Aran S. MacKinnon - Nelson Mandela: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works

Dr. Aran S. MacKinnon is professor of African history, and chair of the Department of History and Geography at Georgia College. He is the former director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and of Global Studies at the University of West Georgia. He earned his PhD in history from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, United Kingdom; his MA in history from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; and his BA Honors in history from Queens University, Kingston, Canada. He has studied, worked, and taught in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa and lived in Durban from 19901996. He is, moreover, the author of The Making of South Africa: Culture and Politics (second edition, 2012) as well as numerous articles on South African history in various scholarly journals; coeditor with Elaine MacKinnon of Places of Encounter, Time, Place and Connectivity in World History, volumes 1 and 2 (2012); and coauthor of An Introduction to Global Studies (2010). His primary fields of research cover the region of the old Zulu kingdom during the era of segregation in South Africa as well as work on ethnic identity and the political economy of Zululand. Most recently, he was interviewed by Jeremy Hobson of National Public Radios Here and Now show about Teaching the Lessons of Nelson Mandela.

AAC All Africa Convention

AAM Anti-Apartheid Movement

ANC African National Congress

ANCWL African National Congress Womens League

ANCYL African National Congress Youth League

COD Congress of Democrats

CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa

COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions

CPAS Communist Party of South Africa

FRELIMO Frente de Libertao de Moambique (Mozambique Liberation Front)

GNU Government of National Unity

ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers Union

IFP Inkatha Freedom Party

MDM Mass Democratic Movement

MK Umkhonto We Sizwe (Spear of the Nation)

M-Plan Mandela Plan

MUFC Mandela United Football Club

NP National Party

NRC Natives Representative Council

PAC Pan African Congress

RDP Reconstruction and Development Program

SACP South African Communist Party

SACPO South African Coloured Peoples Organization

SACTU South African Council of Trade Unions

SADF South African Defense Force

SAIC South African Indian Congress

SANNC South African National Natives Congress

TAC Treatment Action Campaign

TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission

UDF United Democratic Front

UNISA University of South Africa

This became the guiding document for the goals of the African National Congress and later was the foundation for the South African Constitution in 1996.

As adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, South Africa, June 26, 1955.

We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:

that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people;

that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality;

that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities;

that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of color, race, sex or belief;

And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together equals, countrymen and brothers adopt this Freedom Charter;

And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.

The People Shall Govern!

Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws;

All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country;

The rights of the people shall be the same, regardless of race, color or sex;

All bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government.

All National Groups Shall have Equal Rights!

There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races;

All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs;

All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride;

The preaching and practice of national, race or color discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime;

All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.

The People Shall Share in the Countrys Wealth!

The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people;

The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;

All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the wellbeing of the people;

All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.

The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work It!

Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re- divided amongst those who work it to banish famine and land hunger;

The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers;

Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land;

All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;

People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labor and farm prisons shall be abolished.

All Shall be Equal Before the Law!

No-one shall be imprisoned, deported or restricted without a fair trial; No-one shall be condemned by the order of any Government official;

The courts shall be representative of all the people;

Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance;

The police force and army shall be open to all on an equal basis and shall be the helpers and protectors of the people;

All laws which discriminate on grounds of race, color or belief shall be repealed.

All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!

The law shall guarantee to all their right to speak, to organize, to meet together, to publish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children;

The privacy of the house from police raids shall be protected by law;

All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, from province to province, and from South Africa abroad;

Pass Laws, permits and all other laws restricting these freedoms shall be abolished.

There Shall be Work and Security!

All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers;

The state shall recognize the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;

Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;

There shall be a forty-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers;

Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;

Child labor, compound labor, the tot system and contract labor shall be abolished.