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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/nelson_mandela" rel="rottentomatoes" target="_blank" title="Nelson Mandela">Nelson Mandela</a>, 1918-2013: A Journalist's Appreciation<br /><span style="font-size: small;">National Geographic <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor-in-chief" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Editor-in-chief">Editor in Chief</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Johns_%28photographer%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Chris Johns (photographer)">Chris Johns</a> remembers the African leader.</span></span></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/photos/000/683/cache/remembrances-nelson-mandela-chris-johns_68382_990x742.jpg" /><br /><br />A portrait of Nelson Mandela. Photograph by Chris Johns, National Geographic<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>I met Nelson Mandela early in 2001 while working with writer <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Godwin_%28writer%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Peter Godwin (writer)">Peter Godwin</a> on a story about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transboundary_Protected_Area" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Transboundary Protected Area">Peace Parks</a>, wildlife reserves without borders. Arrangements for the meeting had taken a full year.</b><br /><br /><br /><br />The interminable correspondence with the officials who surrounded Mandela flew back and forth. We'd only get ten minutes, they said. The former <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_South_Africa" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="President of South Africa">President of South Africa</a> was a very busy man.<br /><br /><br /><br />Finally, Peter and I stood on the threshold of his house in Houghton, a leafy suburb of Johannesburg. His house was tasteful, but not ostentatious. We were ushered in and offered tea. Mandela was a tall man who radiated warmth. He spoke quietly. The force of his words did not depend on volume. He was intensely focused. You knew he was listening with the full force of his concentration.<br /><br /><br /><br />Mandela, who grew up on the banks of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-32.25,28.9&spn=0.1,0.1&q=-32.25,28.9%20(Mbhashe%20River)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Mbhashe River">Mbashe River</a> in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-32.0,27.0&spn=1.0,1.0&q=-32.0,27.0%20(Eastern%20Cape)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Eastern Cape">eastern Cape Province</a> and who died Thursday at age 95, was a man of extraordinary discipline and strength. Twenty-seven years in prison could destroy a man. It made Mandela stronger.<br /><br /><br /><br />He told us a story about being in a prison with a forest behind it. He knew when he was imprisoned how much he'd miss his family and his friends. He had not known how much he would miss nature. He kept asking to go for a walk in the forest to see a leaf, a bit of grass, anything green. But the warden refused, thinking he meant to escape.<br /><br /><br /><br />One day he saw a poisonous snake in the prison yard. The warden wanted to kill it, but Mandela argued with him. The warden lifted his baton to strike it; Mandela struggled with him, trying to save the snake. The guard was stronger than he was. Mandela fell, the snake struck at him, but he quickly moved out of the way. "All I wanted was to give the snake its freedom," Mandela told us.<br /><br /><br /><br />The ten-minute visit stretched into four hours. There was no sense of that malady pervasive in the political world that "my time is more important than yours." He knew all about the story we were doing. The idea of Peace Parks—reserves that transcend political borders, enabling animals and people to move freely across a single ecological unit—resonated with him.<br /><br /><br /><br />Mandela, after all, was about inclusiveness and connection, not division. He had helped erase the lines drawn in the geography of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-30.0,25.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=-30.0,25.0%20(South%20Africa)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="South Africa">South African</a> land and soul—that terrible canker called Apartheid. "I dream of an <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Africa">Africa</a> that is at peace with itself," he wrote in a preface to the book Peter and I did later. We all have such dreams for the world, our country, and ourselves.<br /><br /><br /><br />About three years ago, I read that Mandela had invited one of his prison guards to dinner. He'd developed a friendship with the man. That connection allowed him to maintain his "belief in the essential humanity of even those who had kept me behind bars," he wrote in his memoirs.<br /><br /><br /><br />He understood the power of forgiveness, because he was a man of generosity and grace. Of all the places I have been, no place has affected me as deeply as South Africa. Nelson Mandela—and those lessons of unshakable principle, compassion, and grace—is the reason why.<br /><br /><br /><br />Editor's note: Chris Johns is Editor in Chief of National Geographic. </div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Chris Johns<br /><br /><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/">National Geographic</a><br /><br />PUBLISHED DECEMBER 5, 2013</div><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><br /></div><br /></div><br />

Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013: A Journalist's Appreciation

Nelson Mandela , 1918-2013: A Journalist's Appreciation National Geographic Editor in Chief Chris Johns remembers the African leader. ...

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><br /><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frederik_de_Klerk_with_Nelson_Mandela_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_Davos_1992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="Frederik de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shake han..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="499" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Frederik_de_Klerk_with_Nelson_Mandela_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_Davos_1992.jpg/300px-Frederik_de_Klerk_with_Nelson_Mandela_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_Davos_1992.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="640" /></a></td></tr><br /><tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Frederik de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shake hands at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos in January 1992 Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frederik_de_Klerk_with_Nelson_Mandela_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_Davos_1992.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr><br /></tbody></table><br /><h1><br /><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/nelson_mandela" rel="rottentomatoes" target="_blank" title="Nelson Mandela">Nelson Mandela</a>’s Life and Times in Photographs</h1><br /><div class=" " id="gallery"><br /><ul class="jcarousel-skin-gallery"><br /><a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/cache/nelson-mandela-life-portrait_68392_600x450.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">             <img alt="Nelson Mandela Life -  Nelson Mandela photograph of January 2006  " height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-portrait_68392_100x75.jpg" width="100" /><img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a><br /><li class="active">               <div><br /><h2><br />A Free Man </h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Kim Ludbrook, European Pressphoto Agency</div><br /><b>Nelson  Mandela, the civil rights leader who rose from a small village in  rural, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid_in_South_Africa" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Apartheid in South Africa">apartheid-era South Africa</a> to become the country's first black  President, died on Thursday at age 95. Mandela's election in 1994 ended  three centuries of European domination of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Africa" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Indigenous peoples of Africa">indigenous African people</a> of  the region. </b><br /><br />Mandela, pictured here in 2006, had been  released from prison in 1990 after serving 27 years for his attempts to  overthrow the white minority government in the 1960s. He <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/">won the Nobel Peace Prize</a> and other honors for his leadership of the peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa.<br /><br />When  Mandela arrived at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-33.9252777778,18.4238888889&spn=0.01,0.01&q=-33.9252777778,18.4238888889%20(Cape%20Town%20City%20Hall)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Cape Town City Hall">Cape Town City Hall</a> after his release, a crowd  of 50,000 supporters had assembled to hear his first words in public in  over a quarter century. "Our struggle has reached a decisive moment," he  said, in an event broadcast around the world. "Our march to freedom is  irreversible."<br /><br />The lawyer and anti-apartheid activist had been  convicted of treason and sabotage in June 1964 and sentenced to life  imprisonment. He spent most of his sentence on <a href="http://www.robben-island.org.za/">Robben Island</a>,  off Cape Town, doing hard labor. During the 1980s he refused many  offers for early release from the government because of the conditions  attached.<br /><br />But on February 2, 1990, South African President <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._de_Klerk" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="F. W. de Klerk">F. W.  de Klerk</a> reversed the ban on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.anc.org.za/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="African National Congress">African National Congress (ANC)</a> and  other anti-apartheid organizations, announcing that Mandela would be  released. It was the beginning of the opening up of apartheid-era South  Africa, in which blacks faced severe discrimination.<br /><br />In the first  national elections in which blacks had the right to vote, the ANC won  and Mandela became President. He remained in that office until 1999.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-xhosa_68406_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br /><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Initiation">Initiation Rite</a></h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Bruno Hadjih, Anzenberger/Redux</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-xhosa_68406_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - Boys undergo initiation rituals to become men of the Xhosa tribe in South Africa." border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-xhosa_68406_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>Nelson  Mandela was born into a royal family of the Xhosa nation, one of the  largest <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_South_Africa" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Demographics of South Africa">ethnic groups in South Africa</a>. Xhosa young men, such as those in  this photograph, undergo a rite of initiation that involves isolation  from their families during which they receive instruction by elder men,  followed by circumcision, which continues to be practiced in many parts  of central and southern Africa. Initiates are thereafter considered to  be adult men. Mandela recalled his initiation in his autobiography <i>Long Walk to Freedom</i>.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-conflict_68400_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />South Africa in Flames</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Greg Marinovich, AP</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-conflict_68400_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - Many people were killed in political violence and confrontation with security forces in the final years of apartheid South Africa." border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-conflict_68400_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>In  this September 15, 1990, photo, the burning body of a man identified as  a Zulu <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.ifp.org.za/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Inkatha Freedom Party">Inkatha Freedom Party</a> supporter is clubbed by followers of the  rival <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/">African National Congress</a> during factional violence in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-26.2661111111,27.8658333333&spn=0.1,0.1&q=-26.2661111111,27.8658333333%20(Soweto)&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Soweto">Soweto, South Africa</a>.<br /><br />In  the run-up to the 1994 elections that brought Nelson Mandela to power,  many South Africans were fearful about the rising violence, particularly  between rival ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party factions. Aggression and  bombings by white supremacists hoping to spark a race war to stave off  black majority rule were also a concern.<br /><br />Mandela campaigned  indefatigably, appealing to people to throw their weapons into the sea,  and demanding that the last white President, F. W. de Klerk, get tough  on recalcitrant officers in the police and security forces.<br /><br />Against  all odds, the party of Nelson Mandela transformed a nation where just  20 years before black South Africans could not vote, and where public  amenities like buses, trains, beaches, and restaurants were segregated  racially. Following the electoral victory of the ANC, Mandela worked  hard to defuse racial tensions by including Inkatha leaders in his  Cabinet and reaching out to white right-wing leaders. Political violence  simmered down.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/cache/nelson-mandela-life-wife_68393_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Winnie Mandela</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Greg English, AP</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-wife_68393_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - Winnie Mandela raises clenched fist after appearing in Johannesburg court." border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-wife_68393_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>Winnie  Mandela, wife of Nelson Mandela, raises a clenched fist after appearing  at a Johannesburg magistrate's court in December 1986. Mrs. Mandela had  been held by police in Soweto the previous day for defying an order  banning her presence there.<br /><br />She became a political leader in her  own right during her husband's long stint in prison. But her leadership  style and some of her associates made her a controversial figure,  especially after a youth staying in her house was beaten to death in  mysterious circumstances.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/cache/nelson-mandela-life-cell_68397_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Mandela's Prison Cell</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Matt Shonfeld, Redux</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-cell_68397_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island  " border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-cell_68397_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>Nelson Mandela's former prison cell (cell 5 in B-section in the political prisoners area) on <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/916">Robben Island</a>,  off Cape Town. Conditions were spartan in the tiny cell; the bed was a  mat on the floor. For years after he was released, even when he was  President of South Africa, Mandela continued to make his own bed each  morning, as he did in prison.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.robben-island.org.za/">Robben Island prison</a>  was where the South African government incarcerated its most  high-profile political prisoners. Mail to and from the facility was  screened and censored, and only occasional visitors were allowed.  Mandela and others used communal lavatories and showers. They spent much  of their day at hard labor, including breaking rocks in a lime quarry  on the island, where the glare and dust caused damage to Mandela's eyes.<br /><br />Robben  Island's political prisoners organized themselves, negotiating for  better conditions with the authorities and establishing their own rules  of behavior among themselves. They also shared their education with one  another. While in prison, Mandela secretly wrote much of his  autobiography, which was smuggled out by released prisoners.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-released_68403_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Mandela Released</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph from AP</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-released_68403_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life -  Mandela walks free from prison, February 11, 1990  " border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-released_68403_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>With  much of the world watching on television, Nelson Mandela and wife  Winnie walk hand in hand and raise clenched fists upon his release from  Victor prison, Cape Town, on Sunday, February 11, 1990.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-rally_68402_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Mandela Abroad</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Rob Croese, AP</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-rally_68402_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - Nelson Mandela addresses crowd in Amsterdam, a stop on his international Freedom Tour after being released from prison.  " border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-rally_68402_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>Nelson  Mandela addressed a crowd of about 15,000 from the balcony of  Amsterdam's city theater on June 16, 1990. On the left, seen from the  back, is his wife Winnie. Then the deputy president of the African  National Congress, Mandela was on a 13-nation, six-week Freedom Tour to  thank international supporters of the anti-apartheid movement and appeal  to the global community to maintain their sanctions against South  Africa.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-visiting-cell_68404_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Mandela Visits His Prison Cell</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Louise Gubb, SABA/CORBIS </div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-visiting-cell_68404_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life -  Nelson Mandela returned to his prison cell on Robben Island where he was held as a political prisoner for more than two decades.  " border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-visiting-cell_68404_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>On  the fourth anniversary of his release, Nelson Mandela looks out the  window of his former cell in Robben Island Prison. He was held as a  political prisoner by the apartheid-based government from 1964 to 1990.  The cell has been preserved and has become a popular destination for  tourists.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-voting_68405_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />South Africa’s First Multiracial National Election</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Tom Stoddart, Getty Images </div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-voting_68405_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - April 27, 1994, people of all races for the first time can elect representatives to South Africa’s national and provincial legislatures.     " border="0" height="75" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-voting_68405_100x75.jpg" width="100" /></a>Lines  of people wait in the dawn light to vote in the election that resulted  in Nelson Mandela's election as President of South Africa. The three-day  voting period, April 26-29, 1994, marked the first time that adult  South Africans of all races could vote for representatives to the  national Parliament and provincial legislatures. The African National  Congress won by a landslide, and April 27, Freedom Day, is now a public  holiday.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/cache/nelson-mandela-life-inauguration_68401_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Celebrating Mandela’s Election</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by David Turnley, Corbis </div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-inauguration_68401_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life -  South Africans celebrate the election of Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress to be the new government, ending apartheid and ushering a new era of multiracial democracy.  " border="0" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/684/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-inauguration_68401_100x75.jpg" /></a>South  Africans partied through the night when the official results of the  April 1994 election were released, after Mandela and other party leaders  had spent hours behind closed doors reviewing allegations of fraud and  other issues. But there was no doubting the result: More than 60 percent  of the votes had been cast for the African National Congress, and  Nelson Mandela was the President-elect of a new democratic South Africa.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /><li>     <a class="thumb" href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/cache/nelson-mandela-life-2007_68394_600x450.jpg">             <img alt="Video Icon Overlay" class="overlay" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/common/i/presentation/video_overlay.png" style="bottom: 5px; left: 5px;" />        </a>          <div><br /><h2><br />Mandela in Retirement</h2><br /><div class="credit"><br />Photograph by Peter Dejong, AP</div><br /><a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-2007_68394_100x75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nelson Mandela Life - Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel   " border="0" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/683/overrides/nelson-mandela-life-2007_68394_100x75.jpg" /></a>In  this 2007 photo, former South African President Nelson Mandela reacts  as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, waves farewell after a meeting  at the <a href="http://www.nelsonmandela.org/">Nelson Mandela Foundation</a> building in Johannesburg.<br /><br />Mandela  continued to receive heads of state for years after he stepped down as  South Africa's first post-apartheid president. In recent years he spent  most of his time in seclusion with his family, occasionally appearing in  public for a major national event. Mandela started ailing as he entered  his nineties and was repeatedly admitted to hospital to treat a  recurring lung infection.<br /><br /><div class="publication_time"><br />Published June 24, 2013</div><br /></div><br /></li><br /></ul><br /></div><br />http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/pictures/131105-nelson-mandela-pictures-photos-south-africa-apartheid/<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><br /></div><br /></div><br />

Nelson Mandela’s Life and Times in Photographs

Frederik de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shake hands at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos in January 1992 Copyright W...