30th Anniversary of the Release of Nelson Mandela

The 11th of February 2020 will mark the 30th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster prison. To commemorate this moment, the Nelson Mandela Foundation will host three, connected events in the Western Cape. This year’s commemorations will consider the ‘new prisons of Africa’ that have come to define life for many and focus on how to achieve substantive liberation. These ‘prisons’ range from the physical prisons that have led to high levels of incarceration and the failures of restorative justice, to the effective prisons that define our lives, such as the violence that keeps people in their homes to the prisons of the mind that keep people within a particular understanding of themselves.

The commemoration events fall within a time for South Africa to reckon with its history as the president’s State of the Nation Address is days after the thirtieth anniversary. It is therefore a time for reflection and planning and the commemoration events bring the historical narrative of the country into focus as we assess that state of South Africa, where we have come from and where we are going. The thirtieth anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela is also the thirtieth anniversary of the unbanning of political parties in South Africa, the defeat of Apartheid and the beginnings of democracy in South Africa. It is, therefore, an immensely historical occasion that celebrates the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the hard-won freedoms we enjoy today.