Object of the month, February 2010
Photograph of Nelson Mandela

On 11 February 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from jail following 27 years of imprisonment (he had co-ordinated sabotage campaigns against military and government targets as leader of the African National Congress(ANC)'s armed wing).

His release was broadcast live all over the world. An international campaign for his release had begun in 1980, culminating in ever-tightening economic sanctions against South Africa. This was a truly international campaign which saw the involvement of people across the globe.

Apartheid in South Africa

Nelson Mandela’s release followed a relaxation of apartheid laws, including a lifting of the ban on the ANC by South African President FW de Klerk.

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation introduced by the National Government in South Africa in 1948. A series of laws were passed in the 1950s, which restricted the rights of the majority black inhabitants of South Africa and entrenched the minority rule by the whites. The government segregated education, medical care, public facilities and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of whites. In 1994 Apartheid ended when South Africa held free democratic elections. These were won by the ANC under Nelson Mandela.