Word: mandelas
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When Nelson Mandela turned 70 last month, his visitors were surprised at how remarkably fit the black nationalist leader looked. Under the rigid discipline he has imposed on himself during the quarter-century he has been imprisoned on a life sentence for sabotage, he rose every morning before dawn for a two-hour workout. But four weeks ago, Mandela suddenly became short of breath. He had difficulty talking, then started coughing up blood. He was transferred from the medical wing of Pollsmoor Prison to Tygerberg Hospital, a major university teaching institution on the other side of Cape Town. Last week...
...world's most famous prisoner celebrated his 70th birthday last week in Pollsmoor Prison, outside Cape Town. Isolated from the other inmates, Nelson Mandela refused the government's offer of a special six-hour birthday visit from his family as a way of protesting the plight of thousands of black activists jailed in South Africa. Meanwhile, Pretoria ordered roadblocks around the prison and clamped down on tributes to Mandela, including outdoor meetings, a private tea party and a concert at the University of Cape Town, which ended with the arrival of riot police in gas masks...
...millions of his black countrymen and to millions of other people around the world, Mandela, who has been locked up for nearly 26 years, remains a potent figurehead in the struggle toward a postapartheid future in South Africa. Jailed in 1962 for leaving the country illegally and inciting unrest, the symbolic leader of the African National Congress was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for sabotage and plotting to overthrow the government. Since undergoing a prostate operation in November 1985, he has been held in Pollsmoor's hospital wing. Each year he is allowed 30 visits of 40 minutes ; apiece...
...Mandela's continued imprisonment poses a dilemma for Pretoria, which fears that his release could set off widespread black unrest. "Humanitarian considerations must always be weighed against the possibility that civil uprising, violence and terrorism could follow," said Information Minister Stoffel van der Merwe. At least one progovernment voice disagreed. Asked Beeld, the country's largest Afrikaans-language daily: "Do we really want to imprint into our history that we let an old man die in jail while there was the opportunity to negotiate with him on the aspirations of his people...
FREEDOMFEST (Fox network, June 11, 5 p.m. EDT). Whitney Houston and Harry Belafonte are among the gaggle of stars celebrating Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday in a daylong concert from London's Wembley Stadium...