Rolihlahla would live up to that name Eastern Cape Western Cape Northern Cape North West Limpopo Mpumalanga KwaZulu-Natal Free State Cape Town Pretoria Johannesburg Bloemfontein Qunu Gauteng South Africa Take a look at this map showing South Africa Notice that Mandela’s home region is not near South Africa’s major cities How do you think life was different in the rural areas
