How long was nelson mandela in jail

When Nelson Mandela reflected on his Robben Island experiences on returning there in he said: "Wounds that can't be seen are more painful than those that can be seen and cured by a doctor.

One of the saddest moments of my life in prison was the death of my mother. The next shattering experience was the death of my eldest son in a car accident. Nelson Mandela's letters from prison to his second wife Winnie are poignant in the way they show the price paid for his total immersion in the anti-apartheid struggle, as is her account of this period.

Left to raise their children alone, Winnie once described the impact of taking them to see him in prison: "Taking them at that age to their father - their father of that stature - was so traumatic.

It was one of the most painful moments actually. And I could see the strain on my children both before their visit and for quite some time after they had some contact with their father. War of attrition. By the time Nelson Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor prison on the mainland, he was the world's most famous but perhaps least recognisable political prisoner. No contemporary photograph of him had been seen for years. The late anti-apartheid activist Amina Cachalia, who had known him well before he went into prison, visited him.

She told me she had taken a small camera into the prison with her, and as they had lunch she reached for her bag and said she was going to take a picture of him.

He held her by the arm and shook his head. She said Nelson Mandela was afraid they would confiscate the camera and terminate the visit. Amina Cachalia laughed at the thought of the impact her photograph would have had.

I will return. Mandela was committed to achieving freedom for all South Africans, not just for himself. In , he began to quietly reach out to the South African government to see if there was interest in negotiating an end to apartheid. Four years later, on February 11, , the most famous political prisoner in the world was released. He was 71 years old, but there was still work to do.

Throughout this period, political violence and civil war threatened to engulf the country. In , South Africa adopted an interim constitution. Mandela would dedicate the remaining years of his life to transforming his country. He always acknowledged that there was still more to do — and that it was up to future generations to continue the struggle for freedom.

South Africans lining up to vote, People waited for hours in lengthy lines for the opportunity to cast their ballot. Most had never before been permitted to vote.

Nelson Mandela voting, Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa at the age of The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning. Photo: Graeme Williams. Share this Story Facebook - will open in a new tab Facebook Twitter - will open in a new tab Twitter.

View image in fullscreen gallery. Photo: Getty Images, Jurgen Schadeberg. Why did Mandela go to prison? Photo: Getty Images, Bettmann. Photo: Peter Magubane. Robben Island Prison. The struggle continues. Long road to freedom. Photo: Associated Press, Peters. Photo: Getty Images, Peter Turnley. Goldberg, as the only white person convicted in the trial, is held in Pretoria Central Prison. Mandela is forbidden from attending his son's funeral. Rejects President PW Botha's offers to release him and other political prisoners if they renounce violence.

Goldberg, who has been held apart from his comrades for more than 20 years, accepts the offer and is released. Is discharged from the Volks Hospital and held in a cell alone at Pollsmoor Prison, from where he begins communicating with the government about eventual talks with the ANC.

Is transferred to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, where he is held in the house formerly occupied by a warder. Nelson Mandela meets one of his warders at the cottage at Victor Verster Prison where he stayed until his release in Meets De Klerk, who says he will be released the next day in Johannesburg. Mandela objects, saying he wants to walk through the gates of Victor Verster Prison, and asks for two weeks for the ANC to prepare.

De Klerk refuses the extension but agrees to release him from Victor Verster. Nelson Mandela was released unconditionally from prison after 27 years. He then appeared before 50, people on the balcony of City Hall and thanked the "millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my release". We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team?

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