South Africans celebrate 20th anniversary of Mandela’s release from prison
By APThursday, February 11, 2010
Mandela marks 20 years of freedom
DRAKENSTEIN, South Africa — South Africans are celebrating how far they have come since Nelson Mandela took his first steps to freedom 20 years ago.
Thousands gathered for commemorations Thursday at what was known in 1990 as Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town. A re-enactment is planned of the moment Mandela, hand-in-hand with his then-wife Winnie, walked free after 27 years in prison.
Cyril Ramaphosa, a leader in Mandela’s African National Congress, said: “We knew that his freedom meant that our freedom had also arrived.”
Just four years after Mandela’s release, South Africans held their first all-race elections, making Mandela their first black president. His ANC has reduced poverty, built houses and delivered water, electricity and schools to blacks who had been without under apartheid. But needs remain great.
