NI – Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013
Reading & listening compréhension
Nelson Mandela
To get you thinking
Why is Nelson Mandela famous?
What do you know about him?
What is apartheid?
Reading
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 into a South Africa that was divided along black and white racial lines. He
said he had a wonderful childhood – but his father died when he was only 9 years old - and he loved running
and boxing. He learnt more of the terrible apartheid system when he studied to become a lawyer.
He became the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1950. The ANC wanted black South Africans
to have the same human rights as whites. In 1948, the South African government made laws to keep white
people and black people apart. The new system was called 'apartheid'.
The South African government did its best to keep Mandela from spreading his message of equality for
blacks and racial unity. In 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested again. He was accused of sabotage and
plotting to overthrow the government. In 1964, aged 46, he was given a life sentence. He stayed in prison for
27 years.
Mandela spent 18 years on Robben Island. He had to do hard labour. He was allowed one visitor every 6
months. He was later moved to another prison.
He became famous around the world as an icon of the struggle for freedom in South Africa. Rock stars,
actors, politicians and ordinary people campaigned to free him and end apartheid.
On February 11th 1990, South Africa's new President De Klerk set Nelson Mandela free. Mandela and De
Klerk agreed: no more fighting. Mandela asked all South Africans, of all races and colours, to work together in
peace.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1993.
In May 1994, Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president.
He retired as president in 1999 and, from 2004, he gave up politics, in order to enjoy a quiet life with his
family.
He died on 5th of December, 2013, aged 95.
NI – Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013
Reading & listening compréhension
12.
NI – Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013
Reading & listening compréhension
Reading Comprehension
Read the text and in small groups answer the following questions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
What were his favourite sports when he was a child?
What was the name of the political system that forced white and non-white people to live in separate areas?
When did Mandela become President?
What famous prize did he win in 1993?
What was the name of Island where he spent 18 years in prison?
What was his first job?
What happened in 1950?
When was Mandela born and when did he die?
True or false? During Apartheid, sports teams were never mixed.
How long did Mandela stay in prison?
True or false? Mandela could only have two visits every year when he was in prison.
Listening Comprehension
Click on the title Nelson Mandela. Watch the video on Mandela and answer the questions
below.
1. When was Mandela born?
2. What did his father do?
3. Why did Nelson run away from school in 1941?
4. What happened?
5. What was his first wife’s name?
6. When did the apartheid regime become strong?
7. When was Nelson Mandela arrested for the first time?
8. Who is Winnie?
9. Why was he sentenced to life imprisonment? Where did he serve his sentence?
10. When was he released and why? How old was he?
11. What happened in 1993 and 1994?
NI – Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013
Reading & listening compréhension
ANSWERS
QUESTIONS
1. What were his favourite sports when he was a child ? (running and boxing)
2. What was the name of the political system which forced white and non-white people to live in separate areas ?
3. When did Mandela become President ? (1994)
4. What famous prize did he win in 1993 ? (Nobel Peace Prize)
6. What was the name of Island where he spent 18 years in prison ? (Robben Island)
7. What was his first job ? (a lawyer)
8. What happened in 1950 ? (He became the leader of the ANC)
9. When was Mandela born and when did he die ? (1918-2013)
10. True or false ? During Apartheid, sports teams were never mixed. (True)
11. How long did Mandela stay in prison ? (27 years)
12. True or false ? Mandela could only have two visits every year when he was in prison. (True)
NI – Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013
Reading & listening compréhension
TAPESCRIPT
Against overwhelming odds, he achieved his dream of equality for all of South Africans. Nelson Mandela was born on
July 18, 1918 in a small South African village. His father, a tribal chief, gave his son the name "Rolihlahla". At the
age of 7, he began his British education, and his teacher gave him the name: Nelson.
When his father died, Nelson was sent to live with the leader of the Thembu people. He grew Nelson for leadership,
letting him sit in on council meetings sending him to the finest schools. During a break from college, Nelson ran away
to Johannesburg in order to avoid a pre-arranged marriage. It was 1941, and for the first time Nelson came face to
face with a brutal reality of a racially divided South Africa.
By entering the city as a kind of anonymous black person he gets a firsthand experience of what black life is like for
urban black South Africans at that time. He gets a kind of immediate confrontation with the white apartheid racist
state.
I think that he had two languages. He had a deep historical language from his own learning, his own tribal
background. But I also think that he had the language of the law. He had a completely contemporary language and
he brought those two together in the language of human Rights.
He began attending meetings of the African National Congress. An organization that aimed to establish a
democratic government. During this time, he married his first wife, Evelyn
The apartheid regime really begins to kind of get built up after 1948. When the national party comes into power. They
were the party of apartheid.
A year later, the ANC adopted non-violent civil disobedience as official policy. In 1952, they launched the campaign
of defiance of unjust laws and Nelson Mandela travelled to South Africa in support of that effort. The National Party
government took steps to restrict Nelson's movements, banning him from attending any gatherings and confined him
to Johannesburg.
He was made the chief volunteer of the youth leagues' national defiance campaign, and that's when the authorities
began to notice him. The government new that they had someone that they could not look away from.
He and Oliver Tambo decide to set up a law firm that would specialize in serving the black population. That will be a
kind of low priced law firm, an accessible law firm. And that would specialize in defending black clients against the
apartheid laws.
In 1956, the government arrested Nelson and 150 other activists charging them with treason. Nelson's relentless
dedication to activism took a toll on his personal life and his wife, Evelyn, As As he waited four years for his trial, he
met a beautiful, young independent minded Winne Madikizela, who would become his second wife in 1958.
In 1960, the South African government outlawed the African National Congress. Mandela went underground and
formed the Umkhonto we Sizwe, The" spirit of the nation."
Umkhonto we Sizwe was formed after Sharpeville when 67 people were killed, men, women, and children and over
180 were wounded during a peaceful demonstration. It was at that time that Mandela realizes, and I think it was a
very difficult decision for him that non-violent resistance was not enough.
NI – Nelson Mandela 1918 - 2013
Reading & listening compréhension
Since he was wanted by the government, he travelled abroad secretly gaining support for the cause. When he
returned to South Africa, he was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison.
While in prison, he was also charged with sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. Mandela stood
trial, but refused to defend himself because this would legitimize the states' case. Mandela received a life sentence to
be served in the prison on Robin Island, a desolate rock island, seven miles off the coast of Cape Town.
Instead of being forgotten in jail, Mandela became a symbol for the movement to end apartheid. During the 1980's,
several offers of release were made to Mandela on the condition that he renounces violence. He refused.
In February of 1990, the government declared the ANC legal and announced that Mandela was to be released.
Here was this man who hasn't been seen for over a quarter Century walking out into the world.
Now free at the age of 71, Mandela was named the head of the ANC.
His work to bring an end to the apartheid earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In 1994, for the first time in
more than 300 years blacks in South Africa would have the opportunity to vote for their rulers. At the age of 75,
Mandela was elected president in a landslide.
Becoming the president, I think he really, really moved the World because this was a place that most us didn't think
would ever see black Leadership. And so for him to rise to power, after being in jail for 27 years. I think it was just a
really historical moment.
Mandela proved to be a master politician knowing when to be unyielding and when to compromise.
Unfortunately, his marriage to Winnie came to end in 1996. In 1998, Mandela married his third wife on his 80th
birthday. The following year, he stepped down as president of the ANC. Nelson used his stature to help mediate the
civil war in Burundi. He continues to work with human rights organizations and for AIDS awareness.
I think that he will be known as one of the peaceful freedom fighters of our time.
Nelson Mandela continues to be a defining symbol of how one man can truly make a difference in the world.