Original subtitles

The African National Congress needs educated people. Where do I sign up?

The movement is what is going to help our children.

The children that you never see.

Tell me, one day you will be father and son united in this struggle.

Arrest the leaders, all of them. We have a warrant for your arrest.

Shut your mouth, Gaffer.

You're in my yard.

We will get out of this, my friends. This is not how our struggle ends.

I have been asked many times how I was able to keep going in spite of

all of the difficulties of my life.

Passion, love, I found it again.

In the midst of my despair, she was there.

A wife who came to understand my greatest love was my people, our

She shared that with me, our fight for liberation.

But it seemed a fight that was going nowhere.

After four years, my comrades and I were still on trial for treason.

My life had become grim routine.

I was not yet in prison, but I was not yet free.

And I was still unwelcome in my own country.

What do we have here?

A fleet -footed keffer? Aye, stop.

Good morning, officer.

How may I help you? No, no, no. You don't call me officer. You call me boss.

Let me see your pass.

It's Nelson Mandela.

Aren't you supposed to be on trial for treason?

All of the accused are free on bail for the duration of the trial.

Early morning is the only time I can get exercise.

Boss.

You know what I do to cheeky cafes like you?

I take you into the bush and I put a bullet through your head.

You're lucky.

White people in South Africa, we believe in following the rule of law.

Oliver. Nelson!

The great athlete.

How's it? It's good.

How's Winnie and the family? They are well, well.

So, you did not run here just to say hello, huh? No, no. Already you have so

many of them lined up out there. So many new laws.

And so few black lawyers.

I'm sorry, my friend, that you had to take on such a heavy load with me still

being on trial.

I'm lucky they dropped the charges against me.

My burden is not as heavy as yours.

I miss you, Oliver, and this place.

I can't wait till I get back.

You're not ever coming back.

We both know that.

If they do not convict you, they will try and try again until they succeed.

If I am acquitted, I will have to go underground. It is the only way that I

continue in this struggle.

You cannot wage a struggle for freedom while you are in prison.

A favor to ask.

Can you see this kid for me?

Hepatophane's the usual.

Oh, I don't know, Oliver. Ah, come on, Nelson.

All right.

I will take a look.

Thank you.

Ah,

come.

We'll get Nelson today.

Miss, you can sit here.

I was arrested.

Because I don't have a pass.

But I can only get a pass if I have a job.

So what am I supposed to do?

As soon as I go out there to find work, I get arrested.

Because you don't have a pass.

Tell me.

I have this girl I want to marry.

Her name is Nandi.

Does she want to marry you?

How can she?

When I don't even have a job.

I was listening to that.

Maybe you should join forces.

ANC and PSP. Do more with the United Front. The PSP's vision is different

ours. They want to exclude white, Indian, coloreds from the struggle.

They are clever.

The past protest was our idea. They are strategic.

They are opportunistic.

Well, turning off the radio won't stop the protest today.

Yes.

The bloody trial is really putting a strain on our law practice.

It has almost been for you.

The people want to see change.

They want action.

Let them wait.

The treason bus waits for no man.

Good morning, comrade.

Good morning, Nelson.

Day 1399.

It's not a joke anymore. Day 1399 is the day we're going to be humiliated by the

king.

They've called their protest a week before ours.

For one week. Yes, to make us look slow and stupid.

to travel in our homeland.

Now we have promised a peaceful march, but our demands are non -negotiable.

Abolish the past laws now.

We will stand our ground until we hear from Pretoria.

The future of Africa must be what Africans make it.

in Nelson.

Sobuwa is saying all the things that the people want to hear.

Maybe they don't want this multi -party, multi -racial, passive resistance.

They don't want clever colored lawyers and rich white communists to be on their

side. That's why the PAC is growing so much. Ruth,

Joe, come sit here by me and Duma.

Okay with you two? You're scared we'll infect you.

Africa for Africans, that is what the people want to hear. That is why they

joining the PAC.

The question is, Duma, do you want to join us? Because you are too intelligent

for the PAP rhetoric.

Because you don't want the struggle for justice for all to turn into a primitive

civil war between black people, colored people, white people, because you

understand we are all Africans.

Sometimes you have to hold on to what you believe in and be patient.

I want to troublemaker talk.

Isn't it enough that we have this...

Red communist and black leaders on trial for treason. This PAC or ANC, whatever

you call them, they must be eliminated.

Use everything at our disposal.

Don't spare any expense.

Chief Sotuli, as president of the ANC, is the use of violence a tactic employed

by your organization?

The use of violence would be almost national suicide.

Because of my Christian leanings, I would hesitate to be a party to

You say hesitate.

Would not condemn it outright?

The ANC believes that progress is achieved through dialogue.

The accused believe, as I believe, that one day the African people and the white

man... Must talk.

Otherwise, where is the hope for any of us?

Colonel. Lieutenant.

See any weapons?

Only umbrellas.

There's more than umbrellas.

Yes, sir.

Mr.

Mandela, is it fair to say that you play a significant role in the African

National Congress?

We are a democratic body under the presidency of Chief Lutuli.

Will you confirm that all the accused here are members of the ANC?

Why ask me?

All of them have already said as much.

But would you agree that the purpose of the ANC is to overthrow the government?

No. The purpose of the ANC is to reform the government.

Load five rounds.

Is the BBC worth it?

In the township of Sharpeville in South Africa, a violent clash between police

and protesters.

Policemen encountered an angry mob of thousands.

Police say they were forced to open fire on the violent and illegal protest led

by the Pan -Africanist Congress against the new pass laws.

69 dead.

More than 150 wounded.

I say no apology.

We commend the police for their bravery. We declare martial law and stop this

now. Tomorrow the eyes of the world will be upon us. I think we need to proceed

with great caution.

You understand, right there by Sharpeville,

we signed a treaty of our defeat by the British nearly 60 years

ago.

I've forgotten that. We must never forget.

Today is the sign from the Lord, a reminder

that we must never risk humiliation and

extermination again.

We must always remember our sacred duty.

We will fight for our existence.

We must keep our people safe.

You, lawyer.

What did you tell him? What did you say about the past, Lord?

Solomon was such a good boy.

No trouble.

He just wanted to work.

You put ideas in his head.

Send him to protest.

I am so sorry.

We can't let the PAC draw us into a street fight. It's too dangerous.

It's fine. I hear you, but I think we should take some action.

The PAC is split from us because all we ever do is talk. Nonsense. They want

civil war. They want division between blacks and whites and colored and

Look, whatever we think of them morally, we have no choice but to make a stand.

For God's sake, we all agree on that, but we must make a decision.

I don't think we should argue amongst ourselves.

Yes, you are right. But what are we going to do?

Stand here drinking? I can't do that anymore.

Every fiber of my being tells me that we cannot respond to this violence with

more passive resistance.

The PAC has shown great courage. No matter what we think of their strategy,

this crisis, we must support them.

Those people.

were shot in the back as they ran. Men, women, children.

It was murder.

But nonviolence has always been our path from the start. And I am not ready to

abandon it.

Neither is our president, Chief Lutuli.

And as far as I know, neither is the PAC.

We will call for a national day of mourning for the victims of Sharpeville.

We will call for strikes.

that close factories and empty the fields.

We will call for marches that bring the cities to a standstill and dare them to

strike us down.

The PAC was demonstrating the PACE laws.

I will make my own small act of solidarity with the PAC by burning my

public in front of the press.

I know Douma has been longing to burn his PACE in public for years.

I have one other proposal.

We agreed.

Vervoet will attack.

He will attempt to silence us with incarceration, execution or

Therefore, we need a voice that he cannot silence.

A voice that people know and respect.

A voice that can speak from the safety of another country.

I see you are looking at me, Nalena.

Yes.

Who else?

I will miss you.

Very much.

I would like to make a gesture of support for Robert Sabukwe and the PAC

banning this most hated passbook, which makes me a foreigner in my own country,

and a gesture of the deepest sympathy for the friends and

families of those whose lives were sacrificed in the cause of freedom, our

freedom.

This is my passbook, which I am supposed to carry everywhere.

So they will know who I am, where I am from.

I am a South African from South Africa.

I have the right to travel in my own country.

This is all they need to know.

You have set fire to a lot more than your passbook.

It's getting dangerous out there.

I think you and Zanani should stay inside.

I need to go and look in on my other children.

Of course.

They will be at Walter's tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Sunday.

It's our only day together.

I won't stay long.

It is only right that you see your other children.

I want you to go.

The struggle, your comrades, your other family.

If everyone gets a piece of you, what is left?

I'll be there as soon as I give my job notice and I pack up our things.

By then we will have arranged a route for you.

Are you sure you will be okay?

I hate being separated from you.

I will call you as soon as I'm over the border.

Don't worry.

I will be safe.

You can't sleep, my dear.

Is it that bad?

They had audacity to burn the passes for the first time. They coordinated a

nationwide strike.

Our country's on fire.

It will pass.

It always does.

No. Not that time.

We are considering a state of emergency.

A new loss.

You must get some sleep so you can wake up refreshed and look after all your

people.

Come to bed.

All right, you two.

Let this old man catch his breath.

Come and sit down, old man.

I'll be a Tina.

These little ones are really happy to see you.

Yes. Thank you, my dear.

Go with your mother.

What's that?

The children are growing up strong, Nelson.

And how is their mother?

All things being considered, my cousin as well.

You know, when we were first married, I thought that Evelyn and I would be

together forever.

And then?

And then all of this, all that our lives have become, I am already starting to

make Winnie worry, too.

But you, Walter, and Albertina,

your home, your children, you have

held it all together. You are happy.

What is the secret, I wonder?

There is the cause.

And there is family.

Your duty is to both.

Remember this, Madiba.

If not for them, for you.

Come, Tata.

All right, Bagat.

You are the boss.

And I must go soon.

I don't want you to go home yet. I will come around again very soon.

Do you and Mama hate each other? Mama too.

It's all right, Tim.

No, my son.

We will always be in each other's hearts, your mother and I.

And we both love you very much.

Am I old enough to come with you to one of your meetings, Dada?

Someday, Tim.

But at the moment...

You need to go to school and study.

Remember, you are the man of the house now.

I'm even wearing your old trousers, Tata.

I see, and you are wearing them well.

You are a good man, my son.

All right, Miss Kemp.

Come, help me give hugs to Albertina before we go. Let's go, let's go.

This is the BBC World Service.

In South Africa today...

The main opposition parties, the Pan -African Congress and the African

Congress, have both been declared legal organizations.

I need to see your warrant. You don't need one.

Not anymore.

Everything will be alright.

Everything will be alright.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

I hope your accommodation suits you.

My place is just a block away.

I think this is going to take a bit of a task.

Let's get you settled.

I have to call in a list of embassies you want to visit.

Hello,

sir.

Walter.

Duma. Duma.

It's quite a party.

Everyone is here. Yes, what are the charges now? Whatever new law they came

with this morning.

Nelson Mandel.

Rootsabukwe.

The P .A .C.

thanks you for your support.

And the ANC thanks you for yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society, I am

delighted to welcome you all here today to the official opening of our union

exposition. And I'm especially delighted that we have with us the Prime

Minister, Mr. H .F. Verhoogt.

Have you heard the news?

What news?

Somebody shot Verwoerdt.

Two bullets in the head.

Is he dead?

No, both bullets with the brain, unsurprisingly.

Who shot him? Some white farmer who doesn't like apartheid.

Imagine that. I doubt that they will declare him insane.

Thank God he wasn't black.

What is Verwoerdt's condition?

Critical. So it's out.

Habeas corpus has been suspended.

We're living in a police state.

You are now all members of a banned organization.

Anything.

Anything that you say testifying in your own trial that could be interpreted as

furthering the cause of the ANC will expose you to further potential

imprisonment.

My hands are tied. It is impossible for us to construct a defense.

The state has made access extremely difficult.

We could withdraw and protest.

It's not much, but at least it's some kind of stand.

How many lawyers are there amongst us? You, me, and Joe.

Then we conduct our own defense until they lift the state of emergency.

And what if it doesn't get lifted? We keep it going until it is.

Yes? We could cross -examine every witness in turn by every other

Might work.

We could go on with this for years.

At some point, the state of emergency would have to be lifted. Yeah. They want

us to hang for these prison charges if we want to stay alive.

We must play against them using their own rules.

We will stay alive.

So, what are you saying, Deputy Prime Minister?

In the past few weeks, we have put 19 ,000 people in prison. When does it

This separate development, this apartheid model is not the right path

country anymore.

Our duty is to remain consistent with the policies of this government in this

time of crisis.

The international community is turning on us. You saw how critical the British

PM was when he visited this year, and now the Americans are speaking out. And

with the Asian and African countries joining in, we risk isolation.

There's talk of economic pressure, sanctions.

Paul, you cannot build domestic policies based on fear.

It's all well and good listening to these people from abroad.

But they do not live here. This is not fear. It's pragmatism.

We have to see where this is all heading.

Now, as acting Prime Minister, I have a duty to every living soul in this

country, not just the whites.

And I thought we were all blue skies and big game safaris over there.

The inhumanity in your government breeds such hatred.

Thank God the British Prime Minister is condemned to partake.

Yes, but we still have a lot more to do.

Come. The gentleman who sold me this paper...

thinks we are a nation of blue skies and happy black people, no doubt.

Oliver, you have to understand, all the images coming out of South Africa

feature wonderful wild animals, sunsets, Tarzan's loyal natives.

It is hard to believe the propaganda has been so effective.

The government's campaign has been quite successful, selling racial separation

through arts, politics, even sports.

And they promote that message internationally as well.

Do you have that list of embassies I asked for?

I think I should talk to trade unions and members of parliament as well.

It's wonderful to see you alive.

As some say, it's a sign from above.

Have a seat.

I understand you recently made some remarks to the fact that we might need

reconsider our policy about separate development.

and that apart they may not be the path we should take.

I must tell you, at this time, it's more necessary than

ever to keep the races apart.

Do you understand me?

Of course. Forgive me, Prime Minister.

Listen, sir, and what's the situation?

The accused have begun to defend themselves.

They all question each other endlessly about everything.

It's a delaying tactic.

Will we get a verdict before the end of the year?

At this rate, Prime Minister, we won't get a verdict before the end of the

century. Let them delay.

Let them put the court to sleep.

We have a referendum to win an election in October.

And by then, everything must be back to normal. People won't vote for a republic

at Warwick.

We must be in control.

Good news.

State of emergency has been lifted.

Peace and harmony.

Just in time for the National Party's vote.

And the governor's agreed to let you out of here on weekends to close up the

affairs of the law office.

This whole thing is beginning to feel like Alice in Wonderland written by

Kafka.

Do I get to sleep at home, too?

No. You have to spend the night in prison in Joburg.

But, uh...

Don't forget to look into the window of the shop next to your office.

You know that lady, Mr. Mandela?

Yes, that is my wife and daughter.

Um, better go to your office to open the door.

Check if it's safe for you to go inside.

That is if you'll trust me with your key.

How did you know?

Oh, good word that you'll be here.

I thought it was worth taking a chance.

Just to wait and see if I could see you.

There is someone else waiting for you too.

No.

Darling.

I am due at the end of the year.

That is wonderful.

What? I wonder if we'll ever be able to hold our new baby.

The verdict may be in soon.

They have yet to prove their case.

You see, it's still possible to believe in the rule of law. You don't have to be

positive.

Nelson, you should run.

Now.

The ANC will look after you.

We can move abroad like Olive and Adelaide.

I will not try to run, my love. I will not try to escape.

I gave that sergeant my word.

He trusts me.

This is why I love you.

as large crowds gather to welcome dignitaries for a celebration of South

Africa's independence from the United Kingdom.

Congratulations, gentlemen, to our new republic.

Free of interference from the British Commonwealth, the Queen and Macmillan's

winds of change.

God bless our Republic of South Africa.

Republic of South Africa!

The final hours before the verdict were the longest.

After all this time, after all our struggle,

my heart was full of fear and doubt.

What will become of me?

My family.

My country.

You know, all those years

ago, when we first met, I said to myself, this young man is a

godsend.

Whatever happens in this trial now,

I know that one day you will be our leader.

Thank you, Walter.

Silence in the court. All rise.

The verdict in this trial for treason...

It is as follows.

We, the judges, accept that the African National Congress has been working to

replace the government of South Africa with a radically different form of

We also accept that the ANC used illegal means of protest.

Finally, we accept that the movement has a strong left -wing tendency, which is

both anti -West

and pro -Soviet.

On the evidence presented to the court, however, it is impossible for us to

accept that the ANC is in itself a communist organization.

But the crux of this trial is and has always been this question.

Have these members of the ANC before the court been attempting to overthrow the

state of South Africa by violent means?

The judges find unanimously that the prosecution has failed to make

this case.

We therefore find all the accused not guilty.

They could re -arrest you at any moment. We need to move.

I have to go.

We will see each other again soon.

Were they taking you, Mrs. Mandela?

I wish I knew.

Don't you worry, Mrs. Mendele.

We'll find him for you.