Nelson Mandela

In 1953, Nelson Mandela made one of his most famous speeches. In the speech he warned that there would be "no easy walk to freedom". He was right. The walk to freedom was not easy. Though the end was near, the last few steps would still be filled with problems.

The following weeks and months were a time of great hope. It was also a time when many South African organisations and people disagreed. And there were worse problems. All hoped that there would be peace after Mandela was freed. But the violence got worse. Between 1990 and 1994, thirteen thousand people died from political violence.