Mandela at heart of anti-apartheid struggle, free or behind bars

From the launch of the armed struggle to secret talks with the white-minority government, Nelson Mandela was at the forefront of all the major chapters in the anti-apartheid history -- even from behind bars.

Along with Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu, Mandela was part of a triumvirate that oversaw the African National Congress's transformation from banned liberation movement to the natural party in government in Pretoria.

His passing Thursday at the age of 95, after the earlier deaths of Tambo and Sisulu, robs the ANC of the last prominent figure whose reputation stems from their role as guerrillas, rather than administrators of the "Rainbow Nation" for which they fought.

Mandela was instrumental in persuading the ANC to shift from being a mere political party towards adopting armed struggle as an instrument for change.

The creation in 1961 of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the armed wing of the ANC, constituted a major turning point for an organisation which for half a century was an apostle of non-violence.

"I, who had never been a soldier, who had never fought in battle, who had never fired a gun at an enemy, had been given the task of starting an army," Mandela wrote in his autobiography of his appointment as the overall commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

It was a position that was to land him before the courts on charges of treason in 1961. And although he was acquitted at his first treason trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 following another trial in Rivonia.

He was not to taste freedom for another 27 years later but he was still able to wield considerable influence inside his prison cells.

Mandela was branded a terrorist by the white-minority regime as well as its powerful allies the United States and Britain.

During his 18 years on Robben Island, near Cape Town, Prisoner 46664 mediated, counselled and inspired his fellow inmates.

He was kept up to date with events outside thanks to coded conversations with his then-wife, Winnie, and other regular visitors.

When a large number of prisoners arrived on the island following the June 1976 student uprising, Mandela was uplifted by the new "angry revolutionary spirit" which contrasted with the relative passivity of the 1960s.

"The spirit of mass protest that had seemed dormant during the 1960s was erupting in the 1970s," he said.

Even as the apartheid regime stepped up its levels of repression in 1980s, it put out feelers towards Mandela having identified him as a man to do business with.

"Although I did not respond to these overtures, the mere fact that they were talking rather than attacking could be seen as a prelude to genuine negotiations... The government was testing the waters," he said.

The government attempted to use Mandela as an instrument of division within the ANC, with Justice Minister Jimmy Kruger telling him: "Mandela, we can work with you, but not your colleagues. Be reasonable."

In January 1985, president P.W. Botha offered him freedom on the condition that he renounce violence but the offer was rejected.

In a speech read out by his daughter Zindzi at the Soweto stadium Mandela hammered out his loyalty to his party.

"What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people remains banned?" he demanded.

Set free on February 11, 1990, he devoted the following four years to negotiations, in an often tense atmosphere, ensured that the "South African miracle" took shape and that apartheid was buried for good in the first-ever multiracial elections of 1994 which brought him to power.