Only 20 per cent of South Africans are white, but by the middle of the twentieth century they owned almost 90 per cent of the land. In 1948 the government started apartheid, which means 'separateness'. With apartheid, African, Indian and Asian South Africans were discriminated against, while whites had many privileges. Only white South Africans could live in certain areas, have certain jobs and vote. Apartheid was very unfair, bot people who protested against it were often sent to prison or murdered.
Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July 1918, in Transkei, South Africa. When he was twenty-one he went to university to become a lawyer. He soon became involved in the struggle to make things better for black people. Later he became involved in protests against apartheid. In 1962 he was sent to prison, where he remained for twenty-seven years. He became a symbol of freedom for illions of people around the world. He continued his fight from prison until he was released at the beginning of 1990. In 1994 he became president of South Africa and began working for a better relationship between all of South Africa's different races. In 1999 Mandela gave up his jop as president to enjoy the freedom he had fought so hard for.