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Remedy of Apartheid Use by Nelson Mandela

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Apartheid, which the Afrikaans termed “apartness, " was considered a legislation system

that fostered segregationist policies against non-white citizens in South Africa. A white

government enforced existing policies toward racial segregation immediately after the National

Party got into power in South Africa in 1948. In the same period, Mandela had signed in for Wits

University law classes, marking him as the first Black law student to join African National

Congress. At this time, the Black South Africans forcefully lived in all-Black regions, restricted

from engaging in interracial relationships, removed from voter rolls, and disenfranchised. Below

are details of some of the remedies implemented by Nelson Mandela to combat apartheid that

reigned in South Africa during the period and some of the leadership and management skills that

could be learned through them.

To start with, with the help of his colleagues from the African National Congress (ANC),

Nelson Mandela used nonviolent strategies like peaceful demonstrations and strikes to protest

against apartheid. As the founder of the Defiance Campaign, which urged Black volunteers to

break the law deliberately, Mandela contributed to the escalation of the fight in 1952 (Vinson &

Carton, 2018). Mandela was one of more than 8,000 individuals imprisoned for breaking

curfews, refusing to carry identity cards, and other minor offenses. Defiance Campaign

mechanism magnified the ANC about apartheid to Mandela and other Black South Africans who

felt marginalized in South Africa during the period. Mandela and the rest of the Blacks pursued

their rights. He achieved this by leading rallies against the government even after completing his

sentence, where he and 155 other Black people were convicted of treason. Due to this, Nelson

spent 17 months living in hiding before being acquitted in 1961. With this scenario, Mandela

conveyed the benefits that could befall a leadership system that implements a transformational
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leadership style. Mandela was an influential leader who elevated the consciousness of the Black

South Africans by appealing to their higher values and encouraging them to be educated.

With time, Mandela concluded that military resistance could have been the best strategy

for overcoming apartheid. He briefly left the nation in 1962 to obtain military training and garner

support for the cause, but soon after his return, he was detained and found guilty of illegally

leaving the country. Police later discovered documents about Mandela's guerrilla warfare

strategy when imprisoned. They accused him of sabotage along with his accomplices (Graham &

Fevre, 2021). Nonetheless, this was not news as Mandela and supporters in the Rivonia Trial

were fully aware that they would be convicted and supposedly executed (Landau, 2019). In this

way, they shifted their show trials into a legal statement that publicized their motive of shunning

apartheid which oppressed Blacks for existing in South Africa. In his speech, Mandela

acknowledged the lack of human dignity, thus portraying empowering leaders' effect on their

teams. In his speeches, he organized resistance to discriminatory legislation and loyally fought

for the rights of his followers, the Black South Africans.

In conclusion, efforts channeled by Nelson Mandela to marginalize apartheid in South

Africa are appraisable. Mandela strategized measures that some put his life at stake to ensure that

the Blacks in South Africa get the chance to be equally considered just as the Whites. This is

evident by his moves to join alliances with African National Congress members to magnify

protests, demonstrations and strikes he organized against apartheid. The context of apartheid is

depicted as big as it also drives Mandela into seeking help from the military. These aspects

jointly outlay the impact that translational leaders who empower their teams have in a societal

setting.
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References

Graham, M., & Fevre, C. (2021). ‘Mandela’s out so apartheid has finished’: the British Anti-

Apartheid Movement and South Africa’s transition to majority rule, 1990-

1994. Contemporary British History, 1-32.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13619462.2021.1976154

Landau, P. S. (2019). The M-Plan: Mandela’s Struggle to Reorient the African National

Congress. Journal of Southern African Studies, 45(6), 1073-1091.

https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2020.1700663

Vinson, R. T., & Carton, B. (2018). Albert Luthuli's private struggle: how an icon of peace came

to accept sabotage in South Africa. The Journal of African History, 59(1), 69-96.