BEFORE

YOU

READ

Apartheid is a political system that separates people according

to their race. Can you say which of the three countries named
below had such a political system until very recently?
(i) North America
(ii) South Africa
(iii) Australia
Have you heard of Nelson Mandela? Mandela, and his African
National Congress, spent a lifetime fighting against apartheid.
Mandela had to spend thirty years in prison. Finally, democratic
elections were held in South Africa in 1994, and Mandela became
the first black President of a new nation.
In this extract from his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom,
Mandela speaks about a historic occasion, the inauguration. Can
you guess what the occasion might be? Check your guess with
this news item (from the BBC) of 10 May 1994.
Mandela Becomes South Africas First Black President
Nelson Mandela has become South Africas first Black
President after more than three centuries of white rule.
Mr Mandelas African National Congress (ANC) party won
252 of the 400 seats in the first democratic elections of South
Africas history.
The inauguration ceremony took place in the Union
Buildings amphitheatre in Pretoria today, attended by
politicians and dignitaries from more than 140 countries
around the world. Never, never again will this beautiful land
experience the oppression of one by another, said Nelson
Mandela in his address.
Jubilant scenes on the streets of Pretoria followed the
ceremony with blacks, whites and coloureds celebrating
together... More than 100,000 South African men, women
and children of all races sang and danced with joy.

Activity
In Column A are some expressions you will find in the text. Make
a guess and match each expression with an appropriate meaning
from Column B.
A

(i) A rainbow
gathering of
different colours
and nations
(ii) The seat of white
supremacy

A great ability (almost

unimaginable) to remain
unchanged by suffering (not losing
hope, goodness or courage)
A half-secret life, like a life lived in
the fading light between sunset
and darkness

(iii) Be overwhelmed
with a sense of
history
(iv) Resilience that
defies the
imagination
(v) A glimmer of
humanity
(vi) A twilight
existence

A sign of human feeling (goodness,

kindness, pity, justice, etc.)
A beautiful coming together of
various peoples, like the colours in
a rainbow
The centre of racial superiority
Feel deeply emotional,
remembering and understanding
all the past events that have led
up to the moment

(to be) besieged by

to be surrounded
closely by

amphitheatre
a building without a
roof, with many
rows of seats rising
in steps (typical of
ancient Greece and
Rome)

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

TENTH May dawned bright and clear. For the past

few days I had been pleasantly besieged by
dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to
pay their respects before the inauguration. The
inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of
international leaders on South African soil.
The ceremonies took place in the lovely
sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union
Buildings in Pretoria. For decades this had been
the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the
site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and
nations for the installation of South Africas first
democratic, non-racial government.
On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied
by my daughter Zenani. On the podium, Mr de Klerk
was first sworn in as second deputy president. Then

17

First Flight

Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as first deputy president.

When it was my turn, I pledged to obey and uphold
the Constitution and to devote myself to the wellbeing of the Republic and its people. To the
assembled guests and the watching world, I said:

18

Today, all of us do, by our presence here... confer glory

and hope to newborn liberty. Out of the experience of
an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long,
must be born a society of which all humanity will
be proud.
We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today
been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of
the world on our own soil. We thank all of our
distinguished international guests for having come to
take possession with the people of our country of what
is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for
human dignity.
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation.
We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the
continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering,
gender and other discrimination.
Never, never, and never again shall it be that this
beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one
by another.
The sun shall never set on so glorious a human
achievement.
Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!

confer (a formal
word)
here, give

We, who were

outlaws
because of its policy
of apartheid, many
countries had earlier
broken off diplomatic
relations with South
Africa
emancipation
freedom from
restriction
deprivation
state of not having
one's rightful benefits
discrimination
being treated
differently or
unfavourably

Oral Comprehension Check

1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public
buildings in India that are made of sandstone?
2. Can you say how 10 May is an autumn day in South Africa?

3. At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions an extraordinary

human disaster. What does he mean by this? What is the glorious
human achievement he speaks of at the end?
4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?
5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?

spectacular array
an impressive
display (colourful
and attractive)

not unmindful of
conscious of; aware of
chevron
a pattern in the
shape of a V

despised
had a very low
opinion of

19

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in

awe as a spectacular array of South African jets,
helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect
formation over the Union Buildings. It was not only
a display of pinpoint precision and military force,
but a demonstration of the militarys loyalty to
democracy, to a new government that had been
freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the
highest generals of the South African defence force
and police, their chests bedecked with ribbons and
medals from days gone by, saluted me and pledged
their loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that
not so many years before they would not have
saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of Impala
jets left a smoke trail of the black, red, green, blue
and gold of the new South African flag.
The day was symbolised for me by the playing of
our two national anthems, and the vision of whites
singing Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika and blacks singing
Die Stem, the old anthem of the Republic. Although
that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem
they once despised, they would soon know the
words by heart.
On the day of the inauguration, I was
overwhelmed with a sense of history. In the first
decade of the twentieth century, a few years after
the bitter Anglo-Boer war and before my own birth,
the white-skinned peoples of South Africa patched
up their differences and erected a system of racial
domination against the dark-skinned peoples of their
own land. The structure they created formed the
basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane,
societies the world has ever known. Now, in the
last decade of the twentieth century, and my own
eighth decade as a man, that system had been

First Flight

overturned forever and replaced by one that

recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples,
regardless of the colour of their skin.
That day had come about through the
unimaginable sacrifices of thousands of my people,
people whose suffering and courage can never be
counted or repaid. I felt that day, as I have on so
many other days, that I was simply the sum of all
those African patriots who had gone before me. That
long and noble line ended and now began again
with me. I was pained that I was not able to thank
them and that they were not able to see what their
sacrifices had wrought.
The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting
wound in my country and my people. All of us will
spend many years, if not generations, recovering
from that profound hurt. But the decades of
oppression and brutality had another, unintended,
effect, and that was that it produced the Oliver
Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the
Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the Robert
Sobukwes of our time* men of such extraordinary

wrought (old
fashioned, formal
word)
done, achieved
profound
deep and strong

20

Oliver Tambo

Walter Sisulu

Chief Luthuli

Yusuf Dadoo

Bram Fischer

Robert Sobukwe

* These are some prominent names in the struggle against apartheid.

(For the use of the definite article with proper nouns, see exercise II on page 25)

resilience
the ability to deal
with any kind of
hardship and recover
from its effects

21
pushed to our
limits
pushed to the last
point in our ability to
bear pain

Oral Comprehension Check

1. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed,
and why?
2. Why were two national anthems sung?
3. How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country
(i) in the first decade, and (ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century?
4. What does courage mean to Mandela?
5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?

In life, every man has twin obligations

obligations to his family, to his parents, to his wife
and children; and he has an obligation to his people,
his community, his country. In a civil and humane

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

courage, wisdom and generosity that their like may

never be known again. Perhaps it requires such
depths of oppression to create such heights of
character. My country is rich in the minerals and
gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always
known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer
and truer than the purest diamonds.
It is from these comrades in the struggle that I
learned the meaning of courage. Time and again, I
have seen men and women risk and give their lives
for an idea. I have seen men stand up to attacks
and torture without breaking, showing a strength
and resilience that defies the imagination. I learned
that courage was not the absence of fear, but the
triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does
not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
No one is born hating another person because of
the colour of his skin, or his background, or his
religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can
learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love
comes more naturally to the human heart than its
opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when
my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would
see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards,
perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to
reassure me and keep me going. Mans goodness is
a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.

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22

society, each man is able to fulfil those obligations

according to his own inclinations and abilities. But
in a country like South Africa, it was almost
impossible for a man of my birth and colour to fulfil
both of those obligations. In South Africa, a man of
colour who attempted to live as a human being was
punished and isolated. In South Africa, a man who
tried to fulfil his duty to his people was inevitably
ripped from his family and his home and was forced
to live a life apart, a twilight existence of secrecy
and rebellion. I did not in the beginning choose to
place my people above my family, but in attempting
to serve my people, I found that I was prevented
from fulfilling my obligations as a son, a brother, a
father and a husband.
I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born
free free in every way that I could know. Free to
run in the fields near my mothers hut, free to swim
in the clear stream that ran through my village, free
to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad
backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as I obeyed my
father and abided by the customs of my tribe, I was
not troubled by the laws of man or God.
It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood
freedom was an illusion, when I discovered as a
young man that my freedom had already been taken
from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a
student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the
transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night,
read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as
a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the
basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my
potential, of earning my keep, of marrying and
having a family the freedom not to be obstructed
in a lawful life.
But then I slowly saw that not only was I not
free, but my brothers and sisters were not free. I
saw that it was not just my freedom that was
curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked
like I did. That is when I joined the African National
Congress, and that is when the hunger for my own
freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom

inclinations
natural tendencies
of behaviour

inevitably
unavoidably

illusion
something that
appears to be real
but is not
transitory
not permanent

curtailed
reduced

23

prejudice
a strong dislike
without any good
reason

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

of my people. It was this desire for the freedom of

my people to live their lives with dignity and selfrespect that animated my life, that transformed a
frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a
law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that
turned a family-loving husband into a man without
a home, that forced a life-loving man to live like a
monk. I am no more virtuous or self-sacrificing
than the next man, but I found that I could not
even enjoy the poor and limited freedoms I was
allowed when I knew my people were not free.
Freedom is indivisible; the chains on anyone of
my people were the chains on all of them, the
chains on all of my people were the chains on me.
I knew that the oppressor must be liberated just
as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away
another mans freedom is a prisoner of hatred; he is
locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrowmindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away
someone elses freedom, just as surely as I am not
free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed
and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

Oral Comprehension Check

1. What twin obligations does Mandela mention?
2. What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How
does he contrast these transitory freedoms with the basic and
honourable freedoms?
3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?

1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration?
What did it signify the triumph of?
2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is simply the sum of all those
African patriots who had gone before him?

First Flight

3. Would you agree that the depths of oppression create heights of character?
How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this
argument?

24

4. How did Mandelas understanding of freedom change with age and

experience?
5. How did Mandelas hunger for freedom change his life?

I. There are nouns in the text (formation, government) which are formed from
the corresponding verbs (form, govern) by suffixing -(at)ion or ment. There
may be a change in the spelling of some verb noun pairs: such as rebel,
rebellion; constitute, constitution.
1. Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text.
Noun

Verb

rebellion

rebel

constitution

constitute

2. Read the paragraph below. Fill in the blanks with the noun forms of
the verbs in brackets.
Martin Luther Kings

(contribute) to our history as an

outstanding leader began when he came to the

(assist) of

Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a

white passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to
positions of second class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To
break these laws would mean

(subjugate) and

(humiliate) by the police and the legal system. Beatings,

(imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the System.
Martin Luther Kings tactics of protest involved non-violent
(resist) to racial injustice.
II. Using the Definite Article with Names
You know that the definite article the is not normally used before proper
nouns. Nor do proper nouns usually occur in the plural. (We do not say:
*The Nelson Mandela, or *Nelson Mandelas.) But now look at this sentence
from the text:

25

the decades of oppression and brutality produced the Oliver Tambos,

the Walter Sisulus, of our time.
Used in this way with the and/or in the plural, a proper noun carries a
special meaning. For example, what do you think the names above mean?
Choose the right answer.
(b) many other men like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu /many men of
their type or kind, whose names may not be as well known.
Did you choose option (b)? Then you have the right answer!
Here are some more examples of the used with proper names. Try to
say what these sentences mean. (You may consult a dictionary if you
wish. Look at the entry for the.)
1. Mr Singh regularly invites the Amitabh Bachchans and the Shah Rukh
Khans to his parties.
2. Many people think that Madhuri Dixit is the Madhubala of our times.
3. History is not only the story of the Alexanders, the Napoleons and the
Hitlers, but of ordinary people as well.

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

(a) for example Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu,

III. Idiomatic Expressions

Match the italicised phrases in Column A with the phrase nearest in
meaning in Column B. (Hint: First look for the sentence in the text in
which the phrase in Column A occurs.)
A
1. I was not unmindful of

the fact

B
(i) had not forgotten; was aware of the fact
(ii) was not careful about the fact
(iii) forgot or was not aware of the fact

2. when my comrades

and I were pushed to

our limits

3. to reassure me and

First Flight

keep me going

(i) pushed by the guards to the wall

(ii) took more than our share of beatings
(iii) felt that we could not endure the
suffering any longer
(i) make me go on walking
(ii) help me continue to live in hope in this
very difficult situation
(iii) make me remain without complaining

4. the basic and

honourable freedoms
ofearning my keep,

(i) earning enough money to live on

(ii) keeping what I earned
(iii) getting a good salary

26

In groups, discuss the issues suggested in the box below. Then prepare a
speech of about two minutes on the following topic. (First make notes for
your speech in writing.)
True liberty is freedom from poverty, deprivation and all forms of
discrimination.
causes of poverty and means of overcoming it
discrimination based on gender, religion, class, etc.
constitutionally guaranteed human rights

I. Looking at Contrasts
Nelson Mandelas writing is marked by balance: many sentences have two
parts in balance.

Use the following phrases to complete the sentences given below.

(i) they can be taught to love.
(ii) I was born free.
(iii) but the triumph over it.

(iv) but he who conquers that fear.

(v) to create such heights of
character.

1. It requires such depths of oppression

2. Courage was not the absence of fear
3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid
4. If people can learn to hate
5. I was not born with a hunger to be free.
II. This text repeatedly contrasts the past with the present or the future. We
can use coordinated clauses to contrast two views, for emphasis or effect.
Given below are sentences carrying one part of the contrast. Find in the text
the second part of the contrast, and complete each item. Identify the words
which signal the contrast. This has been done for you in the first item.
1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy,

27

and now ...

2. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence
force and police ... saluted me and pledged their loyalty. ... not so many
years before they would not have saluted
3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem ..., they

4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil,

5. The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military
force, but
6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people ... that transformed
into a bold one, that drove
criminal, that turned

to become a

into a man without a home.

III. Expressing Your Opinion

Do you think there is colour prejudice in our own country? Discuss this
with your friend and write a paragraph of about 100 to 150 words about

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

would soon

this. You have the option of making your paragraph a humorous one.
(Read the short verse given below.)
When you were born you were pink
When you grew up you became white
When you are in the sun you are red
When you are sick you are yellow
When you are angry you are purple
When you are shocked you are grey
And you have the cheek to call me coloured.

WHAT WE HAVE DONE

First Flight

Shared Nelson Mandelas moving description of his inauguration as South Africas first
black President, and his thoughts on freedom.

WHAT YOU CAN D O

Divide your class into three groups and give each group one of the following topics to
research: (i) black Americans, and their fight against discrimination, (ii) women, and
their fight for equality, (iii) the Vietnamese, and their fight for independence.
Choose a student from each group to present a short summary of each topic to
the class.

28

Homophones
Can you find the words below that are spelt
similarly, and sometimes even pronounced
similarly, but have very different meanings? Check
their pronunciation and meaning in a dictionary.
The bandage was wound around the wound.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the
desert.

A T
iger in the Zoo
Tiger
This poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with the tiger in its natural
habitat. The poem moves from the zoo to the jungle, and back again
to the zoo. Read the poem silently once, and say which stanzas
speak about the tiger in the zoo, and which ones speak about the
tiger in the jungle.

He stalks in his vivid stripes

The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.
He should be snarling around houses
At the jungles edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
But hes locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.
He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.

LESLIE NORRIS

snarls: makes an angry, warning sound

1. Read the poem again, and work in pairs or groups to do the following tasks.
(i) Find the words that describe the movements and actions of the tiger in
the cage and in the wild. Arrange them in two columns.
(ii) Find the words that describe the two places, and arrange them in two
columns.
Now try to share ideas about how the poet uses words and images to contrast
the two situations.

First Flight

2. Notice the use of a word repeated in lines such as these:

(i) On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
(ii) And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.

30

What do you think is the effect of this repetition?

3. Read the following two poems one about a tiger and the other about a
panther. Then discuss:
Are zoos necessary for the protection or conservation of some species of
animals? Are they useful for educating the public? Are there alternatives
to zoos?

The Tiger
The tiger behind the bars of his cage growls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage snarls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage roars.
Then he thinks.
It would be nice not to be behind bars all
The time
Because they spoil my view
I wish I were wild, not on show.
But if I were wild, hunters might shoot me,
But if I were wild, food might poison me,
But if I were wild, water might drown me.
Then he stops thinking
And...
The tiger behind the bars of his cage growls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage snarls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage roars.

PETER NIBLETT

The Panther
His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.
As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a centre
in which a mighty will stands paralysed.
Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone.

RAINER MARIA RILKE

4. Take a point of view for or against zoos, or even consider both points of view
and write a couple of paragraphs or speak about this topic for a couple of
minutes in class.

31

A Tiger in the Zoo

The Greater Cats

The greater cats with golden eyes
Stare out between the bars.
Deserts are there, and different skies,
And night with different stars.

VICTORIA SACKVILLE-WEST