South Africa will celebrate 28-years of a democratic dispensation on 27 April 2022, which was earned through the struggle of many icons. Former late President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela made many statements about the struggle that was fought to give all South Africans equal rights that were not afforded by the apartheid regime.
Below are some of his pre and post freedom in South Africa quotes:
“Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.” (From a press statement issued by Mandela, explaining his decision to continue his political work underground, 26 June 1961)
“Too many have suffered for the love of freedom. I too cannot sell my birthright, nor am I prepared to sell the birthright of my people to be free. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.” (Extract from a letter by Mandela, rejecting the government’s offer of freedom, read on his behalf by his daughter Zindzi to a mass meeting at Jabulani Stadium, Soweto, on 10 February 1985)
“Our struggle has reached a decisive moment. We call on all our people to seize the moment so that the process towards democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. We have waited too long for our freedom. We can no longer wait. Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.” (Address on his release from prison, Cape Town, 11 February 1990)
“We are going forward. I have spoken about freedom in my entire lifetime. Your struggles, your commitment and your discipline have released me to stand before you today. The basic principles will propel us to a free, non-racial, democratic, united South Africa that we have struggled and died for.” (Address at a rally in Soweto, 13 February 1990)
“Since my release, I have become more convinced than ever that the real makers of history are the ordinary men and women of our country. Their participation in every decision about the future is the only guarantee of true democracy and freedom.” (Address at a rally in Durban, 25 February 1990)
“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country, met people, spoken to children, the aged, everyone I could touch or see. Everyone seeks peace. Everyone seeks a better life. Everyone wants to work together.” (Speech at a cultural dinner Midrand, just prior to the first democratic election, 7 April 1994)
“The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!” (Inaugural speech, Pretoria, 10 May 1994)
– SA Government
