Nelson Mandela Walks Free
- Date
- 1990
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa)
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990, fist raised, after 27 years behind bars, an image broadcast live to a watching world. His release, ordered by President F. W.
de Klerk days after unbanning the African National Congress, signalled that the machinery of apartheid was finally being dismantled from within. Mandela, then 71, addressed a vast crowd from the balcony of Cape Town's City Hall that evening, calling for peace but reaffirming the armed struggle would continue until real change came. The moment opened four years of tense, often violent negotiation that would culminate in South Africa's first democratic elections. Coming amid the collapse of Cold War certainties, Mandela's freedom became a global symbol of reconciliation over revenge, and of the power of sustained international pressure, including sanctions and the anti-apartheid movement, to force political transformation. It transformed him from the world's most famous political prisoner into a statesman-in-waiting, and set South Africa on the road away from the white-minority rule that had defined the country for decades.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 1990
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Yugoslavia1918 CE – 1992 CE
Related politics & governance events
- US Congress Overrides Veto on Anti-Apartheid Sanctions1986
- The Rivonia Trial And Mandela's Life Sentence1964
- German reunification3 October 1990
- Dissolution of the Soviet UnionAugust–December 1991
- Fall of the Berlin Wall9 November 1989
- Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe1989 (Autumn of Nations)
Further reading
The wider story
The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence
Gripping account of Africa's nations from independence to the present.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.