12 Nelson Mandela Facts!

1./ Nelson Mandela’s real first name is Rolihlahla. It means troublemaker.

2./ His schoolteacher gave him the English name of Nelson when he was younger, thought to be in honour of Lord Nelson.

3./ He was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, Umtata.

4./ He spent 27 years in jail.

5./ Mandela became the 466th prisoner at the jail on Robben Island in 1964 where he spent the next 18 years. His prisoner number was 46664.

6./ Madiba was the honorary name given by the elders of his South African clan.

7./ He was the first person in his family to go to school.

8./ While on Robben Island the visitor terms of his imprisonment allowed for One visitor a year, for 30 minutes.

9./ In 2004, Mandela famously said “Don’t call me, I’ll call you”. He was referring to his retirement from public life.

10./ What accolade does the fact that both Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu own homes on the same Soweto’s Vilakazi Street, give the road? It is the only street in the world to have housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

11./ Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. Four years later he became South Africa’s first ever black president, he served in office till 1999.

12./ Mandela lived on the run for a total of seventeen months. He disguised himself as a chauffeur to allow him to move around undetected by the authorities.