First Names: Nelson (Mandela) E-Book

Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl

• Herausgeber: David Fickling Books
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: First Names
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 116

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Meet NELSON Mandela, the world's most famous freedom fighter, who went from wanted terrorist to international hero and President of South Africa, thanks to 27 years in jail!Find out:- Why he didn't use a toothbrush until he was 21,- Why he was arrested for travelling on a tram- And why one of his prison cells came with a servant and a pool!Get to know NELSON on First Name terms.

Leseprobe

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For Baki and Munchie, and all their troublemaking! NNI

To Gram and Granddaddy with lots of love and gratitude. NM

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CONTENTS

TITLE PAGEDEDICATIONINTRODUCTION1 - NELSON IS NAMED2 - NELSON GETS SOME BOOTS3 - NELSON HEADS FOR THE CITY4 - NELSON JOINS THE FIGHT5 - NELSON STIRS THINGS UP6 - NELSON GOES ON TRIAL7 - NELSON UNDERCOVER8 - NELSON MAKES HIS PLEA9 - NELSON CASTS HIS FIRST VOTEEPILOGUEPRONUNCIATION GUIDETIMELINEGLOSSARYINDEXCOPYRIGHT

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INTRODUCTION – NELSON ARRIVES AT THE GREAT PLACE

THE PLACE: The royal residence of the acting king of the Thembu people, Transkei, South Africa

THE YEAR: 1930

It was late in the afternoon, the sun was setting, and 12-year-old Nelson was dog-tired. He’d been walking up and down hills and along dirt roads with his mum, pulling his trusty tin trunk, since the crack of dawn. They were headed to his new home and hadn’t talked much on the journey. They hadn’t stopped either. But when they arrived at their destination – a large and noble-looking residence in the middle of a quaint village at the bottom of a green valley – and walked through the gates, his exhaustion was quickly forgotten.

Nelson couldn’t believe his eyes. Sprawled out in front of him were two large rectangular houses with tin roofs and bright white walls, seven smart-looking huts, a large vegetable garden, peach and apple trees, hundreds of sheep, and even a church! (All sure signs of great wealth in rural South Africa at the time.) Nelson had never seen such a magnificent place before. It was far grander than the three modest grass-roofed huts he’d lived in for most of his life. 8

‘Vroom, vroom, vrooooooooooom …’

He’d barely taken it all in before a huge Ford V8 motor car came roaring through the gate. Nelson hadn’t seen many cars in his life either – back in his village of Qunu they were a very rare sight indeed. And he definitely hadn’t known a single soul who actually owned a car as smart as this one.

A group of respectable elders jumped to their feet, tipped their hats and shouted, ‘Hail, Jongintaba.’ The car door opened, and a short stout man wearing a smart suit emerged.

Nelson was impressed. He knew that this man, who seemed able to command the respect of other people without saying a word, was going to be his legal guardian from now on.

Thanks to his father’s friendship with Jongintaba, a new world of privilege was suddenly opening up for Nelson, and it seemed exciting and shocking at the same time! Gone was the simple, secure life he’d lived with his mum. Gone was his chance to be crowned champion stick-fighter by his fellow herdboys. And gone were the evenings of listening to his father’s tales of historic battles and heroic warriors.

Jongintaba had full command of the Thembu kingdom and the power to change people’s lives, but he would never be king himself. He was only stepping in as regent or ‘acting king’ until the real king, a young 9boy called Sabata, was old enough to take charge.

Nelson felt like he was being thrown into a river and carried off downstream with no idea where it would take him, but the Great Place was an important stepping stone for him. He didn’t know it yet, but living with Jongintaba would help him get to university, become the owner of one of the first black law firms in Johannesburg, the leader of a movement that would help to free his people and the first black president of South Africa. A global symbol of courage, justice and equality for everyone, everywhere, Nelson didn’t just change his country; he changed the world.

You became a hero for so many people across the globe, but your fight to free your people landed you in prison for 27 years! How did you survive?

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1 NELSON IS NAMED

Nelson wasn’t actually called Nelson when he was little. As a member of the Thembu people, he’d been named Rolihlahla. The name means tree-shaker in his local language, isiXhosa*, but it could also mean troublemaker. In his early years, though, Rolihlahla hardly caused any trouble at all.

He’d been born into the royal Thembu family on 18th July 1918.

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13Rolihlahla’s father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa Mandela, had four wives and 13 children! In Thembu culture, it was common for a man to have more than one wife – Rolihlahla’s mum, Nonqaphi Nosekeni, was his dad’s third.

Gadla Henry usually only spent a week at a time with each wife, so little Rolihlahla didn’t get to see much of him, which must have been hard for such a curious child. Then something happened that meant Rolihlahla got to see him even less.

As a village chief and royal adviser, Gadla Henry was well off and well respected, but he had a stubborn streak. When a British judge summoned him to court because of a complaint about a stray ox, Gadla Henry replied:

The king of the Thembu tribe might have named Gadla Henry chief, but South Africa was ruled by the 14British at the time. When the British issued an order, people were expected to jump. Refusing an order was shocking, and Gadla Henry had to be punished – so the judge took his title, most of his herd and most of his land, no questions asked!

The British had been in Africa for a long time, though, and they’d made many very powerful and unfair laws:

1652: The Dutch invaded South Africa and started a trading post at the Cape of Good Hope. The Dutch farmers, called Boers, liked the area so much that they decided to stay. They pushed the African inhabitants off their land without asking and eventually started their own colony, ruled by the Dutch government from thousands of miles away.15

1700s to early 1900s: The Africans fought the Europeans, but the Europeans had a big advantage: guns. On the other hand, they were also fighting among themselves. The British had wrestled the Cape colony from the Dutch, and the Dutch battled to get it back again. In the end, the British won and took control of the South African colonies. When gold and diamonds were found in South Africa, the Europeans definitely didn’t want to leave.

1910:16 The British brought four of their colonies together to create the country of South Africa. They dreamed up dreadful laws that separated white and black South Africans, leaving black people with hardly any rights at all. Most of the land was given to white people (especially the most fertile areas) – black people were left with the poorest parts, even though all the land had once belonged to them!

17White people had taken the land by force, they had much better jobs than everyone else and they were represented in government. They also made voting for other groups as difficult as possible.

A COUNTRY LIFE

With the family fortune gone, Rolihlahla’s mum decided they should move back to her own village, Qunu, just a few miles away, where at least she’d have the support of her family and friends.

Little Rolihlahla had been a herdboy since the age of five, and here he spent endless hours in the fields watching over sheep, goats and cows or running free and wild with his friends.

At home, at the end of the day, his mum told traditional Xhosa fables while she prepared supper and when Gadla was there he shared tales of fearless Xhosa warriors.

Rolihlahla loved it when both parents were around, and eventually they gave him three younger sisters, Baliwe, Notancu and Makhutswana. They lived a humble but adventure-filled life. Qunu was a small village of only a few hundred people set in a green grassy valley. Life there had a gentle day-to-day rhythm with traditions that had been passed from generation to generation. 18

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A WINDOW TO THE WORLD

Most kids in the Western world ask their parents loads of questions. That’s how they learn. But Xhosa children weren’t supposed to question the decisions of any elders – including their own parents. That would have been incredibly rude! They were expected to do as they were told and to learn by watching, listening and then imitating the adults in their life.

Boys followed in their fathers’ footsteps and girls followed in their mothers’. It was the natural order of things. But when Rolihlahla’s dad got friendly with two brothers from a different tribe, a window into a new world opened up for the family.

George and Ben Mbekela were a bit unusual for Qunu because they followed the Christian faith that had been brought to South Africa by European missionaries in the 1800s. They’d even been educated in a Christian school. This was a pretty big deal in the 1920s because the narrow-minded government thought educating black South Africans wasn’t really worth their time.

The brothers even convinced Rolihlahla’s mum to be baptized, so she became a Christian too. Rolihlahla’s father, on the other hand, stayed loyal to the great and all-powerful Xhosa god, Qamata.

The Mbekela brothers took a liking to Rolihlahla 21and talked to him when he was playing in the fields.

One day, George Mbekela came to see Rolihlahla’s mum.

Rolihlahla’s mum didn’t say a word. She wasn’t sure what to think. No one in the family had ever been educated in a British-style school before.

She waited and discussed the idea with Gadla Henry. No way was he going to give up his traditional beliefs to become a Christian, but he understood what it could mean for his son. He said yes straight away.

And so, at the age of seven, Rolihlahla was baptized as a Christian and sent off to school.

A PROPER ENGLISH NAME

The day before Rolihlahla started school, his father took him aside and told him that he’d have to dress properly for his big day. 22

Rolihlahla felt so proud! Now he was ready to walk over the hill to the school, but he couldn’t have had any idea what to expect when he got there. Firstly, he was used to learning things in a different way. Up until now, his classroom had been the great outdoors. Secondly, he would’ve been used to speaking in his own language, isiXhosa. At school everything was taught in English …

23Most schools in South Africa in the 1920s were founded by missionaries and based on Western-style education. The British thought African names were inferior (but they also had difficulty pronouncing them), so each student had to be given a ‘proper’ English name. Rolihlahla read about Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson – a British Royal Navy hero – later in his life and wondered if his teacher, Miss Mdingane, named him after that Nelson.

Rolihlahla was better known as Nelson for the rest of his life. Even his mum had a name change with her new religion: from Nonqaphi Nosekeni to Fanny.

HEARTBREAK

Nelson was at home one evening, when he heard a loud commotion. His father had just arrived, but when Nelson entered his mum’s hut to see him, he found his dad lying on the floor having a coughing fit.

Gadla Henry stayed in the hut for days, hardly moving or speaking. It must have been quite frightening for Nelson.

Though he was very ill, Gadla Henry did manage to send for one visitor: Jongintaba. A few years earlier, Nelson’s dad had recommended that Jongintaba become the regent of the Thembu kingdom, and now he had a favour to ask in return. 24

A few nights later, Gadla Henry smoked his tobacco pipe for one last time and, shortly afterwards, he died.

Nelson was heartbroken. He’d always looked up to his dad and wanted to be just like him. Now he felt lost. But just as Nelson was coming to terms with his grief, his world was turned upside down once again. His mum told him he was moving away. Nelson didn’t ask why he was leaving or where he was going – it wasn’t his place to question his elders. He just put on a brave face, packed his few belongings, and set off early one morning with his mum.

As they walked away, Nelson took one last look back at his village and the three simple huts that had been his home. He wondered if he’d ever see them again.

LIVING WITH ROYALTY

Of course, Nelson was heading for the Great Place – with the fancy Ford V8 and his new adopted father, Jongintaba. And, once he arrived, he was rocketed 25into a whole new world. His mum stayed with him for a day or two before heading back to Qunu. Offering no embrace or words of advice, she just gave him a tender look and said, ‘Be strong, son!’

Nelson missed his mum and his sisters, but he quickly settled into the luxury of the Great Place. Instead of a dirt floor, Nelson’s new hut had smart wooden floorboards. In place of his father’s old trousers, he got his first brand-new outfit.

From the day Nelson arrived, Jongintaba and his wife, Nkosikazi No-England, welcomed him into the family with wide-open arms. Nelson got on especially well with Jongintaba’s two children and another boy who lived with them.

26True to his promise, Jongintaba sent Nelson to school where he had lessons in history, geography, Xhosa and English. Nelson studied hard and did well, but not without the help of his aunt Phathiwe, who inspected his homework each night.

When he wasn’t at school,