11 February 1994; Robben Island, South Africa. It’s been exactly four years since the release of arguably the world’s most famous freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela, after 27 years in prison. The South African Apartheid government led by F W De Klerk has come to a tenuous agreement with recently-legalised opposition parties on general elections that would enfranchise around 80% of the country’s Black population for the first time. Yet simultaneously these 4 years have been the bloodiest period in the country’s history, seeing 15k deaths attributed to political violence. Respective massacres in Boipatong (17 June 1992) and Bisho (7 September 1992) alongside the assassination of Chris Hani (10 April 1993) and far-right bombing campaigns characterised these years, and depicted the knife’s edge upon which the country sat whilst freedom was negotiated.

It is within that context that Nelson Mandela returned to Robben Island for a third time with the world’s press, tempering the violence and grief of the nation with a tangible reminder of his and the ANC’s commitment to the people. One of ITN’s more introspective dives into Mandela’s personal life, these rushes include pointed anecdotes on his relationship with his mother and Winnie, mourning for his time lost as a father, and tales of how he and fellow inmates found joy and perseverance through years of imprisonment - with an exclusive invite into Mandela’s former cell granted to ITN. Three months later he would lead the ANC to historic victory, ending political Apartheid as the country’s first Black leader, further solidifying his place as a titan of 20th century struggles against colonialism, racism, and injustice. A legacy that would persist after Nelson Mandela's death on 5 December 2013, ten years ago today.

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