The Birth of the “Troublemaker”
Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in a small village in South Africa’s Transkei region. His father named him Rolihlahla, which colloquially translates to “troublemaker” in Xhosa. This moniker proved prophetic. Mandela was born to a noble lineage. His father was a chief of the Thembu tribe, part of the ancient Xhosa nation. As a child, Mandela was a “herd-boy,” tending calves and sheep. His meager diet consisted primarily of
“mealies” (corn). He attended a small one-room schoolhouse in his village, often wearing his father’s cutoff pants secured by a string around the waist.
When Mandela was nine, his father died. His family sent him to live with Chief
Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the Thembu’s acting regent in Mqhekezweni, “the great place,”
Thembuland’s provincial capital. Mandela received a good education for a black South
African of his generation, studying at Healdtown, a Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort, and at the University College of Fort Hare, in Alice. While he was a student, the regent arranged for him to marry the daughter of a Thembu priest. Mandela refused and ran away to Johannesburg.
A Rebel from the Start
Mandela went to work as a night watchman at Crown Mines, a local gold mine. He used subterfuge to get the job, pretending that the regent, a respected figure throughout black
South Africa, approved of his move to Johannesburg. Mine officials quickly learned the truth and told Mandela to return immediately to Mqhekezweni. Refusing to leave
Johannesburg, Mandela lived briefly with a cousin. Then he moved in with Reverend J.
Mabutho, but he did not tell the minister that the regent wanted him back in Mqhekezweni.
When Rev. Mabutho learned of Mandela’s deception, he made him leave his home, but arranged for him to stay with neighbors.
Mandela went to work as a clerk for the law firm of Witkin,