25 years ago, Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa

Even 10 may but 25 years ago, winds of change and hope were blowing in South Africa. After spending 27 years in prison for fighting the racist apartheid regime, Nelson Mandela officially became the first black president of his country.

Apartheid, which formalized the domination of the white minority, was created in 1948 by the National Party and institutionalized racial segregation practiced since the 17th century by the first Dutch colonists, then by the British. In 1990, Mandela was released and the latest racist laws were abolished. He started then a slow and violent democratic transition, where whites and blacks were killed in bloody attacks, which resulted in Mandela's victory in the first multiracial elections.

"Today, all of us, for our presence here and for our celebrations in other parts of our country and in the world, give glory and hope to the emerging freedom." It is necessary to be born from the experience of an extraordinary human disaster which lasted too long. society of which all humanity is proud ".

With these words, the newly elected President of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who had campaigned with the motto, took office. "The elected representatives of the people".

Son of a king

Mandela was the son of a king Xhosa and was educated in the "real" culture, aiming to lead his tribe. He was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, a small town of 300 inhabitants. But pbadionate boxing, who considered pugilism an "egalitarian" sport, wanted more. He enrolls at the only university that admits blacks to the law school, but quickly runs into the unfairness of the system and expelled for participating in a student strike.

He then went to Johannesburg, where he obtained his law degree in 1942. To stay, he found work as a guardian in a gold mine and witnessed the injustice and discrimination suffered by the men. Black.

Shortly after, he opened a law firm where he provides Almost free legal advice Blacks who otherwise would have had no legal representation and began their fierce fight against apartheid.

Meanwhile, an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress (ANC) came into contact with Walter Sisulu. In 1948, he founded with Oliver Tambo the youth of the party. That same year, the Unified Nationalist Party (NPU), which presented a proposal to expand and maximize racial measures, won the general election in which it was forbidden for blacks to vote.

UNP policy further limits the civil rights of black South Africans. The so-called "pbad laws" regulated the spaces in which black South Africans could live and work. In 1960, the African National Congress and the Pan-African Congress (PAC) called for protest against these impositions.

These events resulted in a bloodbath in the city of Shaperville. Police opened fire on protesters and killed 69 people. Soon after, the government banned the ANC and the PAC. The same year, Mandela was arrested for the first time.

A little after, abandoned the idea of ​​peaceful resistance for armed struggle and goes underground. In 1962, upon his return from various journeys, he was arrested for leaving the country illegally and sentenced to five years in prison.

During the next two years, Rivonia's trial took place, during which Mandela and other comrades were tried for attempting to put an end to the laws of the government and apartheid. In 1964 he was sentenced to life imprisonment..

He became the famous prisoner 466/64 from Robben Island Prison, where for 18 years he held a 2.4 x 2.1 meter cell and forced labor in a lime quarry. In the face of international pressure, the government transferred him to another prison where his conditions of detention improved.

Beginning in 1986, negotiations began to release Madiba. On February 11, 1990, it was announced to the world that Nelson Mandela, after 27 years of imprisonment, would recover his freedom, despite the protests of the far right and racism.

Mandela He came out with his fist lifted and the hand of his wife, Winnie, in an iconic image. He was 71 years old and was more determined than ever to change country.

In 1991, Mandela acclaimed the position of President of the ANC and began filling the stadiums to present his proposals. The Nobel Peace Prize he received in 1993 gave him even more weight.

The April 26, 1994 the first free lessons of the country are celebrated. No restrictions by color, clbad or gender. More than 20 million people voted for the first time and they made very long lines. After more than three centuries, the oppression of whites fell under the weight of democracy: Mandela had been elected president with almost 63% of the votes.

"This is an unforgettable opportunity for all South Africans, the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams for decades, the dreams of a South Africa that represents all South Africans, the beginning of 'a new era,' said Madiba after the first vote.

"We are finally free!", Is it exclaimed after confirmation of the election results on May 2, 1990. His victory was the victory of an entire people.

A week later, Mandela swore the post in which he stayed until 1999, when he decided to withdraw from politics. The former president died in 2013, at the age of 95, and was mourned by the whole world.

A quarter of a century after the end of apartheid, inequality and corruption persist in Mandela's "rainbow" nation. South Africa has become "one of the most unequal countries in the world", according to the World Bank.

Despite the emergence of a middle clbad, 20% of black households live in extreme poverty, compared to 2.9% of white households, according to the South African Institute for Race Relations (IRR) . Although it has never been finished to proceed with a redistribution of land, which remain in the hands of white farmers.