Hello, my name's David Rundsenman and this is past, present, future, the History of Ideas podcast.

Today, in Politics on Trial, I am talking about the trials, not just one trial, the many trials of Nelson Mandela in apartheid South Africa.

Many trials and not just one outcome, a whole number of different outcomes, that between them captured the freedom struggle in South Africa.

As I'm guessing is pretty well known, Nelson Mandela spent an extraordinary amount of time in prison.

Most of it, not all of it on the notorious Robin Island, the place where

the apartheid regime held non-white political prisoners in pretty brutal conditions. In total,

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life behind bars, nearly a third of his long life. But it's also true that

before that he was jailed in 1962, before he was first jailed, though he'd been held in

custody at various points. He spent an amazing amount of time in court, in courtrooms, courts of law. In the decade before

1962, he spent years in court. Now, this is partly because Nelson Mandela was a lawyer.

He set up with his friend and co-freedom fighter in the ANC, Oliver Tambo, the firm of

Mandela and Tambo, which was the only firm in Johannesburg, based in downtown Johannesburg,

offering to represent in court black South Africans in their fights against overwhelming odds against

repressive apartheid laws, the various ways in which the South African state used law to repress

its black citizens. Oliver Tambo, who went on to be the leader of the ANC in exile, he spent 27 years, not exclusively,

but primarily based in London, when Mandela was in Robin Island. Tambo was the guy behind the scenes.

Mandela always glamorous, charismatic, a natural leader, also a natural lawyer, was the one who went to court on behalf of

their clients, went over the road from their office to the magistrates court in Johannesburg

to represent black South Africans, often against hopeless odds. So he spent a lot of time in court

simply on behalf of his clients, but he also, in that decade, spent a lot of time in court simply on behalf of his clients, but he also, in that decade,

spent a lot of time in court as a defendant.

He spent years of his life defending himself or being defended by other lawyers in South African

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