BEFORE YOU READ - NCERT

1 BEFORE YOU READ Apartheid is a political system that separates people accordingto their race. Can you say which of the three countries namedbelow had such a political system until very recently?(i) United States of America(ii) South Africa(iii) Australia Have you heard of Nelson Mandela? Mandela, and his AfricanNational Congress, spent a lifetime fighting against had to spend thirty years in prison. Finally, democraticelections were held in South Africa in 1994, and Mandela becamethe first black President of a new this extract from his autobiography, Long Walk to freedom ,Mandela speaks about a historic occasion, the inauguration . Canyou guess what the occasion might be? Check your guess withthis news item (from the BBC) of 10 May 1994.

2 Mandela Becomes South Africa s First Black PresidentNelson Mandela has become South Africa s first BlackPresident after more than three centuries of White Mandela s African National Congress (ANC) party won252 of the 400 seats in the first democratic elections of SouthAfrica s inauguration ceremony took place in the UnionBuildings amphitheatre in Pretoria today, attended bypoliticians and dignitaries from more than 140 countriesaround the world. Never, never again will this beautiful landexperience the oppression of one by another, said NelsonMandela in his Jubilant scenes on the streets of Pretoria followed theceremony with blacks, whites and coloureds More than 100,000 South African men, womenand children of all races sang and danced with 2217 Nelson Mandela.

3 Long Walk to freedom (i)A rainbowgathering ofdifferent coloursand nations(ii)The seat of whitesupremacy(iii)Be overwhelmedwith a sense ofhistory(iv)Resilience thatdefies theimagination(v)A glimmer ofhumanity(vi)A twilightexistence A great ability (almostunimaginable) to remainunchanged by suffering (not losinghope, goodness or courage) A half-secret life, like a life lived inthe fading light between sunsetand darkness A sign of human feeling (goodness,kindness, pity, justice, etc.) A beautiful coming together ofvarious peoples, like the colours ina rainbow The centre of racial superiority Feel deeply emotional,remembering and understandingall the past events that have ledup to the momentTENTH May dawned bright and clear.

4 For the pastfew days I had been pleasantly besieged bydignitaries and world leaders who were coming topay their respects BEFORE the inauguration. Theinauguration would be the largest gathering ever ofinternational leaders on South African ceremonies took place in the lovelysandstone amphitheatre formed by the UnionBuildings in Pretoria. For decades this had beenthe seat of white supremacy, and now it was thesite of a rainbow gathering of different colours andnations for the installation of South Africa s firstdemocratic, non-racial that lovely autumn day I was accompaniedby my daughter Zenani. On the podium, Mr de Klerkwas first sworn in as second deputy president.

5 Then(to be) besieged byto be surroundedclosely byamphitheatrea building without aroof, with manyrows of seats risingin steps (typical ofancient Greece andRome)ABActivityIn Column A are some expressions you will find in the text. Makea guess and match each expression with an appropriate meaningfrom Column 2218 First FlightThabo Mbeki was sworn in as first deputy it was my turn, I pledged to obey and upholdthe Constitution and to devote myself to the well-being of the Republic and its people. To theassembled guests and the watching world, I said:Today, all of us do, by our presence confer gloryand hope to newborn liberty. Out of the experience ofan extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long,must be born a society of which all humanity willbe , who were outlaws not so long ago, have todaybeen given the rare privilege to be host to the nations ofthe world on our own soil.

6 We thank all of ourdistinguished international guests for having come totake possession with the people of our country of whatis, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, forhuman have, at last, achieved our political pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from thecontinuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering,gender and other , never, and never again shall it be that thisbeautiful land will again experience the oppression of oneby sun shall never set on so glorious a freedom reign. God bless Africa!Oral Comprehension did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any publicbuildings in India that are made of sandstone? you say how 10 May is an autumn day in South Africa?

7 Confer (a formalword)here, giveWe, who wereoutlawsbecause of its policyof apartheid, manycountries had earlierbroken off diplomaticrelations with SouthAfricaemancipationfreedom fromrestrictiondeprivationstate of not havingone's rightful benefitsdiscriminationbeing treateddifferently orunfavourably2021 2219 Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions an extraordinaryhuman disaster . What does he mean by this? What is the glorious ..human achievement he speaks of at the end? does Mandela thank the international leaders for? ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?A few moments later we all lifted our eyes inawe as a spectacular array of South African jets,helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfectformation over the Union Buildings.

8 It was not onlya display of pinpoint precision and military force,but a demonstration of the military s loyalty todemocracy, to a new government that had beenfreely and fairly elected. Only moments BEFORE , thehighest generals of the South African defence forceand police, their chests bedecked with ribbons andmedals from days gone by, saluted me and pledgedtheir loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact thatnot so many years BEFORE they would not havesaluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of Impalajets left a smoke trail of the black, red, green, blueand gold of the new South African day was symbolised for me by the playing ofour two national anthems, and the vision of whitessinging Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika and blacks singing Die Stem , the old anthem of the Republic.

9 Althoughthat day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthemthey once despised, they would soon know thewords by the day of the inauguration, I wasoverwhelmed with a sense of history. In the firstdecade of the twentieth century, a few years afterthe bitter Anglo-Boer war and BEFORE my own birth,the white-skinned peoples of South Africa patchedup their differences and erected a system of racialdomination against the dark-skinned peoples of theirown land. The structure they created formed thebasis of one of the harshest, most inhumane,societies the world has ever known. Now, in thelast decade of the twentieth century, and my owneighth decade as a man, that system had beennot unmindful ofconscious of; aware ofchevrona pattern in theshape of a Vdespisedhad a very lowopinion ofspectacular arrayan impressivedisplay (colourfuland attractive)2021 2220 First Flightwrought (oldfashioned, formalword)done, achievedprofounddeep and strong* These are some prominent names in the struggle against apartheid.

10 (For the use ofthe definite article with proper nouns, see exercise II on page 25)Yusuf DadooBram FischerChief LuthuliOliver TamboWalter SisuluRobert Sobukweoverturned forever and replaced by one thatrecognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples,regardless of the colour of their day had come about through theunimaginable sacrifices of thousands of my people,people whose suffering and courage can never becounted or repaid. I felt that day, as I have on somany other days, that I was simply the sum of allthose African patriots who had gone BEFORE me. Thatlong and noble line ended and now began againwith me. I was pained that I was not able to thankthem and that they were not able to see what theirsacrifices had policy of apartheid created a deep and lastingwound in my country and my people.