(Level: Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate / B1 to B2 / ***)
Here is a look back at the life of Nelson Mandela by the BBC.
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| Photo from the BBC |
Before watching
The following words and notes could be useful:
The ANC (African National Congress): a political party founded in 1912 in South Africa as an African nationalist movement and banned there from 1960 to 1990 because of its active opposition to apartheid. It won in 1994 South Africa's first multiracial elections (from free online dictionary)
The apartheid: the former political and social system in South Africa , in which only white people had full political rights and people of other races, especially black people, were forced to go to separate schools, live in separate areas etc. (from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)
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| White area (1976) Photo from africanhistory.about.com |
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| Segregated toilets (1979) Photo from africanhistory.about.com |
Oliver Tambo (25 October, 1917 - 24 April, 1993) [...] opened the first black law firm in South Africa with Nelson Mandela. Tambo would go on to serve in exile as acting president of the ANC [...]. He returned to South Africa in 1990, turning over party leadership to Mandela. (from: ...biography.com)
Pieter Willem Botha (12 January 1916 - 31 October 2006) [...] grew up on a farm among a provincial community of Afrikaners (white South Africans who descend from Dutch settlers), [...]became a youth organizer in the mid-1930s for the right-wing National Party and worked during WWII for the Ox Wagon Fire Guard which had nazi allegiances. [...]. [Under the apartheid regime] Botha would go on to hold a variety of high-profile positions. [...] In 1978, Botha became prime minister. By the '80s [...] the regime authorized armed attacks in nearby countries like Botswana and Zambia, where ANC activists had taken refuge and also utilized the State Security Council to kill in-country agitators. In 1984, Botha was elected to the South African presidency with the creation of a new constitution that would extend some political representation to the Asian and coloured (mixed ethnicity) populations, but grant no power to blacks. Domestic protest grew dramatically and Botha called a national state of emergency in 1985, where, subsequently, thousands of citizens were detained without trial.
Botha had a stroke in January 1989. [...] He resigned from his position as leader of the National Party. (From: ...biography.com)
Frederik W. de Klerk (born on 18 March 1936) [...] succeeded Botha first as head of the National Party and then as president of South Africa. [...] He worked to establish a new, anti-aparheid constitution based on the principle "one reason, one vote". [...] The threat of civil war combined with international boycotts and diplomatic pressure against South Africa led him to release Mandela as well as all other important political prisoners. (From: ...biography.com)
Thabo Mbeki (born on 18 June 1942) [...] [was very young when] he developed an interest in politics. He joined several student political organizations, including the African National Congress Youth League at 14. He met Mandela who advised him to further his education outside the country. [...] Mbeki left for London [...] and [graduated] with a master's degree in economics in 1966. In the '70s Mbeki rose within the ranks at the ANC. [...] In 1993 he was elected chairman of the ANC. The next year Mbeki was sworn in by Mandela as the deputy president of the Republic of South Africa of the New Government of National Unity. Later in the year he was appointed deputy president of the ANC. In 1999, he was elected as president of the ANC and of South Africa, and then won a second term as president of the ANC in 2002.
During his time in office, Mbeki's views on AIDS caused much international controversy. He refuted scientific research, stating that AIDS was not caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. He believed poverty, bad nourishment and general ill health were the causes of AIDS, and that expensive western medicines would not be the solution. Harvard researchers believe his AIDS stance blocked medicine from reaching those afflicted, resulting in as many as 300,000 deaths in his country. [In 2004] Mbeki was elected to a second term as president of the country [but] in 2007 his bid to win a third term failed when he lost the ANV presidential election to Jacob Zuma. [...] (From: ... biography.com)
During his time in office, Mbeki's views on AIDS caused much international controversy. He refuted scientific research, stating that AIDS was not caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. He believed poverty, bad nourishment and general ill health were the causes of AIDS, and that expensive western medicines would not be the solution. Harvard researchers believe his AIDS stance blocked medicine from reaching those afflicted, resulting in as many as 300,000 deaths in his country. [In 2004] Mbeki was elected to a second term as president of the country [but] in 2007 his bid to win a third term failed when he lost the ANV presidential election to Jacob Zuma. [...] (From: ... biography.com)
Winnie Mandela (born on 26 September 1936) [...] [started] to work as the first black medical social worker at [a hospital] in Johannesburg. A dedicated professional, she came to learn via her field work of the deplorable state that many of her patients lived in. In the mid-1950s, Winnie met attorney Nelson Mandela, who, at the time, was leader of the African National Congress [...]. The two married in June 1958 [...]. [When Nelson Mandela] was eventually sentenced in 1964 to life imprisonment, [he left] Winnie Mandela to raise their two small daughters [...].[...] [She] vowed to continue working to end apartheid. [...] Winnie was arrested under the Suppression of Terrorism Act and spent more than a year in solitary confinement, where she was tortured. Upon her release, she continued her activism and was jailed several more times. [...] She was forced by the government to relocate to the border town of Brandfort in 1977 and placed under house arrest. [...] Yet, she continued to speak out, as in a 1981 statement to the BBC on black South African economic might and its ability to overturn the system. In 1985, after her home was firebombed, Winnie returned to Soweto and continued to agitate against the regime even during government media bans. Her actions continued to cement the title bestowed upon her, "Mother of the Nation." But Winnie also became known for endorsing deadly retaliation against black citizens who collaborated with the apartheid regime.
[...] The years of separation and tremendous social turmoil had irrevocably damaged the Mandela marriage [...] and the two separated in 1992. [...] In 1994, Nelson Mandela won the presidential election, becoming South Africa's first black president; Winnie was subsequently named deputy minister of arts, culture, science and technology. However, due to affiliations and rhetoric seen as highly radical, she was ousted from her cabinet post by her husband in 1995. The couple divorced in 1996 [...].
a township: a racially segregated area in South Africa established by the government as a residence for people of colour.
to overthrow (e.g. a government): to overturn; to bring about the downfall of... renverser
to crush the uprising: to put down; subdue (the rebellion)
to tackle (problems...): to deal with s'attaquer à...
a shortage: deficiency in amount ; insufficiency manque; insuffisance
the scourge (of AIDS e.g.):a source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation fléau
(Definitions from the Free Dictionary)
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| Photos: BBC |
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| Eastern Cape, the province of South Africa Mandela was born in Maps from roomsforafrica.com |
While watching
Complete the missing information about and around Nelson Mandela:
1918 (and after)
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By 1952
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1956
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1960 and after
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Between 1963 and 1990
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1990
February 1990
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Between 1990 and 1994
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1994
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Between 1994 and 1997
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December 1997 and after
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1998
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Before 2000
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| Robben Island Map: africanworldheritagesites.org |
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| Robben Island Photo: africapoint.net |
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| Mandela's release Photo: theguardian.com |
If you want to know more about Nelson Mandela or watch key moments from his life, here is an interesting link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/nelson_mandela
When you are finished, you can check your answers!
Suggestions de réponses
1918 (and after)
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Naissance de Mandela au
Cap-Oriental, province du sud d’Afrique du Sud.
Fils d’un chef tribal.
Etudes de droit.
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By 1952
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Mandela établit un partenariat juridique
avec Oliver Tambo, avocat lui aussi ; ils font campagne ensemble contre
l’apartheid…
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1956
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Mandela fait partie des 156
activistes politiques accusés de haute trahison ; un procès marathon s’ensuit
mais les prévenus sont finalement relâchés…
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1960 and after
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Massacre de Sharpeville ; 69
personnes de couleur sont abattues par la police lors d’une manifestation
pacifiste ; changement stratégique radical au sein de l’ANC : abandon
de la stratégie non violente et début de l’action armée (sabotages…)…
Arrestation de Mandela alors accusé
de conspiration contre l’Etat / condamnation à l’emprisonnement à vie
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Between 1963 and 1990
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Mandela envoyé à Robben Island,
île prison (il y restera 18 de ses 27 années d’incarcération) ;
interdiction de publier ses photos ou de le citer dans la presse.
Le temps est compté pour le régime de l’apartheid
(soulèvements dans les townships par de jeunes noirs ; tentatives d’écrasement
(par le gouvernement de Peter Willem Botha) des soulèvements ; une aile blanche plus « libérale » voit en Nelson Mandela non plus un problème mais plutôt une solution…
Campagne internationale pour la
libération de N. Mandela ; sanctions décrétées à l’encontre de l’Afrique
du Sud par bon nombre de gouvernements étrangers…
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1990
February 1990
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Levée de l’interdiction de l’ANC
annoncée par F. De Klerk.
Libération de N. Mandela « marchant
vers la liberté » avec sa femme Winnie à ses côtés…
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Between 1990 and 1994
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Violence dans les townships ;
lutte armée entre factions de noirs ; appels à la paix répétés de
Mandela mais ignorés largement
Négociations sur l’élaboration d’une
nouvelle constitution démocratique
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1994
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Premières élections générales
multiraciales remportées largement par l’ANC ; N. Mandela devient le président
de la république d’Afrique du Sud
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Between 1994 and 1997
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Processus de réconciliation
nationale / Mise en place d’une commission de la vérité et de la
réconciliation (pour permettre aux victimes de l’apartheid de faire état des
exactions et crimes commis sous l’apartheid et de confronter leurs
tortionnaires).
Difficulté sous Mandela de s’attaquer
à des problèmes sociaux endémiques (manque terrible de logements abordables ;
pauvreté à grande échelle ; le fléau du sida…)
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December 1997 and after
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Abandon de la présidence de l’ANC
au profit du vice-président de l’Afrique du Sud, Thabo Mbeki.
Mandela se retire de la vie
politique ; la présidence de la république reviendra à T. Mbeki (Note :
élections de 1999)
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1998
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Mandela se remarie avec la veuve du
président du Mozambique ; joie familiale retrouvée (après avoir mis fin
à son mariage avec Winnie suite à l’implication de cette dernière dans l’enlèvement
et le meurtre d’un activiste)
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Before 2000
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Visite de Mandela de Robben Island,
l’île prison où il a été incarcéré pendant 18 années…
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