Stéphane Bern, edited by Alexis Patri 2:57 p.m., December 24, 2021

With his arm raised to the sky, his fist clenched, he is one of the most famous raised fists of the 20th century, that of a man who was one of its last great heroes.

From South African jails to the presidency of the apartheid country, Stéphane Bern tells in "Historically yours" the life of Nelson Mandela.

At around 4 p.m. on February 11, 1990, dozens of journalists, mostly white, and hundreds of South Africans, mostly black, wait feverishly in front of Victor Verster's prison, 60 kilometers north of Cape Town, in South Africa.

“It's for today!” We can hear in the impatient crowd.

After 27 years of imprisonment, he should finally be released.

"He" is Nelson Mandela.

And finally it appears. 

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"The march towards justice and freedom is irreversible"

Tall, elegant in his gray suit, he walks slowly from the top of his 71 years, firmly holding the hand of the one who has supported him since their marriage in 1958: his wife Winnie. She was the first to raise her fist to greet the crowd. It is he who, a few seconds later, imitates him in turn. Nelson Mandela raises one arm, then both, fingers clasping valiantly in the palm of victory. The fist raised to the sky, the head raised in front of its former executioners, the feet determined to open the way to a new South African era: that of freedom.

But this crazy day, after 27 years of incarceration, is far from over.

Arrived at the Town Hall of Cape Town where thousands of sympathizers await him, euphoric, Nelson Mandela is slow to speak.

What will be his first words as a free man?

Once again, his fist raised, he walks towards the microphone and speaks: "The march towards justice and freedom is irreversible. I have spoken a lot about freedom during my life. Your struggle, your dedication and your discipline allowed me to stand in front of you today, "he shouts to the crowd.

From Rolihlahla Mandela to Nelson Mandela

This dedication to serving South Africans has lived in Nelson Mandela since his childhood. He was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, a small village in Transkei, a province in the south of the country. His parents give him the name of Rolihlahla Mandela which means, it cannot be invented, the "tree shaker" or the "troublemaker". His father, the village chief, refused one day to submit to the colonial representatives. He then loses his job, his cattle, a large part of his land and has to send his wife and children to Qunu, a very modest village.

The family then lived in simple huts made of dried mud bricks.

Mandela's only habit is a red blanket, he eats porridge of wheat, beans and milk.

Her main occupation is herding sheep and cows and fighting with other children.

His father, who wants to see his eldest son accomplish great designs, sends him to school.

This is where the mistress, as tradition dictates, gives her the English name of Nelson.

A name that will never leave him again.

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When his father died, little Nelson was sent to live in the royal residence of the Thembu tribe, a day's walk away.

There, he listens in dismay during vigils around the fire how the Dutch and the English pillaged and colonized his country.

Over the years, Mandela quickly understands that in order to one day hope to live freely, he will have to show extreme pugnacity.

Nelson Mandela fully adheres to Gandhi's nonviolent resistance, which he admires.

So, after studying law, he became the first black lawyer admitted to the Johannesburg bar.

Together with his partner Oliver Tambo, they stand up for all those who are victims of discrimination.

Apartheid, racism rules

Because since 1948, racism is no longer hidden, it is written into the law. The national party sets up apartheid. This segregationist policy starts from the postulate that whites (10% of the country's population) and non-whites (therefore blacks, mestizos and Asians) must not mix. Thus, non-whites do not have the right to live where they wish: they are grouped together in poor neighborhoods, the "townships", on the outskirts of towns.

They cannot move around freely, must wear a "pass" at all times.

Their children are prohibited from attending the same schools as those of white-skinned children.

For Nelson Mandela, the situation is unbearable.

He very quickly joined the ANC: a political party that wanted to eradicate this racial segregation.

He organizes civil disobedience campaigns where thousands of demonstrators destroy their passes.

He urges the militants to get into wagons reserved for whites, to come out outside the curfew.

End of non-violence and imprisonment

But in 1960 in Sharpeville, the police response was bloody: 180 injured and nearly 69 dead.

Among them, 29 children.

For Nelson Mandela, this is too much.

We must now switch to a more muscular resistance method.

A few months later, Nelson Mandela was appointed commander of the "Lance of the Nation", an army of rebels who blew up water pipes or power stations, activists who placed explosives under police cars.

Mandela, who was previously jailed for the first time for his ties to the ANC, is now living in hiding, playing a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities.

He finally fell into a police ambush in 1962. Arrested, Mandela, like 19 of his comrades, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

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It was under number 46-664 that he entered the Robben Island prison in the winter of 1964, in a cell measuring 2.50m² by 2.70m².

So small that he can barely lie down to sleep, while a light bulb lights up the room day and night, without stopping.

Every day, Mandela receives spitting and insults from the guards.

He who submits to forced labor in a quarry in the region where he spends his days breaking stones under a blazing sun.

He is only allowed to write one 500-word letter every six months. He is even refused to attend the funeral of his mother and then of his son. But Mandela, instead of crumbling, resists like no one would have imagined. He clenched his teeth and his fist. For 27 years, transferred from prison twice to end up in Victor Verster, he continues to train in law, he also writes his autobiography. It is he who negotiates with Frédérik de Klerk. Successful bet. On February 2, 1990, the South African President announced to Parliament the lifting of the ANC's ban and the release of all prisoners.

On May 10, 1994, Mandela was officially elected President of the Republic, becoming the first black man to hold this office.

"South Africa is a country where many different races live. There is a place for each of them," said the man who received the Nobel Peace Prize a few months before his election, a man , a hero who has come "a long way to freedom", and that of his people first.