| |
 |
A recording enlivens Mandela
|
ONE of London's most prestigious museums has helped bring a rare recording of former South African leader Nelson Mandela, unheard for more than 30 years, back to life.
The recording is of a three-hour speech Mandela made at his trial in 1964, before he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
It had been stored in the South African National Archives, but could only be played on a rare machine known as a dictabelt.
The British Library had saved just such a machine, and offered its services after hearing an appeal from the South African Broadcasting Corporation which had "rediscovered" the trial tapes in the archives.
To mark the 11th anniversary of Mandela's release from Robben Island jail, which falls on Sunday, the British Library's National Archive has released the recordings on CD.
Rob Perks, the British Library's oral history curator, said: "What amazed us, given the age and fragility of the dictabelts, is just how good the sound quality is."
In the recording on April 20, 1964 a young Mandela said from the dock: "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
"It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized."
"But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
Mandela, along with 15 other leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) escaped the death penalty but were sentenced to life imprisonment.
He began his sentence at Robben Island prison in June 1964 and was finally released on February 11, 1990.
The trial attracted international attention and was a turning point in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.(SD-Agencies)
|
|
|
|
