Nelson Mandela — Long Walk to Freedom — Practice

Question 1

When and where did Nelson Mandela's inauguration take place?

Accepted Answer

✦ Answer: On 10 May 1994, at the Union Buildings amphitheatre in Pretoria, South Africa.

Question 2

According to Mandela, what is South Africa's greatest wealth?

Accepted Answer

Its people — whom he calls finer and truer than the purest diamonds.

✦ Answer: its people (not its minerals).

Question 3

How does Mandela define a 'brave man'?

Accepted Answer

Not one who does not feel afraid, but one who conquers that fear.

✦ Answer: the brave man conquers his fear rather than not feeling it.

Question 4

What did the military air show at the inauguration symbolise?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Jets and helicopters of the South African defence force flew over in formation.

Step 2 — It symbolised the loyalty of the military to the new, democratic government — the very forces that had once persecuted Mandela now saluted him.

✦ Answer: the armed forces' loyalty to the new democracy.

Question 5

What are the 'twin obligations' Mandela speaks of, and why could a Black man not fulfil both under apartheid?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — The obligations are to one's family and to one's people/community/country.

Step 2 — Under apartheid, any Black man who tried to serve his people was punished, isolated and torn from his family and home — so fulfilling one duty meant failing the other.

✦ Answer: duty to family and to people; apartheid forced a choice, making both impossible.

Question 6

How did Mandela's idea of freedom change as he grew up?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — As a boy he wanted only small, transitory freedoms (to stay out, to read as he pleased).

Step 2 — As a young man he wanted basic, honourable freedoms — to earn a living, marry and have a family.

Step 3 — Then he realised it was not just his freedom but that of ALL his people that was denied — which made him a freedom fighter.

✦ Answer: from small personal freedoms → basic freedoms → the freedom of his whole people.

Question 7

'According to Mandela, the oppressor is no freer than the oppressed.' Explain this idea.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Mandela argues that no one is born hating; people must learn to hate, and so can be taught to love.

Step 2 — A man who robs another of his freedom is himself a prisoner — locked behind the bars of hatred, prejudice and narrow-mindedness.

Step 3 — Thus the oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

Step 4 — True freedom, therefore, means liberating both sides; to be free is to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

✦ Answer: hatred imprisons the oppressor too; real freedom must free both, restoring the humanity of each.

Question 8

What values can students learn from Nelson Mandela's life and words in this lesson?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Courage — the willingness to conquer fear in pursuit of a just cause.

Step 2 — Sacrifice and commitment — placing the freedom of one's people above personal comfort.

Step 3 — Forgiveness and reconciliation — refusing revenge and seeking to free even the oppressor.

Step 4 — Equality and human dignity — the belief that no one is born to hate and all deserve freedom.

✦ Answer: courage, sacrifice, forgiveness/reconciliation, and belief in equality and human dignity.

Practice — Nelson Mandela — Long Walk to Freedom

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