Feature Timeline: Nelson Mandela

SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY TIMELINES

Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela

1800 |1910 |1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000

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Historical Context to Mandela Chronology

1809		Ngubengcuka, and ancestor of Nelson Mandela, rules.

1835		Harry Smith, military commander, crosses the Kei River with British forces and begins the subjugation of the Tembus, Pondos, Fingoes and Xhosa in the Transkei. This is but a part of 9 Xhosa wars spanning a hundred year period and which gradually deprived them of their independence and land.

1848		An English system is imposed on Xhosa chiefs. Land is divided into counties, towns and villages with English names. Mission schools are established and Xhosa children are obliged to attend to learn English language and culture.

1850		8th Xhosa war. After mutual setbacks and atrocities, the Xhosa people are driven from their mountainous refuge and ‘British Kaffraria’ (later Ciskei) is occupied. Relatively unscathed before, the Tembu people fall under British control and their chiefs are sent to Robben Island prison, which is to become notorious in Xhosa folklore.

1856		Demoralized and depowered, the Xhosa people complete their own economic destruction by heeding Nongqawuse. This young prophetess assured resurrection through the slaughter of all their cattle. Subsequently, over half of the Ciskei population dies of starvation.

1878		9th Xhosa war ends with the 2 main Xhosa tribes forced across the Kei.

1884		Ngangelizwe, grandfather of the Tembu Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, dies. It was this latter chief to whom Henry Mandela entrusted his young son, Nelson Mandela.

1894		Pondoland (northern Transkei) falls under British control.

1910		Union of SA spells increased local control of Xhosa people by white magistrates. Mandela later views this as the capture of the institution of chieftaincy “to suppress the aspirations of their own tribesmen.”

Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela - Chronology

1918	18 July	Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela is born in the small village of Mvezo. On the banks of the Mbasho River, in the district of Qunu near Umtata (Transkei's largest town), Mvezo is roughly 900 km south of Johannesburg in a beautiful but very poor area . His mother, Nonqaphi Nosekeni Fanny, is Hendry Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela's third wife of four. Neither his parents ever attended school. Mandela's father is the chief councilor to the chief of the Tembu clan. When his father, Hendry (Henry), is stripped of his chieftainship by a White magistrate because of ‘insubordination', losing most of his possessions, the family move from their ancestral kraal in Mvezo to the nearby village of Qunu.

Youth		Mandela grows up in a loving and supportive extended family of cousins and half-brothers and -sisters and stepmothers who are mothers in the proper sense of the word. Mandela's mother, and ultimately he, is converted to Methodism, though he would never develop a strong religious faith. He becomes the first member of his family to attend a mission school. His political interest starts when he listens to the tribal elders speak of self-rule prior to the arrival of White colonists in their area.

1920		Dalidyebo, father of the Tembu Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, dies at Silimela. Henry Mandela had entrusted his young son, Nelson Mandela, to the latter.

1926		Jongilizwe, brother of the Tembu Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, dies.

1927		Nearing his end as result of lung disease, Nelson Mandela's father entrusts him to his close relative, the paramount chief of the Tembu, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Mandela, wearing an old khaki shirt and khaki trousers made from an old pair of his father's, arrives with his tin trunk at the Great Place, Mqekezweni . He shares a simply furnished rondavel with Justice , who becomes like a brother to him. His guardian, the Regent Jongintaba , (also known as David Dalindyebo), is a handsome and well-dressed man who inspires in Mandela a lasting interest in clothes. He also sets an example of benign authority and leadership by consensus which Mandela followed in later years . Mandela goes to the local school there, and then on to Qolweni near Umtata. While living at Mqekezweni, the young Mandela drinks in the tales of the oldest of the chiefs who visit there, Chief Zwelibhangile Joyi (Tatu Joyi). He gains the impressions of kingship and pride in his own people which are to influence his later life. From Joyi in particular he gains understanding of the past. According to Tatu Joyi, ubuntu (spirit of fellowship and compassion, especially as associated with African society ) of the African rulers ended when the tyranny of the White people was established, and Mandela is inspired to regain it for all South Africans .

1930		Henry Mandela dies.

1934		According to Xhosa custom, Nelson Mandela undergoes the traditional initiation ceremony at 16. His circumcision school is held on the banks of the Mbashe River, where many of his ancestors went through the same ritual transition to manhood. Nelson Mandela attends Clarkebury, a Wesleyan missionary school, and at that time the biggest education centre in Tembuland. The Reverend C.C. Harris, the principal, runs the school “… with an iron hand and an abiding sense of fairness”, Mandela later remembered.

1936		After two years at Clarkebury, Mandela is sent further away to Healdtown , a bigger institution, where he immerses himself in British history and geography. He refuses to become a ‘Black Englishman' and treasures his Xhosa heritage and culture. His history teacher, Weaver Newana, adds his own oral history to the narratives about the wars Mandela has heard before. He starts long-distance running and boxing. The teaching staff is dedicated, but for the first time Mandela becomes aware that noble Christian values are sometimes contradicted by the tolerance and even support of the colonial and racist system. The missionaries believe they are saving the souls of Black people, but largely reject traditional rituals and customs as ‘superstitions'. Still, “I believe their benefits outweighed their disadvantages”, he later recalls. The Hertzog Bills remove Black South Africans from the common voters' roll.

1938		Mandela wins a prize for the best Xhosa essay. He is thrilled when the noted Xhosa poet, Krune Mqhayi, visits the college, dressed in a traditional kaross of hide and carrying two spears, to recite his dramatic poems in praise of the Xhosa. He displays leadership qualities and is appointed as prefect in his matriculation year. Mandeal graduates from Healdtown at the end of 1938.

1939		Mandela enrols at the South African Native College at Fort Hare , and resides in Wesley House The Regent buys him a three-piece suit . Kaizer Matanzima, Mandela's royal Tembu nephew, becomes his best friend and mentor, though in later years they became political opponents. Matanzima remembered, ‘The two of us were very handsome young men, and all the women wanted us'. World War 2 breaks out, but in his Jail Memoir, Mandela remembered that at the age of 22 ‘…neither war nor politics were my concern.' His immediate ambition is to be a court interpreter and he studies interpreting, law, native administration, politics and English.

1940		Mandela is elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC) at Fort Hare. After becoming embroiled in general student dissatisfaction with boarding house food and a very low SRC poll he follows his conscience and resigns. He is expelled and returns home to the Great Palace, where the Regent orders him to apologise and go back to Fort Hare, but Mandela stubbornly refuses.

1941		At age 22 Mandela rejects the bride chosen for him by the Regent. This clash brings their family relationship to a head. He and Justice secretly sell one of the Regent's cows and use the money to set out for Johannesburg without telling his guardian, Jongintaba. They find temporary accommodation on Crown Mines with a "home boy" who is an induna on the compound. Nelson Mandela is employed as a night watchman on the mine compound for a short period. He is exposed to exploitation there, but remains aloof from politics. After boasting that he has run away from home and had deceived the Regent, he and Justice are ordered to return home and are dismissed from the mine. Mandela has no wish to return and on advice of a cousin, goes to see a Black estate agent, Walter Sisulu, for a job. Mandela is impressed by Sisulu's city ways and mastery of English, while Sisulu recalled later, ‘When he came into my office, I marked him at once as a man with great qualities, who was destined to play an important part.” Because of Mandela's ambition to be a lawyer, Sisulu takes him to see Lazar Sidelsky of the firm of Witkin, Sidelsky & Eidelman, who employs him as articled clerk without charging a fee. Late in 1941 the now frail Regent visits Mandela in Johannesburg. He does not reprove him for his past disobedience and Mandela convinces his guardian that it is best for him to complete his lawyer studies in Johannesburg.

1942		Mandela stays in ˜Dark City”, the poorest section of Alexandra township, with no electricity. He later states, “ Alexandra occupies a treasured place in my heart. It was the first place I lived away from home. This broadens his perspective by exposure to Sotho-, Swazi-, Zulu-, etc. speaking people. He meets Gaur Radebe, a communist employed by Witkin, Sidelsky & Eidelman , who urges him to join the Communist Party. Nelson Mandela completes a BA degree through correspondence.

1943		Nelson Mandela enrols at the University of the Witwatersrand Law Faculty. He meets students of all races and is exposed to radical liberal and Africanist thought, as well as racism directed at him personally. He spends six years at Wits, from 1943 -1948, but, owing to the dire circumstances under which he lives and studies, has to leave without his LLB degree. Mandela meets Radebe at Walter Sisulu's house. He finds Radebe unscientific, none the less he admires his enthusiasm and vigour. Mandela joins the bus boycott organised by Gaur Radebe.

1944	April	Nelson Mandela joins the African National Congress (ANC), and at 25 is committed to ANC politics. Nelson Mandela, Anton Lembede, A P Mda, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu found the ANC Youth League at the Bantu Men's Social Centre in Johannesburg and adopt an Africanist position and militant orientation, which rejects participation in advisory boards and the Native Representative Council. Anton Lembede is elected President of the Youth League. Mandela considers the Manifesto of the Youth League as the first clear setting out of African nationalism. During these years Mandela is pulled between the magnetic poles of nationalism and communism, the first seeking freedom, the other independence. Walter and Albertina Sisulu are married, with Mandela and Evelyn as best man and bridesmaid. Their home becomes a second home to Mandela.

1944	15 July	Nelson Mandela marries Evelyn Mase, Walter Sisulu's cousin, a nurse and a 'home girl'. They set up home with Evelyn's married sister. The writer Esâkia (Es'kia) Mphalele is their neighbour.

1945		Evelyn Mandela gives birth to the couple's first child, a boy named Tembi. They are allocated a house in Orlando, No 8115. It has three rooms, but no electricity or inside toilet. Mandela's younger sister, Nomabandla (Leaby), comes to live with them and is enrolled at Orlando High School. Evelyn is the breadwinner in the family while as Mandela studies law at Wits and devotes more and more time to politics.

1947		Nelson Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe, is born, but dies after 9 months , leaving the couple heart-broken. Mandela is elected Secretary of ANC Youth League and AP Mda succeeds Anton Lembede as President after the latter's death. Oliver Tambo is elected Vice President. Mandela meets the Soweto boxing champions Jerry Moloi, Jake Ntuli and Simon Mtimkulu.

1948		Mandela meets A C Jordan, an academic much admired by Mandela's Tembu friends, and Isaac Tabata, founder of the Unity Movement, who challenges his African National Congress (ANC) membership. Mandela becomes national secretary for ANC Youth League.

1948	May	During the Peoples' Assembly “Votes for all' campaign Mandela refuses to speak to Walter Sisulu for a week after the latter supports Indian arguments for inclusivity at an Indian Congress meeting. Mandela is “stunned and dismayed” at the victory of the National Party in the election on 26 May. Mandela visits Cape Town for the first time and stays three months. He views the isolated prison of Robben Island from the vantage point of Table Mountain. Mandela fails to get LLB at University of the Witwatersrand , and leaves.

1949		After receiving news from his eldest sister that their mother is ill, Mandela arranges for her to come to Johannesburg to consult medical specialists. She gets on very well with her daughter-in-law, Evelyn, and stays on with them, becoming a great help.

1949	December	The ANC Youth League takes control of the African National Congress (ANC) during the historic ANC Conference in Bloemfontein. Dr Xuma, the President-General, is replaced by Dr J S Moroka. Walter Sisulu is elected secretary and Mandela and Oliver Tambo are elected to the executive of the ANC. The Bloemfontein Conference adopts their Programme of Action, which calls for a militant, African campaign.

1950s		In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Mandela trains at the Donaldson Orlando Community Centre. He excels at boxing and shares his love of the sport with his son, Thembekile He enjoys the cinema and becomes secretary of the multi-cultural International Club, where he meets Whites and forms some life-long friendships.

1950	March	The Johannesburg Communist Party, The African National Congress (ANC) and the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) jointly organise a ‘Defend Free Speech Convention', attracting 10 000 people to Market Square . They also propose a one-day stay-away on May Day, to protest against the banning of Communist leaders. Many ANC leaders, including Mandela, distrust the communist initiative, which overtake their own demonstration. He and other ANC Youth League members heckle communist meetings. The ANC Youth League opposes the one-day stay-away called by the Communist Party and the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) and supported by Dr J S Moroka, in protest against the banning of Dr Y Dadoo, Moses Kotane and J. B. Marks.

1950	1 May	The stay-away on 1 May 1950 is a great success and subsequently the Communist Party is banned. A turning point occurs for Mandela during the May Day stay-away when he witnesses police brutality. Across Soweto 18 Black people are killed. He hides in a nurses' dormitory overnight where he shelters from bullets.

1950	26 June	Mandela's second son, Makgatho, is born.

1951		The ANC Youth League throws in its lot with the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) and together they organise a national work stoppage on 26 June. Walter Sisulu and Yusuf Cachalia are appointed joint secretaries of the Planning Council. The response is significant in Durban and the Eastern Cape. Mandela is elected President of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) . Mandela drives to Natal in a battered VW with ANCYL colleagues Joe Matthews and Diliza Mji. Extremely formative discussions are had en route as Mandela argues for closer ties with South African Communist Party (SACP). Mandela completes his articles at Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman and starts to work for the law firm of Terblanche and Briggish.

1952	31 May	The African National Congress (ANC) executive meets in Port Elizabeth and announces a Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign., to start on 26 June.

1952	26 June	The Defiance Campaign begins. Mandela is appointed as volunteer-in-chief with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. He is arrested late at night after a meeting at the Garment Workers Hall in Johannesburg. He spends two nights in jail. Evelyn Mandela leaves for Durban to study midwifery. Mandela is elected President of the Transvaal African National Congress (ANC) to replace the banned J B Marks. Chief Albert Luthuli is elected President-General of the African National Congress (ANC).

1952	30 July	Mandela arrested on violation of the Suppression of Communism Act.

1952	August	Mandela opens his own law office, with capable Zubeida Patel as secretary.

1952	September	The trial of Mandela, J S Moroka , W Sisulu and other Defiance Campaign leaders, 21 in all, starts in a Johannesburg magistrates' court, before Justice F.L.H. Rumpff. They are charged under the Suppression of Communism Act. Moroka appoints his own separate defence and falls out of favour with the ANC, though he is later forgiven by Mandela. Justice Rumpff finds the accused guilty, but delivers a fairly lenient sentence, namely nine months' imprisonment with hard labour, suspended for two years . Mandela is again arrested, this time in violation of the Suppression of Communism Act. Another twenty Defiance Campaign leaders throughout the country are also arrested. They are all freed on bail. Riots break out in New Brighton, near Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape), resulting in eleven deaths including four Whites.

1952	18 October	Riots spread to Port Elizabeth and Kimberley and 25 Africans are killed. In East London enraged Blacks kill two Whites, including a nun.

1952	October - November	The government bans 52 persons, including Nelson Mandela, and the newly-elected president-general of the African National Congress (ANC), Chief Albert Luthuli. The Defiance Campaign comes to a halt towards the end of December 1952, after 8 577 volunteers, mostly from the Eastern Cape, had courted imprisonment.

1952	December	Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo open the first Black legal partnership in South Africa in Chancellor House, opposite the magistrates' courts in downtown Johannesburg . About these years Mandela later writes, “As an attorney, I could be rather flamboyant in court. I did not act as though I were a Black man in a White man's court, but as if everyone else - White and Black - was a guest in my court.” He also states, “In Johannesburg, I had become a man of the city. I wore smart suits, I drove a colossal Oldsmobile and I knew my way around the back alleys of the city… But in fact I remained a country boy at heart, and there was nothing that lifted my spirits as much as blue skies, the open veld and green grass” (Long Walk to Freedom, p. 142, 149).

1953	June	Mandela's first banning order expires. He throws himself into the campaign against removals from Sophiatown, and the Western Areas and is banned for the second time. The Congress of Democrats is established following a meeting addressed by Tambo and Yusuf Cachalia. A clandestine cell network and contact mechanism, the M-Plan, is devised by Mandela to deal with the impending banning of the African National Congress (ANC).

1954	April	The Transvaal Law Society petitions the Supreme Court to strike Mandela off the roll because of his involvement in the Defiance Campaign . Walter Pollock QC, head of the Johannesburg Bar Council successfully defends him, pro amico. Mandela revives the African National Congress (ANC) organisational structures and introduces the M (Mandela) Plan based on small, street cells. Makaziwe, Nelson's eldest surviving daughter, is born. The ANC, the South African Indian Congress, the Congress of Democrats, the Congress of Trade Unions and the Coloured Peoples Organisation constitute the Congress Alliance and plan to establish the Congress of the People.

1955	1 April	An indefinite school boycott, aimed against the Bantu Education Act, starts, with mixed results. Mandela tells parents and African National Congress (ANC) members that every home and community building must become a centre of learning.

1955	26 June	The Congress of the People is convened in Kliptown. 3000 delegates, including 320 Indians, 230 Coloured and 112 Whites, adopt the Freedom Charter. Evelyn Mandela gives her husband an ultimatum. He had to choose between her and the African National Congress (ANC). She is also distressed about rumours that he has relations with other women . The government intensifies its bannings, by the end of 1955 forty-eight ANC leaders are banned, including Mandela.

1955	December	Evelyn Mandela moves out of their home while Mandela is kept in prison for two weeks. He finds his home empty when he is released on bail.

1956		Pass laws are extended to include women. The Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw) is founded and women take centre stage in the resistance movement. Mandela briefly returns to the Transkei with Walter Sisulu to buy land in Umtata near his birthplace, honouring a promise to himself.

1956	13 April	Mandela writes to the Minister of Justice asking why he had been served a banning order.

1956	5 December	In the early hours of the morning, police search Mandela's house and arrest him on a charge of High Treason. Over the next 10 days, 155 leaders of all races are arrested for the same reason. Mandela and his 155 co-accused are quickly brought to trial for treason.

1958		The Congress Alliance calls for a national strike 'stayaway'. Tension erupts within the African National Congress (ANC) when an 'Africanist' faction within the Orlando branch of the organisation challenges the leadership for deviating from the 1949 'Plan of Action', handing over initiative to non-Africans and participating in the Advisory Board elections. Leaders such as Potlako Leballo, Zeph Mothopeng, Peter Raboroko and Josias Madzunya spearhead the formation of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and elect Robert Sobukwe as their leader.

1958	June	Nelson Mandela marries Nomzamo Winnifred Madikizela in Bizana.

1959	4 February	Mandela and Winnie's first child, Zenani, is born.

1959		ANC and PAC organise separate anti-pass campaigns.

1960s		Sometimes called the 10th Xhosa war, the political campaigns of the popular Black resistance in the 1960s were proof that the British conquest, upon which the White minority state was built, was not viewed as irreversible.

1960	21 March	The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) mounts its anti-pass campaign. Police at Sharpeville open fire on peaceful protesters killing sixty-nine and injuring 180. In the Western Cape, police open fire and kill two people. The PAC retaliates by calling a work stoppage that lasts for two weeks. Ninety five percent of the workforce goes on strike. PAC youth take control of the Cape Town townships of Langa and Nyanga, setting up roadblocks and distributing food. 30 000 residents of Black townships of Cape Town march on Caledon Square, led by Philip Kgosana, but the march is thwarted when Kgosana is tricked into calling it off on the promise of top level negotiators. The state calls in the military and the marines, the townships are cordoned off and the situation is brought under Nationalist control. A state of emergency is declared, thousands are arrested throughout the country and the African National Congress (ANC) and PAC are declared banned organisations. Mandela is among those imprisoned.

1961		The African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC establish religious and welfare front organisations. ANC and South African Communist Party (SACP) members set up the armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). There is a strict undertaking that life will not be endangered, only installations will be attacked. A central high command, with regional commands, is set up under the direction of Mandela. The first explosion occurs on 16 December in Durban, followed by explosions in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The president general of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a week before the first explosion. Zindziswa is born to Nelson and Winnie Mandela .

1961	26 June	While underground, Nelson Mandela writes a letter in which he states the famous words, "The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days."

1962		There are Poqo uprisings in the Cape resulting in vicious killings, particularly of Whites.

1962	January	Mandela is smuggled out of the country. He attends the Pan-African Freedom Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is hosted by Oliver Tambo, and addresses the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Mandela canvasses support in north and west African countries, meets Col. Boumedienne of Algeria, Commander in Chief of the army of National Liberation, and undergoes training in demolition and mortar firing and attends army lectures. He meets Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda and Oginga Odinga, the opposition leader in Kenya. He flies to Britain where he meets Hugh Gaitskell and Jo Grimond, Labour and Liberal Party leaders. Winnie Mandela is banned for two years. Mandela returns to South Africa, and is met at the border and driven to Johannesburg. The Congress of Democrats is banned. Mandela visits Chief Albert Luthuli on his return to Johannesburg, disguised as a chauffeur.

1962	5 August	Mandela is arrested, 17 months after going underground, near Howick after a tip-off by informers.

1962	7 November	Mandela is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for incitement to strike and leaving the country without a passport. He is held for 6months in Pretoria prison and then transferred to Robben Island .

1963	January	Police raid Lilliesleaf farm in Rivonia outside Johannesburg and arrest the nucleus of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) leadership. Albertina Sisulu and Caroline Motsoaledi are detained. Zwelakhe Sisulu, not yet sixteen is arrested for not possessing a pass.

1963	9 October	Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Rusty Bernstein, Dennis Goldberg, James Kantor, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi and Raymond Mhlaba, the Rivonia trialists, are charged with sabotage and attempting to overthrow the state violently. In the Cape members of a breakaway group from the Non-European Unity Movement. Neville Alexander, Don Davis, Marcus Solomons, Elizabeth van der Heyden, Fikile Bam, Ian Leslie van den Heyden, Lionel Davis, Dorothy Alexander, Dulcie September, Doris van der Heyden and Gordon Hendricks are brought to trial in Cape Town.

1964	April	Winnie Mandela is given permission to attend the Rivonia Trial on condition she does not dress or behave in a manner to cause "incidents".

1964	12 June	Nelson Mandela and all the other accused, except Rusty Bernstein , are found guilty of sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dennis Goldberg is held in Pretoria.

1964	August	Winnie Mandela and Albertina Sisulu are given permission to visit Robben Island , but are forbidden to travel together a they are both banned.

1964	September	Babla Saloojee dies after been thrown from the seventh floor of John Vorster Square, Johannesburg Police headquarters.

1964	October	Winnie Mandela lays a charge of assault against the police. The incident occurred while she was at the police station bringing food for ninety-day detainee Paul Joseph. Chief Albert Luthuli calls on Britain and the United States of America to apply sanctions against South Africa.

1965		Mandela is allowed his first visit. Bram Fischer goes underground.

1966		Bram Fischer is sentenced to life imprisonment for sabotage. Andimba Ja Toivo of SWAPO joins Mandela on Robben Island . Winnie Mandela makes her second visit to Robben Island. Sabata, nephew of the Tembu Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, dies. It was to the latter that Henry Mandela entrusted his young son, Nelson Mandela. Kaiser Dalunonga Matanzima, a relative of Nelson Mandela, becomes Chief Minister of the apartheid homeland of Transkei.

1967	April	Mandela, Neville Alexander, Eddie Davis and Laloo Chiba are charged under section 99(1) of the Prison Regulations for being “idle, careless and negligent at work.” The charges are later dropped.

1967	July	Chief Albert Luthuli is knocked down and killed by a train while taking his routine walk on a familiar route at Groutville.

1967	September	Mandela is allowed four visits a year. His son Makgatho makes his first visit to prison and sees his father for the first time in 4 years.

1968	September	Mandela's mother, Nonqaphi Nosekeni Mandela, dies of a heart attack. Winnie Mandela and Paramount chief Dalindyebo of Tembuland apply for Mandela to attend funeral, but permission is refused.

1968	20 December	Winnie Mandela gets permission to visit Mandela.

1969	May	Winnie Mandela is arrested with 21 others and detained for 5 months. She is interrogated and tortured. A group of British anti-apartheid activists plan to rescue Mandela from Robben Island, but the Bureau of State Security (BoSS) infiltrates the group and the plan is aborted.

1969	July	Mandela is informed of the death of his son, Tembi. Winnie Mandela and her co-accused are acquitted after 491 days in solitary confinement.

1969	October	Winnie Mandela is served with a five year banning order and placed under house arrest.

1970	November	Mandela is allowed his first visit from Winnie Mandela in two years.

1971		A gunman is found prowling in the Mandela yard

1972		Two men try to strangle Winnie Mandela in her bed. They flee when her screams attract neighbours. The Mandela house is attacked, and windows are smashed. Winnie Mandela and Peter Magubane are arrested for communicating with each other. They are prohibited from doing so in terms of their banning orders.

1973		The government offers to release Mandela to the Transkei. He refuses. Security police raid the Mandela home and this is followed by an attack by vandals who cut the telephone wires, smash, windows and doors and dump anti-government leaflets in the yard.

1974		Winnie Mandela and Peter Magubane lose their appeals and each begins their six months jail sentence for communicating with each other when prohibited from doing so. Winnie Mandela is chosen as Woman of the Year by British women.

1975		Winnie Mandela 's banning order expires and she attends a welcome meeting in Durban. She is elected to the executive of the Federation of Black Women.

1976	16 June	Soweto burns as students protest forced instruction in Afrikaans. Winnie Mandela is elected to the Black Parents Committee. Mass detentions follow. She is one of six executive members of the Federation of Black Women to be detained. She is released and banned again.

1977	19 May	Winnie Mandela is banished to Brandtfort in the Orange Free State. She is also charged with 7 counts of breaking her banning order, 4 for having visitors and 3 for attending gatherings. Black organisations including the Federation of Black Women and Black Parents Association are banned.

1977	12 September	Steve Biko dies after police beatings whilst in detention The UN Security Council imposes an arms embargo on South Africa.

1978		Winnie Mandela is sentenced to 6 months imprisonment suspended for four years for breaking the banning order. Prime Minister B J Vorster resigns after the Muldergate scandal, which involved the misappropriation of public funds. P W Botha takes over as Prime Minister.