On 11 February, Nelson Rolihlahla MANDELA (71) was freed unconditionally from Victor Verster Prison after 27 years and six months in custody.
Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964 under the General Law Amendment Act 1962 ('Sabotage Act') and the Suppression of Communism Act, on charges arising from his position on the High Command of Umkhonto we Sizwe. When brought to trial in October 1963 he was already serving a five-year sentence imposed in November 1962 for incitement to strike and leaving the country illegally.
Mandela was held on Robben Island until April 1982 when he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison. He was moved to a house inside Victor Verster Prison on 7 December 1988, having spent four months recovering from tuberculosis at Tygerberg Hospital and Constantiaberg Clinic.
Before his capture on 5 August 1962, Mandela played a prominent role in ANC activities for over 20 years, despite repeated harassment and repression from the regime. In December 1952 he was sentenced under the Suppression of Communism Act to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years. The same month Mandela was served with a banning order and remained banned almost continuously for the next nine years. The initial order confined him to Johannesburg and prohibited him from attending gatherings for six months but when it was renewed in 1953 an extra provision was added requiring him to resign his position in the ANC. On 5 December 1956 Mandela and 155 others were charged with treason. While charges against most were dropped, Mandela and 29 others endured a long trial before being acquitted on 29 March 1961. During the course of the trial he was detained under the State of Emergency imposed in March 1960.
At a press conference held in Cape Town on the day of his release Mandela clarified the purpose of his meetings with cabinet ministers about which there had been widespread speculation. Mandela confirmed that he had met with the Minister of Justice 'countless times' since 1986, and had had about four meetings with Gerrit Viljoen, the Minister of Constitutional Development. Mandela revealed that he had requested the meeting which took place with former State President, P W Botha in July 1989, and that De Klerk had been fully informed of it. The purpose of these meetings was to negotiate the release of 'Sisulu and others' and facilitate 'a meeting between the ANC and the government'.
