NCERT Book Class 10 English (First Flight) Chapter 2 Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom; A Tiger in the Zoo

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) United States of 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 Africa’s First Black President

Nelson Mandela has become South Africa’s first Black
President after more than three centuries of White rule.
Mr Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) party won
252 of the 400 seats in the first democratic elections of South
Africa’s 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.