Comprehension

NELSON MANDELA'S RELEASE AND THE UNIMAGINED DREAM

1. Thirty years ago, a 72-year-old Nelson Mandela walked out of the then-Victor Verster prison, an hour's
drive away from Cape Town. He had entered prison as a young fighter and emerged as an elder
statesman, more open to negotiation, but still willing to go toe to toe when needed.
2. Clutching his hand was Mama Winnie Mandela, who, with countless others, kept the spotlight on him
during those decades in prison. Their hands, raised proudly in the air, signified a victory. But when he
stepped out, a battle won, there was still a war to be won. Ostensibly a free man, Madiba was not truly
free. He remained under the governance of a racist terror machine masquerading as a legitimate
government.
3. In stepping out that day, Madiba became more than a symbol to millions, not only in South Africa, but
globally. He represented this unimagined dream. Yet, he also became a symbol of fear. He was seen as a
violent terrorist and, even more worryingly for others, was seen as (god forbid) a communist! For many,
he represented a nightmare in which their version of freedom was being shattered. What Madiba was
able to do was to carve out a shared vision of freedom for the majority of us to hold ourselves to. It was
with a clarity of purpose and a sense of social justice that he was able to shepherd South Africa and many
of his enemies toward this vision. And he did this while operating in a constrained environment due to
structural conditions in South Africa and globally.
4. Hundreds of people were involved in this release, the planning, the logistics and the content. What
unfolded that day has become lore. From Madiba forgetting his glasses and having to wear Mum Winnie's,
detours to Saleem Mowzer's 1 house, to our favourite story of Madiba making sure that he took his daily
nap before leaving prison. Yet, more powerfully, there were more than 100 000 South Africans who stood
outside on the Grand Parade knowing that change was happening.
5. To those thousands of people, and to the millions across the country, the celebration was tied to them
being released from various forms of prisons. These prisons were not just the physical prisons where
hundreds of thousands of black South Africans were incarcerated for crimes, which included political
actions and the breaking of unjust apartheid laws. They were also the prisons created as the result of a
social system that made crime necessary.
6. Yet today, many of these prisons continue to exist. The 11th of February also marks 54 years since
residents of District Six were forcibly removed from their homes. The empty stands just a few kilometres
from the city centre are a scar across Cape Town, a physical mark. The emptiness serves as a reminder of
the pain that thousands had to endure.
7. Those removals led to new prisons on the Cape Flats where many were placed. Research has continually
linked those removals with a destruction of self and place and there is a direct link to the gang culture we
see today to those removals.
8. The gangs on the Cape Flats have those links with prisons, as for many, life inside and outside is just a
movement between prisons. The bars between literal and figurative prisons are blurred. And these
conditions have not only imprisoned those we see as gangsters and criminals but all of us. Especially in our
townships, daily life is marked by invisible bars. This is felt even more by women and queer South Africans
who bear the brunt of a patriarchal system and high levels of gender-based violence.
9. Life for many is marked by prisons that confine them to a life without access and opportunity. We have
created vicious cycles of intergenerational poverty. For example, children with nutritional deficiencies will
struggle in school and will find it almost impossible to break into the skilled labour market. They, in turn,
will remain low wage workers unable to provide for the nutritional needs of their children. And so the
cycle continues.
10. And when chances arrive, these are often single chances without redemption. A failed subject in school
can mean a lifetime of poverty and articulations of justification for that poverty. "They just couldn't cut it,"
we will say, unaware of the myriad factors that led to that moment.
11. We have a prison and social system that does not allow for exiting. Our policing, and often our social
systems, remain cruel and violent. Thousands bear the indelible mark of an ex-offender, someone with a
criminal record. We choose to focus on retribution rather than restorative justice and it is clear that our
system criminalises poverty and difference. We need to break out of these brutal systems to find freedom
and to find real democracy.
 Questions

Refer to TEXT 1 on pages (i) and (ii) of the Insert, Nelson Mandela's release and the unimagined
dream, and answer the questions below.

1.1. Refer to paragraph 1.

Suggest how 27 years in prison had tempered Nelson Mandela's approach to conflict. (2)

1.2. Refer to paragraph 2.

1.2.1. Explain what the writer implies about the government at the time in the phrase
"masquerading as a legitimate government." (2)
1.2.2. Considering the effect on the reader, why does the writer refer to Winnie Mandela as
"Mama Winnie Mandela" and Nelson Mandela as "Madiba"?
(2)
1.3. Refer to paragraph 3.
1.3.1. Mandela was able to "carve out a shared vision of freedom for the majority of us to hold
ourselves to." What difference would the use of the verb "cut" have instead of "carve" in this
context? Explain your answer. (3)
1.3.2. "He was seen as a violent terrorist and, even more worryingly for others, was seen as (god
forbid) a communist!" How does the clause "(god forbid)" in parenthesis shift the meaning
and tone in the sentence? (3)
1.4. Refer to paragraph 4.

The writer shares a number of anecdotes from the day of Nelson Mandela's release. Suggest how
this informs the reader's understanding of the writer's position. (3)

1.5. Refer to paragraphs 5 and 6.

Explain how the writer has intentionally shifted the focus between these paragraphs. Your answer
must take into account how the shift has enriched his argument. (3)

1.6. Refer to the image below. The image depicts a family abandoning their home in District Six so
that it could be demolished. The photograph was taken in 1956.

[Source: <[Link]
With reference to paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 as well as the image, argue how the forced removals of
the residents of District Six were responsible for the building of "new prisons" on the Cape Flats. (4)

1.7 Refer to paragraph 11 and the title of the article.

Critically evaluate whether the South Africa described in paragraph 11 aligns with Nelson Mandela's
'unimagined dream' referred to in the title. (3)

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