Nelson Mandela – South Africa’s First Black President

 

Nelson Mandela was the symbol of the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. After being in prison for 27 years Mandela became South Africa’s first black president. He was the leader of the African National Congress, the dominant political party. In 1993, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing Apartheid to an end.

 

 

 

Related Topics

 

Words

  • African National Congress = party to which Nelson Mandela belonged
  • Apartheid = past system in South Africa in which white and black people lived separately and only the whites had power
  • ardent = to show strong feelings about something
  • attention = becoming aware of someone
  • award = give a prize to someone
  • civil disobedience = when people refuse to follow the law and protest in a peaceful way
  • clan = large tribal family
  • committed = to work very hard for something
  • complex = complicated, difficult
  • conspiracy = secret plan made by a group of people to do something that is against the law
  • democratically elected = chosen by the people of a country
  • dignity = being respected
  • elect = when people vote for someone
  • fierce = angry, violent
  • forgive = to stop blaming somebody for having done something that was wrong
  • formally = officially
  • gain = get
  • global issues = topics that everyone in the world is interested in
  • human rights = the basic  rights that every person should have
  • incarceration = time in prison
  • incredible = unbelievable
  • liberate = to free
  • life in prison = to be locked up for your whole life
  • militant = violent
  • mission= here: task, job
  • movement = a group of people who have the same ideas and work towards the same goal
  • note = a short piece of information
  • opponent = a person who is against something
  • prison = place where the police keep you because you have done something wrong
  • public life = the work that you do and which makes you well-known
  • release = to set free
  • reputation = what people think about someone
  • retire = to stop working because you are too old
  • rid = get rid of
  • sacred = holy
  • scourge = plague; something that causes a lot of harm
  • sentence = to punish someone in court
  • spectacular = great
  • statesman = respected political leader
  • unarmed = without guns
  • warrior = soldier
  • wound = hurt