The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

was asked to speak about the accused in the Rivonia Trial. 246 Amid descriptions of the
lives of African families under apartheid, the hearings of the UN Committee constituted a
forum for biography and the narration of South African political lives. It would be more
than twenty years before Benson’s interviews with Mandela and the material gathered by
her in the early 1960s would give rise to a book‐length biography. 247
This biographical attention on Mandela in the early 1960s was helped by Mandela himself
having placed his own life into a biographical narrative. This took place in his widely
publicised address to the court before he was sentenced in his trial in November 1962 on
charges of incitement to strike and leaving the country without a passport. In order that
the court “the frame of mind which led him to act as he did”, Mandela “explained the
background of his own political development, beginning with “the tales he heard as a
boy”. He went on to outline his political convictions and his membership of the ANC
before describing how his legal career had suffered because of his colour and ANC
membership. It was his conscience that had “made it imperative to oppose unjust laws”.
During the course of the trial, a range of organisations overseas had used the opportunity
to rally support for Mandela and the struggle against apartheid. As images of his wife
Winnie and his young daughters were published around the world, messages of support
expressed their admiration for Mandela’s “firm and courageous stand against apartheid”
and assured him of “solidarity” in his “heroic fight”. 248
This auto‐narration was replayed at Rivonia when Mandela gave “the speech of [his] life”
in a five‐hour address from the dock. Once again, he began with his childhood, in which
he recalled boyhood tales of “historic African leaders”. He explained the history of the
ANC and non‐violence and why it was necessary for MK to be a separate body, and in his
discussion of Rivonia activities, denied he was a communist or that the ANC was
dominated by the Communist Party. Referring to his own military training, Mandela
outlined four “stages of violence” and explained that MK was in the process of exploring a
246 Mary Benson, A Far Cry, pp 145‐155.
247 Mary Benson, Nelson Mandela, London: Penguin, 1986.
248 New Age, 15 November 1962, pp 1, 3, 4‐5.
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