During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Getting on well with Pollsmoor's commanding officer Brigadier Munro Mandela was permitted to create a roof garden also reading voraciously and corresponding widely now permitted 52 letters a year. On 13 April 1992 Mandela publicly announced he was separating from Winnie moving to Houghton a white Johannesburg suburb while the ANC forced her to step down from the national executive. Mandela appeared at many; though a poor public speaker he was a popular figure with great status among black South Africans.

W. He is held in deep respect within South Africa as the "Father of the Nation" where he is often known under his Xhosa clan name of Madiba. Internationally Mandela was the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.