I’m prepared to die – Madiba
Excerpts from Nelson Mandela’s statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the Rivonia Trial:
In my youth in the Transkei I listened to the elders of my tribe telling stories of the old days.
Among the tales they related to me were those of wars fought by our ancestors in defence of the fatherland. The names of Dingane and Bambatha, Hintsa and Makana, Squngathi and Dalasile, Moshoeshoe and Sekhukhune were praised as the pride and the glory of the entire African nation.
I hoped then that life might offer me the opportunity to serve my people and make my own humble contribution to their freedom struggle.
Having said this, I must deal ... with the question of sabotage. Some of the things told to the court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love for violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the whites.
Four forms of violence are possible. There is sabotage, there is guerrilla warfare, there is terrorism and there is open revolution. We chose to adopt the first.
The whites enjoy what may well be the highest standard of living in the world, while Africans live in poverty and misery.
The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of white supremacy.
White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislation designed to preserve white supremacy entrenches this notion. Menial tasks are invariably performed by Africans.
Because of this sort of attitude, whites ... do not realise that we have emotions – that we fall in love like white people do; that we want to be with our wives and children like white people want to be with theirs; that we want to earn money to support our families properly. And what ‘house-boy’ or ‘garden-boy’ or labourer can ever hope to do this?
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together ... with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.