Nelson Mandela by Olivia Mokomoko.
Nelson Mandela is an inspiration to all, he is man who basically rewrote South African history.
To me, a tangata rongonui is a person who shows perseverance, inspires others, and is passionate about what he or she believes in.. A tangata rongonui is someone who never ever gives up, no matter what hurdles he or she has to overtake. The attributes that my ideal tangata rongonui should have are passion, inspiration and perseverance. That’s exactly why Nelson Mandela is my Tangata Rongonui.
Nelson was a man who changed his country, and also the world, through persuasion, fighting, and many protests.. In my mind, although Nelson made mistakes, he is my definition of a tangata rongonui, He was willing to die for his cause, to give all African people equal rights.
Nelson Mandela was born a free, simple man, but later realised no African person is free, that was until he changed Africa.
He was born, and raised in a small village in south Africa, the son of the villages’ chief. This allowed Nelson many “perks” in life, like the best education that an African person could get at that time. Although he was offered the rare chance to go to university, when he was threatened with an arranged marriage, he and a friend escaped to Johannesburg to help fight for other African people against Europeans.
It was there that he started to realise he had to change apartheid. He began protests and was later sent to prison on an island that was protected and concealed from the rest of the world. Although he was sentenced to jail for life. He was there for 27 long hard years.. He came out an old man, but his spirt was stronger, and he had fire in his belly
When Nelson came out of prison the government abolished apartheid, and this allowed African people to vote. They all voted for Nelson Mandela. He was the very first black president in African history, he was extremely successful, and even after being president for five years, he never stopped inspiring others. He died on the 5th on December, 2013, at the age of 95.
Nelson is an exceptional tangata rongonui, because if he hadn’t gone to prison, and fought for the African people, they would still probably have apartheid. Although I’m not African I still understand the importance of how Nelson changed and helped the world become a better place!
