A collaboration between Loughborough University, Nelson Mandela Foundation, and Tshwane University of Technology made possible through funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund in the United Kingdom.
The #MadibaDance TikTok Challenge is a movement to honour Nelson Mandela through dance. Participants are encouraged to participate in a dance on TikTok, spreading awareness about Mandela International Day.
While South Africans waited with bated breath to hear the results of the May 2024 elections, a reminder of the man who symbolises democracy in South Africa and the world has taken up space gorgeously thanks to a new fresco painting in France.
In Ville de Créteil, Nelson Mandela beams in epic proportion at a height of a whopping 44 meters. Not only is the fresco the sum of talent and breathtaking detail, it is also reportedly the largest mural of Madiba in the world as the Embassy of France in South Africa shared.
Critical Dialogue Series: Understanding Christian Zionism – Bridging Faith and Justice held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Houghton. The dialogue was aimed at fostering a reconciliation between faith and justice, by providing a space to explore Christian Zionism as we aspire to cultivate a collective recognition of our shared humanity.
A team of design researchers at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom in collaboration with Celeste Mckenzie, creative industries practitioners and heritage specialists in South Africa used graphic heritage as a lens to find out how much or how little information there is about Madiba in six locations named after him in the Gauteng Province. Through graphic heritage, the exhibition reveals as much about absence as it does about presence. It straddles the established but contested domain of heritage interpretation, presentation, and representation.
The exhibition is designed to inspire public engagement with its content and encourage visitors to contribute their thoughts, feelings, and observations to eventually shape the exhibition's public image. The case study locations are colour-coded to match the unique colours of the South African national flag.
A tribute to her father, Makaziwe Mandela shares the most definitive portrait of Nelson Mandela to date, revealing the man behind the anti-apartheid movement that changed the world.
En 1988, à la veille de l’élection présidentielle, François Mitterrand est à l’Élysée, Jacques Chirac à Matignon. Dans ce contexte de cohabitation entre la gauche et la droite, l’assassinat de Dulcie September, 52 ans, est hautement symbolique. La représentante de l’ANC en France est abattue deux ans avant la libération de Nelson Mandela et six ans avant l’élection de ce dernier à la présidence sud-africaine, le 9 mai 1994. Dulcie September a-t-elle été éliminée dans le cadre d’une action d’' escadrons de la mort ' sud-africains alors actifs en Europe, ou bien a-t-elle été spécifiquement ciblée parce qu’elle en savait trop sur le contournement de l’embargo dans le domaine de l’armement et du nucléaire ? Derrière l’assassinat de Dulcie September se dessine un véritable polar géopolitique...
The Nelson Mandela Foundation honoured the 10th anniversary of Madiba’s passing on 5 December with the 21st instalment of the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai as the speaker. The lecture, held at the Joburg Theatre, attracted a diverse audience of local and international dignitaries, who warmly received Yousafzai's thought-provoking address. The full transcript of Malala's speech can be found here: https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/full-transcript-21st-nelson-mandela-annual-lecture
This insider’s account of an extraordinary period of national political transition is also a primer on a new radical philosophy, the street–smart Marxism that developed in South Africa’s sprawling townships between 1985 and 1995 and rendered them ungovernable for the apartheid state. Mzwanele Mayekiso, a young leader of the “civics”—as South Africa’s popular community organizations are called—spent almost three years in prison as a result of the civics’ militant organizing. Here, he interlaces his personal story with caustic assessments of apartheid’s hand–picked township leaders, with rebuttals of armchair academics, and with impassioned but self–critical analyses of the civics’ struggles and tactics. He ends with a vision of an international urban social movement that, he argues, must be a crucial component of any emancipatory project.
Photographs of the 21st Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture delivered by Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, the post-lecture donor dinner, a dialogue programme held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation "Conversation Convening with Malala", Malala’s tour of the Apartheid Museum, and her visit to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.
Malala's visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation and receives a tour of the Archive, temporary and permanent exhibitions including Nelson Mandela's post-presidential office. She took a group photo with the staff of the Foundation outside next to Madiba's statue.
Malala visits the Apartheid Museum and receives a guided tour of the exhibitions. The Apartheid Museum is a museum illustrating apartheid and the 20th-century history of South Africa.
The primary objective of Nelson Mandela Elementary School is to instill leadership qualities in young minds, fostering compassion through a multicultural and inclusive education while paying homage to the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
President Cyril Ramaphosa unveils the statues in Mthatha and Qunu as part of Nelson Mandela Day celebrations. The two monuments serve as a tribute to Madiba’s enduring impact on South Africa and the world and commemorate the 67 years he dedicated to the fight against apartheid.
The International Conference on Audio-Visual Archiving and Preservation - Africa held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg. The theme was: “Focus On Saving And Preserving Africa’s Audio-Visual Heritage”.
A song titled "Madiba" written by Matthieu Saglio; extract from the Nelson Mandela Rivonia Trial (20 April 1964), courtesy of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa.
Shamilla Chettiar’s visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, receives a guided tour of the Life and Times of Nelson Mandela exhibition, Madiba's post presidential office and the archive.
Making Reading Fun is an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Archive and Research department, which aims to make reading a much more fun activity for the future leaders of our country. The initiative targets different age groups each time, with this month’s reading aimed at our youth between 6 and 12 years of age.
Making Reading Fun was launched on 15 April 2023 to encourage reading and literacy among South Africa’s children, and to impart knowledge of Mandela’s extraordinary life story, and his values, which are celebrated worldwide.
Nelson Mandela continues to be memorialised in different ways all over the world. For this reason, the workshop shared new insights from the Memorialising Mandela in the Metropolis project at Loughborough University that explores the relationship between toponymy, graphic images, cultural heritage, and place making, in locations named after Madiba. Perspectives from academia, Nelson Mandela Foundation, creative industries, and delegate participation, were synthesised in the context of research undertaken in South Africa, Brazil, and United Kingdom. The workshop ended with a session on knowledge exchange and research opportunities for future collaboration.
Tenjiwe Christina Kaba née Nyushu donates her old dompas to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Ma Christina’s dompas depicts the various regions she was allowed to reside in and has a section where her permanent or home address is listed. It is signed by the Chief/Headman.
Throughout her legal career—spanning nearly five decades—Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been an unwavering force for progress and a leading voice for equality and justice. With a disarming honesty, Ginsburg discusses everything from gender equality and fitness to literature and the importance of hard work. The inimitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an associate justice of the US Supreme Court, embodies the power of persistence and integrity. Here, she reflects on her many years of service to the law, as well as her family life and struggle with cancer.
This volume critically examines sources of evidence and material from the archive that historically have been used to tell southern Africa’s pre-colonial story.
Budapest establishes a memorial park in honour of Nelson Mandela on the northern slope of Gellért Hill, the Mayor’s Office. Nelson Mandela Park, occupying 5,000sqm of lawns and a wooded area, will be the city’s first permanent landscaped artwork. The 9.4 million forint (EUR 24,000) park will be inaugurated on July 18, International Mandela Day.
South Africa was born in war, has been cursed by crises and ruptures, and today stands on a precipice once again. This book explores the country's tumultuous journey from the Second Anglo-Boer War to 2021. Drawing on diaries, letters, oral testimony and diplomatic reports, Thula Simpson follows the South African people through the battles, elections, repression, resistance, strikes, insurrections, massacres, crashes and epidemics that have shaped the nation.
Tracking South Africa's path from colony to Union and from apartheid to democracy, Simpson documents the influence of key figures including Jan Smuts, Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, P.W. Botha, Thabo Mbeki and Cyril Ramaphosa. He offers detailed accounts of watershed events like the 1922 Rand Revolt, the Defiance Campaign, Sharpeville, the Soweto uprising and the Marikana massacre. He sheds light on the roles of Gandhi, Churchill, Castro and Thatcher, and explores the impact of the World Wars, the armed struggle and the Border War. Simpson's history charts the post-apartheid transition and the phases of ANC rule, from Rainbow Nation to transformation; state capture to 'New Dawn'. Along the way, it reveals the divisions and solidarities of sport; the nation's economic travails; and painful pandemics, from the Spanish flu to AIDS and Covid-19.
In his annual presidential address on 8 January 1986, ANC president Oliver Tambo called on South Africans to make apartheid ungovernable through armed action and militant struggle. But unknown to the world, on that very day, the quiet-spoken mathematics teacher and aspirant priest turned reluctant revolutionary had also set up a secret think tank in Lusaka, which he named the Constitution Committee, giving it an ‘ad hoc unique exercise’ that had ‘no precedent in the history of the movement’.
Knowing that all wars end at a negotiating table, and judging the balance of forces to be moving in favour of the liberation movement, Tambo wanted the
ANC to hold the initiative after the fall of apartheid. Assisted by Pallo Jordan, he instructed his new think tank to formulate the principles and draft the outlines of a constitution that could unite South Africa when the time came to talk in the fledgling days of freedom and democracy. The seven-member team, including Albie Sachs, Kader Asmal and Zola Skweyiya, started deliberating and reporting to Tambo. In correspondence, they typically addressed him as ‘Dear Comrade President’.
Drawing on the personal archives of participants, Dear Comrade President explains how the purposeful first steps were taken in the making of South Africa’s Constitution. Why and how did this process happen? What were the first written words? When and where were they put on paper? By whom? What values did they espouse? And how did the committee’s work fit into the broader struggle? This book answers these questions in new, paradigm-shifting ways.
I Know This to Be True: Jacinda Ardern is an interview with politician, feminist, and champion for social equality Jacinda Ardern. As the fortieth prime minister of New Zealand, Ardern epitomizes the modern leader. This landmark interview series offers encouragement and guidance to graduates, future leaders, and anyone hoping to make a positive impact on the world.
A Life In Ten Pictures is a major six-part series called that celebrates the life and legacy of six internationally-renowned figures – each of whom helped define the era they lived in and whose stories continue to resonate with audiences today. Each of the six films featured one extraordinary individual and brought their story to life through 10 compelling photographs.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation and Joburg City Parks & Zoo have collaborated to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the passing of Madiba. Over the years, the Foundation has marked the event through dialogue on critical social issues. This year the celebration was marked by a special Nelson Mandela Day convening, opening a park in the Riverlea community. The park will stand in honour of Madiba's legacy, and the values that he espoused. It will be the tangible site for our One Million Tree Campaign, which aims to promote environmental justice, and food security and mitigate the impact of climate change.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation in partnership with Johannesburg City Parks, Zoo, Old Mutual, Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Forest, Fisheries and the Environment, Green Development Foundation, Meals on Wheels Community Services South Africa, as well as Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa commemorated the 9th anniversary of struggle icon Nelson Mandela’s passing by officially opening the Jukskei Park in Riverlea, in Johannesburg. The park will also be the symbolic home for the foundation’s ‘One Million Tree Campaign’, which aims to promote environmental justice and food security, while mitigating the impact of climate change.
The Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, delivered the 20th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in eThekwini on 12 November 2022, in solidarity with the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, who have suffered from flooding linked to climate change.
The Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, delivered the 20th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, in eThekwini on 12 November 2022, in solidarity with the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. She addressed the theme: Social Bonding and Decolonisation in the Context of the Climate Crisis: Perspectives from the Global South.
The 20th Nelson Mandela post lecture dinner held at Nelson Mandela cruise terminal in Durban. The Ocean Terminal is the primary facility serving cruise ships on the eastern seaboard of Southern Africa.
Nelson Mandela's first statue in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia unveiled on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Mandela: The Lost Tapes, an inspiring story featuring rare, unheard audio of 20th-century icon Nelson Mandela. The documentary reveals never-before-heard audio from Stengel’s interviews with the Nobel Prize winner, freedom fighter, and former South African president. Hours of rare recordings detail the turning points of Mandela’s life, key moments that shaped a revolution and the man who was to bring freedom to his nation. In this Audible Original, Stengel relives his intimate chats with Mandela, attempting to answer the questions ‘What made Nelson Mandela who he is?’ and ‘How can the rest of us be more like him?’ In Stengel’s own words: “It’s partly the story about how Mandela and I wrote his memoir, Long Walk to Freedom. But much more than that, it’s a story about our unusual friendship, my struggle to learn who Mandela really was, and my quest to understand what makes a human being great.” Mandela: The Lost Tapes provides an intimate look at who Nelson Mandela was beyond his carefully curated public persona. Through Mandela’s own words, he reveals his extraordinary journey to becoming one of the greatest leaders in modern history.
Ride4Hope embarked on their annual bike ride, covering over 500 kilometres starting in Soweto, Johannesburg and making its way through the Free State, Drakensberg and finishing at the Nelson Mandela Capture Site in KwaZulu-Natal. The 2022 edition had over 70 cyclists from all walks of life joining hands to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, as well as schools and charitable causes along the route.
An original, well researched and illustrated book, which sheds new light on the influence which Mahatma Gandhi may have had on Nelson Mandela – entitled Gandhi and Mandela: Born in the R.S.A. Based on some thirty years of research, Haswell puts forward three propositions:
Firstly, that both Gandhi and Mandela, suit-wearing attorneys, were transformed and reborn as political leaders, by life changing experiences in the city of Pietermaritzburg – hence the title Born in the R.S.A.; Secondly, that as a youthful leader Mandela certainly adopted the nonviolent campaign strategies developed by Gandhi; and, Thirdly, that in the treason trials which Mandela had to endure, his courtroom demeanour, legal tactics, and even phrases such as “ if needs be I am prepared to die”, so closely resemble those used by Gandhi, in South African courts, some fifty years earlier, that the author contends that Mandela can be considered to be a legal disciple of Gandhi.
Opening of the incredible exhibition of 8 artworks to celebrate and honour South African women dedicated to establishing democracy in South Africa. The exhibition refers to how women’s stories may be forgotten and then remembered; may be lost and then found. Yet, whether forgotten or lost for a time, they are always with us, waiting to be resurfaced, bringing with them their gentle wisdom and truth.
Miss Universe 2022, Harnaaz Sandhu visits the Nelson Mandela Foundation, receives a guided tour of the temporary and permanent exhibitions, including the vault. Few photos taken in the auditorium.
Sizwile School for Deaf Children visits the Nelson Mandela Foundation and receive a guided tour to Nelson Mandela’s post presidential office and Nelson Mandela Foundation permanent exhibition.
Visit by West Papua to the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF), receives a guided tour of the Life and Times of Nelson Mandela exhibition, his post presidential office and the archive.
Chris Eeubank visits the Nelson Mandela Foundation and receive a guided tour to Nelson Mandela’s post presidential office, Nelson Mandela Foundation's archive and permanent exhibition.
Nelson Mandela Statue unveiled in Nambule in front of the Mandela National Stadium, Uganda. People across Africa are embracing the chance to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s life in the month of July. In Uganda, a statue of the African icon was unveiled. The statue is a half figure of the African icon wearing his famous Madiba shirt. South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr. Naledi Pandor was in Uganda for the unveiling.
South Africa and Uganda have strong ties dating back to the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. Uganda hosted and trained South African anti-apartheid activists and freedom fighters in the late 1980s. Minister Pandor described the statue as a fitting tribute to the strong relationship between the two countries.
Donor recognition event and unveiling of the donor wall 2022. Donors were awarded certificates of acknowledgement for their support towards the work of the NMF
On the 23rd of June, the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory hosted a handover ceremony in which Lourens and Lorato Labuschagne donated their Apartheid South African flag to the Nelson Mandela Foundation archives in exchange for the new South African flag. The ceremony was followed by an insightful and moving panel discussion with the Labuschagnes, Candice Mama, author of Forgiveness Redefined: A Young Woman’s Journey Towards Forgiving the Apartheid Assassin who Brutally Murdered Her Father and Gaongalelwe Tiro, author of Parcel of Death: The Biography of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro, facilitated by the Foundation’s Verne Harris.
Lourens and Lorato Labuschagne visits the Nelson Mandela Foundation. They were given a guided tour of Nelson Mandela's post presidential office, Nelson Mandela Life and Times Exhibition and the Archive.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, Ride4Hope, Hulamin, Boxer Team members distributed food parcels at Khazimula childrens home to Howick community members.
Raimundo Robredo Rubio visits the Nelson Mandela Foundation and receives a guided tour of the temporary and permanent exhibitions including Nelson Mandela's post presidential office, and the archive.
Nelson Mandela Day launch 2022. The Nelson Mandela Foundation framed Nelson Mandela Day 2022 around its food and nutrition programme, under the theme “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.
