11th February 1990. Nelson Mandela released from prison after 27 years
35 years ago this week Nelson Mandela was finally released from prison after a long running campaign to free him. By 1994 he was President of South Africa. He died in 2013.
Tony Benn recorded in his diary being in Trafalgar Square (opposite where South Africa House is situated) at a gathering to celebrate the occasion.
‘there was a tremendous sense of excitement..somebody had draped on Nelson’s Column a banner that read Nelson Mandela’s Column;
Benn made a short speech saying ‘Free Britain, Free working people from exploitation’ and concluded ‘I don’t think there has been anything like it since 1945 when the war ended’
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