Mandela revisits his old cell.
August 5, 1962: Nelson Mandela is arrested and imprisoned.
In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa, establishing a formal system of apartheid that would remain in place (and worsen) until nearly the end of the century. In 1950, a new act was enacted that required all South Africans to be classified under one of several racial groups, facilitating the division of the country along racial lines. Until the 1960s, Nelson Mandela was dedicated to non-violent resistance, but in 1961, he led the armed wing of the African National Congress (Umkhonto we Sizwe or MK) in guerilla attacks against government targets.
Mandela was arrested near the town of Howick on August 5, 1962 and imprisoned; he would remain in prison for over twenty-seven years, eighteen of them at the now-infamous Robben Island. Over thirty years later, he and F.W. de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.